Q l am buying a BMC FG 550 van plated at
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5.5 tons. It is fitted with side windows and has four fixed (but folding) seats. Could this vehicle be considered a dual-purpose vehicle therefore exempting it from operators' licensing?
If so, must I operate it at a gross weight below 3,5 tons?
AThe vehicle concerned must not exceed 2,030kg (1.998 tons) unladen if it is to fall under this classification. If its unladen weight is appropriate, then there are two more sets of criteria, one of which must be met; one is the need for the vehicle to have four-wheel drive and the other refers to the construction of the vehicle.
It is assumed that your vehicle does not have four wheel drive and therefore can be considered a dual-purpose vehicle only if it does not exceed 2,030kg unladen and can meet the second set of conditions.
These are that it must be fitted with a rigid roof, with or without a sliding panel. Further, the area to the rear of the driver's seat must be permanently fitted with at least one row of transverse seats (fixed or folding) for two or more passengers and these seats must be properly sprung or cushioned and provided with, upholstered back rests attached either to the seats or the side of the vehicle.
The vehicle must also be lit en each side and at the rear by a window or windows of glass or other transparent material having an area or aggregate area of not less than 1,850 sqcm on each side and 770sqcm at the rear.
The distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the back rest of the transverse seats (or the back rest of the second row of seats if there are two rows) must, when the seats are ready for use, be • not less than one third of the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the rearmost part of the floor of the vehicle.
If your vehicle satisfies these conditions, as set out in Regulation 3(i) of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1973, then it is exempt from operators' licensing as provided for in paragraph 2 of , Schedule 1 of the Goods Vehicles (Operators Licenses) Regulations 1969. There are no conditions about the gross weight at which the vehicle must be operated.
The fact that it is already plated suggests that it is not a dual-purpose vehicle, and as such is not exempt from plating and testing.