Exporting your caravan to France

[Malenibo<EM>Malcolm & Enid<EM>]

While not strictly a motor vehicle I have been told that I will have problems getting an English caravan registered in France.  I did not think you needed to register a caravan.  Can anybody shed any light on the situation please?

[Leo. H]

Hi, oh dear, I hope not, I,ve had a caravan in our garden in France for the past ten months and before I took it over a local architect (French) told us we wouldn't have a problem, and I took him at his word, ...Leo

[Val_2]

One of the main reasons why they won't register an english caravan in France is because the door is on the wrong side for use on the roads here and is therefore considered dangerous.

[Nick Trollope]

[quote]One of the main reasons why they won't register an english caravan in France is because the door is on the wrong side for use on the roads here and is therefore considered dangerous.[/quote]

Sorry Val, but I think that this is a "dog in the microwave". There are plenty of examples of people registering "RHD" caravans here. All French cars have at least 1 door on the left!

The main problem with UK caravans is getting all the C of C's necessary to achieve registration. The UK caravan manufacturers are pretty lax where it comes to EU conformity....

As I understand it, any vehicle that should be registered (and that includes trailers & caravans over 750Kg laden), must be registered, regardless of where they are kept. There is no "off road notification" in France and therefore all vehicles that should be insured (which is anything that has registration) must be insured, whether it is used or not. My UK caravan hides in the woods at the edge of our field.. which is where it is going to stay..

 

[Iceni]

I have never understood the logic (?) of "door on the wrong side" being an issue. In the belief that driving along with someone IN the caravan is illegal there is no-one to get out if /when the car stops at traffic lights, junctions etc.  When parked at an aire, overnight site etc should not be any more dangerous with a LH door than a RH door, should it ?

Anyway, other posts I have seen indicate that the prob with registering a caravan in France is more to do with the fittings - cooker, fridge etc - not complying with French rules rather than a wrongly sited door.

Our uninsured tiny home on wheels has not been on a road since it arrived here, just parked behind the barn and proudly bearing a UK number plate. When I asked about permission from the maire my neighbours laughed, "it's yr land and we don't mind so don't even bother asking. M the maire will know about you (no sock changing in the Lot goes un-noticed) and your caravan so if he has a prob he will say something".

The cloud on the horizon is this - if/when I sell it, will I have to deliver it to a new home in the dead of night as the UK reg car has long gone ?

John

not

[Miki]

The door is of no consequence. Please look through the old posts to see what has been written on this subject.

John Moore wrote an excellent piece a year or more ago and since then we have taken vans through the test at 2 different DRIRE's. Too long to repeat but it is on here. Take a look in SEARCH.

 

[Val_2]

I only mentioned this because someone who used to live near us wanted to register a UK caravan and was refused on this point. Obviously times have changed.

[Miki]

Val,

I am only guessing at this but, we had a couple near us who said the same thing about their van.

I rang the DRIRE at Plela who said they had said no such thing but had said that they simply mentioned it in passing about where the door was. What they told them was to get an attestation from the Caravan makers and also one from the chassis manufacturers.

Now knowing how poorly those two spoke French, could that have been the same for the person you knew and it was perhaps just an error in interpretation ?

 

[Moorejw]

Hi Malcolm and Enid

If you send us a PM with your email address we will send you our updated  guide on how to register your English Caravan in France.

John and Angie Moore

[volestrangler]

I would be gratefull for any info.

I have cert of conformity from al koa for my abbey 3yr old van

[Sunday Driver]

Any imported caravan must comply with French type approval safety standards in two principal areas - the avoidance of risks through asphyxiation and chassis and braking systems. 

In general, UK manufacturers have always focused on their home market and with few exceptions, they have never commercially exported to France, so UK vans are generally not type approved for use here.  This means that in the absence of a manufacturer's certificate of conformity, the owner himself has to compile his own type approval technical dossier (certificates from the chassis/braking system manufacturer, independent test reports on the gas systems, etc) then submit the van for a single vehicle approval inspection.

The single vehicle type approval process is relatively straightforward, but it does take time getting the paperwork together and preparing the van for the inspections can involve you making certain modifications.  And, of course, it does cost!

Unlike camping cars (kerbside only), the position of a caravan access door is immaterial although it must conform with minimum dimensions, etc.