rcx718
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| posted on 22/5/19 at 01:35 PM |
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Getting DVSA help for IVA
There's a few engineers at my brothers work who've put home built vehicles through the IVA or, judging by their age, probably the old SVA
test. One or two mentioned to my brother that they ran their designs past the testers at the DVSA centre before starting to cut metal. I don't
have much detail of how they did this as they're not people I know directly.
Has anyone managed to get any sit down time with a DVSA tester? Or heard of this happening?
I've crossed a few emails with the DVSA technical help desk and got some decent advise from them, but generally I've found the helpdesk
very cautious about what they say, so not always useful.
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 22/5/19 at 08:05 PM |
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I'm not sure they're really there to give that advice. They're there to test to the regs, I suspect you'd need to find some
unicorn contacts in order to get anyone there who actually understands the engineering enough to give design advice.
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loggyboy
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| posted on 22/5/19 at 09:52 PM |
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As above... I cant imagine what you can expect them to advise you on. They arent there to test a design principle, only that the vehicle presented to
them complies with the basic regulations in the IVA manual. If its likely to fall apart in 100miles it will fail. But if built well any design is
capable of passing.
[Edited on 22-5-19 by loggyboy]
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rcx718
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| posted on 23/5/19 at 07:01 AM |
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I've been following the IVA manual exactly. The issue I've had is that my build is a 4x4 space framed buggy and the IVA rules are just not
designed for this kind of vehicle.
Eg, exterior projections, manual says something like: wheel arches are considered to be filled. Ie don't need to have continious bodywork within
the wheel arches. Well if your vehicle has 15" of suspension travel and 31" tyres, then that amounts to a huge hole with moving engine
parts behind it, which is legal according to the rules.
The floorline rule is another one. Tall vehicle with 4-link suspension means the floor line is very high. An impact with a small pedestrian means the
pedestrian goes straight under into an area that is completely exempt from the "exterior projections" rules.
In both cases the specific rules have been met, but the vehicle, in my opinion, is unsafe. At the beginning of the manual is a general clause that, if
I recall correctly, allows the DVSA tester to fail a vehicle they deem unsafe, even if it meets all the rules.
Hence I thought a chat would be the way to go. As well as doing everything I can to make the vehicle safe beyond what the rules say.
[Edited on 23/5/19 by rcx718]
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gremlin1234
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| posted on 23/5/19 at 10:29 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by rcx718 my build is a 4x4 space framed buggy and the IVA rules are just not designed for this kind of vehicle.
the heavy quadricycle rules may cover this type of vehicle better, but you would be restricted to 15kw, (20bhp), and max weight 400kg
these are covered by the msva 'motorcycle sva'
dvsa also publish a guidance booklet "individual vehicle approval iva for cars help to get a pass"
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/individual-vehicle-approval-iva-for-cars-help-to-get-a-pass/individual-vehicle-approval-i
va-for-cars-help-to-get-a-pass
edit: make link work
[Edited on 23/5/19 by gremlin1234]
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