Sailing Codes of Practice...

In 1994 the Department of Transport introduced legislation to license all UK flagged private vessels engaged in commercial operation. The Small Commercial Vessels (SCV) Code of Practice was based on the existing Code of Practice for Sail Training Vessels and covered all aspects of the Construction, Machinery, Stability, Safety and Manning requirements of all vessels carrying up to a maximum of twelve passengers and three crew (total 15 persons) and up to 24 metres in length.

The Codes of Practice are administered by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA), who in turn delegate the application of the Codes to a number of Certifying Authorities (of which the YDSA is one).

There are currently four versions of the SCV Code of Practice covering the following:

• Small Commercial Motor Vessels - YELLOW
• Small Commercial Sailing Vessels - BLUE
• Small Work Boats & Pilot Boats - BROWN
• Small Vessels in Commercial Use for Sport or Pleasure operating from a Nominated Departure Point (NDP) - RED

The colour refers to the cover colour of the original printed versions which are no longer available.

For vessels over 24m load line length there is a separate Code of Practice called the Large Commercial Yacht Code or LY2.

The MCA are in the process of amalgamating the existing Codes of Practice into one Harmonised Code. This is available to download here as MGN 280.

Most surveyors will now work to the Harmonised Code, despite it not yet being ratified by Parliament.

ll versions of each Code of Practice are available from the Pleasure Craft & Code Vessels Page on the MCA website.