Your motorhome manufacturers rating plate and chassis VIN plate are NOT to be confused when presenting your motorhome for the DOE test. This mainly applies to motorhomes from 2017 onward. We outline some important information that may help in advance of going for your campervan or motorhome DOE in Ireland.
Motor caravans that have a GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) of 3,500 kg or less need an LGV (light goods vehicle) test and motor caravans that have a GVW of more than 3,500 kg need a HGV (heavy goods vehicles) test.
Get tested according your motorhome manufacturers rating plate
It's very important that your motorhome is tested according to your motorhome manufacturers rating plate and NOT the VIN plate of the chassis. Otherwise your vehicle could be incorrectly identified by the DOE tester as a heavy goods vehicle over 3.5 tonne, which requires a heavy goods C1 license to drive.
When presenting your motorhome for testing please ensure to take your Vehicle registration certificate with you and show it to the tester so that your motorhome is tested according to the correct classification on your Vehicle Registration Cert. See example below:
Rating Plates
The following image is of a Burstner motorhome Rating plate which is classified as 3500kg. This rating plate can be usually be found inside the passenger door of your motorhome. Some other manufacturers put this plate in various other locations on the motorhome. You can see that rating plate indicates a 3,500kg MTPLM (Maximum Technical Permissible Laden Mass) or GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight).
Motorhome Manufacturer rating plate - Burstner
Vin Plates
The image below is the metal VIN plate placed by Fiat during manufacture of the Fiat Chassis. This is located underneath the bonnet of your motorhome. This particular VIN plate is from the same Burstner motorhome in the previous example. As you can see it shows a 3650KG rating as opposed to 3,500kg as specified by Burstner. This 3650kg rating is the maximum designed weight according to the chassis manufacturer (in this case FIAT).
But this is the important bit, because Burstner is the finished or final Vehicle manufacturer, they have completed the vehicle to 3,500kg, therefore this vehicle will be registered according to the COC (Certificate of Conformity) issued by Burstner and the Vehicle Registration Cert will be issued accordingly.
Make sure to avoid having your motorhome mistakenly tested at 3650kg
If this is not pointed out to the DOE tester, your motorhome may be mistakenly tested at 3650kg and issued with 3650kg on the DOE Cert. With the next change of owner, this change will then follow through onto the next Vehicle Registration Certificate and your motorhome will be incorrectly classified as (HGV - heavy goods) as opposed to a LGV (Light Goods Vehicle).
Metal VIN Plate from Chassis Manufacturer
We hope you find this advice useful, as always, we are here to help and would be happy to answer any questions you may have on 061 379903.
Don't forget, help is always at hand here at Anchor Point Motorhomes, so if you have any questions, E-mail us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can also find us on Google maps and drop into AnchorPoint Motorhomes, Birdhill, Co, Tipperary, Ireland. A warm welcome awaits!
