documentation

how do i document a boat that i have built at home ?

over 25`ft.

 

http://bit.ly/uxMA6H

 

The answer depends on whether you do any charter or commercial work with it or whether it is purely for personal use.

A member named Ike posts good information here on registration.
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-building/getting-homebuilt-registered-12079.html

Have you already tried to get the information from http://www.mvd.newmexico.gov

 

does this help?

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/nvdc/nvdcforms.asp

 

Good links.

I am assuming when you say document you mean USCG Documentation. I f yes see Phil's link.

If not. and you mean registered with a state, then see the link given to my website by FMS.

Either way you have to attest that you built it. Also if you are going to use this for recreational use and want to register or document it, the process is fairly simple. But if you are planning on using this for commercial purposes then you may have significant problems getting it documented with the USCG. It depends on the commercial use.

 

I hope you saved your receipts for the tax office where you will submit a title application.

 

In states where there is a moderate to large boating community, you'll have little difficulty, as they deal with this sort of thing regularly. Not often, but often enough where the process is fairly easy.

In these states, usually a Fish and Wild officer comes out and takes a look at your boat. He notes that it seems to be a boat, gives you some paper work and leaves. He submits a report saying it has a pointy end and then you go to the county tax office or DMV for the title work. This is the place they may want to see receipts, though honestly, they often don't ask. Eventually you'll receive a registration number, which you'll need to affix on the boat and a title with a HIN. The HIN is to be marked on the transom.

In states where they don't get a lot of home builts, it can be like pulling teeth. Just log onto your state DMV site and see what they need.

 

I have always been asked for receipts in Florida. Having said that, I have not found the DMV to be overly fussy with the nature or completeness of the receipts. I filled out an affidavit once. That boat had been built fifteen years prior and had not required title or registration until I took it to Florida. Amazingly, I still did have some of the purchase info for hull materials. It was pretty sketchy but established a firm age for the vessel, which IS important. Keep your build records forever.

 

Save your receipts. Thankfully I did. I recently had to register (for the first time) a rowboat I built five years ago. Washington state bases their excise tax on the value of the boat, and home built boat's value is what it cost to build it. I suspect this is true in other states, especially Tennessee.