In some situations, it is necessary to adapt a vehicle in such a way that people with reduced mobility can still travel. However, the modifications must be approved if they are not included in the original Certificate Of Conformity.
Modifications can be made by:
- a bodyshop that is not approved by the manufacturer, and therefore not in possession of a valid COP (Conformity Of Production), and the approval procedure is initiated by the Conformity Department of the technical inspection centre in Evere (ACT)
- a manufacturer-approved bodyshop that then undertakes the necessary steps for approval and the issuing of the corrected registration request
The approval procedure takes place in five steps via the technical inspection centre:
Step 1: submission of the file
The customer makes an appointment with the Conformity Department at the ACT technical inspection centre in Evere (Schaerbeek) with the following documents in order to produce an request for an adaptation authorisation:
- Copy of the EC-COC or national Certificate Of Conformity or the foreign vehicle documentation
- Copy of the registration certificate if the vehicle is registered
- Documentation for each component or system used (assembly manual, any approvals, etc.)
- Written authorisation from the manufacturer
- Up-to-date CARA Certification issued by the VIAS Institute
Step 2: review request
If the Conformity Department of the Evere technical inspection centre considers your request to be admissible, it forwards the request for adaptation authorisation to the Brussels Mobility Vehicle Expertise Department for review.
- Either the authorisation is issued by the Conformity Department of the Evere technical inspection centre, which informs the applicant of this. Modifications are made in accordance with the submitted file.
- Or authorisation is refused and comments issued to the Conformity Department of the Evere technical inspection centre, which informs the applicant of this. The applicant must then modify/complete their file through the Conformity Department of the technical inspection centre.
Step 3: inspection of the adapted vehicle
Once the authorisation has been issued and the adaptation(s) made, the applicant must present the adapted vehicle by appointment at the Conformity Department of the Evere technical inspection centre. This centre will review the match between the file submitted and the adaptations made. In addition, the technical inspection centre will check whether the modifications have been carried out according to the manufacturer's specifications.
Depending on the inspection, the following results are possible:
- The vehicle is completely modified in accordance with the file and the manufacturer's specifications. The procedure continues
- The vehicle has been modified in accordance with the file, but the modifications have not been carried out according to the manufacturer's specifications. The modifications must be corrected and the vehicle re-inspected in order to continue the procedure
- The vehicle has not been modified in accordance with the file. The applicant can correct the modifications and resubmit the vehicle or add additional information to the file through the technical inspection centre. If changes are made to the file, the procedure must start again at step 1 above
Step 4: inspection report
After inspection, the Conformity Department of the Evere technical inspection centre attaches its report to the file opened with the Brussels Mobility Vehicle Expertise Department for validation of the adaptation. An Individual Approval Form is sent to the Conformity Department of the technical inspection centre.
Step 5: administrative regularisation
As soon as the technical inspection centre receives the Individual Approval Form, it informs the applicant and issues the document to them and affixes a new identification sticker to the vehicle. The technical inspection centre issues a new registration request for a correction of a registration certificate. The vehicle can now be registered based on the new approval.
A vehicle that has been modified by a manufacturer can be restored to its original condition, if desired. To do this, the customer can contact a technical service, which will carry out a procedure to verify that the changes have been completely eliminated. If this is the case, a new approval procedure is started. A registration request is issued together with a technical inspection certificate.
Important to know: some major structural modifications (e.g. lowering the floor) no longer allow the vehicle to be returned to its original state.