Welder / Marine Engineer new to Designing and building boats

Hi All,
New to this forum, and pleased i have found this vast resource of knowledge.

I'll get right to it, I have been a Marine Engineer and Welder now for nearly 20 years, I have now decided to branch out on my own and start building aluminium boats, repairing boats and just general engineering in my time off initially. (Work away at sea still as an engineer)
So with that i have gone down the route of purchasing designs from people, one of them being from Metal Boat Kits, just a small boat 12ft in size but because it has been professionally designed it is quite easy to get a CE mark applied, it has a Hull Identification Number and again a certificate provided with each design from Metal Boat Kits which i sell along with said boat.

Now moving forward, what i would like to do is design boats myself as i have a lot of knowledge and know what makes a good boat, but obviously am not a Naval Architect even though i have done modules in it for my Marine Engineering Ticket.

What are the rules and regulations around this, particularly in the UK where i'm from, Can i make a design and build a boat myself to sell and give it a HIN of my own? How do i legally generate one, and as far as the design certificate, because i am not a naval architect can i legally design a pleasure / working boat and put it to market?

I have got 2 programs which i am learning to design on which are Rhino 3D with Orca (not a fan) and the other is Maxsurf which i prefer and am making good progress with.

Or would i be better just getting someone to do the designs for me like i have done already?

Look forward to the correspondence on this

 

Welcome to the Forum Biscuit.

I don't know anything about the Rules in the UK regarding you building boats commercially, but I do get the impression that they are all a bit murky, and Brexit has probably just complicated matters even more.

This link might help a bit to answer your question -
How to comply with the Recreational Craft Regs in a ‘No Deal’ Brexit scenario https://britishmarine.co.uk/News/2018/December/How-to-comply-with-the-Recreational-Craft-Regs-in-a-No-Deal-Brexit-scenario

There used to be a company CE Proof who specialised in getting boats approved in Europe - they appear to have recently joined forces with a company called HPI..
More details here -
EU Recreational Craft Directive (RCD) - HPi Verification Services Ltd. http://www.eucertification.com/ce-certification-2/rcd

It doe appear to be a veritable minefield!

 

Welcome to the Forum Biscuit.

There is no legal requirement or threshold to be a "naval architect" in the UK. Anyone may call themselves a naval architect.
It is only one of 2 such professions in the UK.

If you are entering the market you cite...all you need are a set of "approved" plans. And then an independent authority/person to witness said build, to said approved plans.
For this, you can elect to go the ISO route...or the Classification Society route. The CS route is more expensive, in terms of approval and build, but is also provides you with the option of having a CE mark (via the CS as an authorised body) and an Classification Mark too! Whereas going just ISO...is just that.

That's it in a nut shell.

 

Short answer: the MCA has all the answers.

Long answer: for HIN's you register with the MCA as a manufacturer. Market introduction is a two pronged affair. In the event of a no deal or limited deal Brexit the UK will loose all equivalence powers for the EU market so in order to sell in Europe there is no difference between ISO and CS, you will not be able to write your own compliance certificate anymore. For the internal UK market you must satisfy MCA rules for the type of boat you are building. At the moment that is a mix of ISO (recreational boats) and local rules (commercial).

 

My advice is to forget about Classification Societies. Any job can be carried out using tools of a very varied nature, but there is always a suitable tool for each job. The ideal tool for small boats is the ISO standard developed specifically for small boats. With them you will be able to get, more easily and cheaply, the CE marking of your boat, with whose distinction you can market it in Europe. (The United Kingdom, perhaps less united than now, will leave the European Community, but it will remain Europe and will keep the previously signed agreements in force).
The new version of ISO 12215-5: 2019 is applicable to (for boats up to 24 m in length):
- recreational crafts, including recreational charter vessels
- small commercial craft and workboats
You do not need to have the title of naval architect, but all the way will be more comfortable if you go hand in hand with a naval architect. If you need help, all you have to do is ask.
Good luck with your project.

 

Sorry have been busy for a few days, and never got an email for some reason to say i had any replies, anyway, thankyou all for your responses, much appreciated and some good knowledge passed on there. thanks for now.