GB Type Approval Scheme

This page was last updated on 4th March 2024

The GB type approval scheme is applicable for manufacturers wishing to place vehicles and components on the market in Great Britain.

Please note – the GB type approval scheme is not valid for use in Northern Ireland, where UK(NI) or EU type approvals must be used.

The GB type approval scheme is based on EU legislation as it was retained in UK law on 31^st December 2020 and any subsequent UK legislation that amends or supplements the retained EU legislation.

Currently, the GB type approval scheme applies only for the 2018/858 framework regulation covering motor vehicles and trailers in the M, N and O vehicle categories, and vehicle systems and components relating to these categories. Learn more about vehicle categories here.

GB Approval from existing e11 approval

Holders of e11 approvals issued before January 2021 (now deemed UK(NI) approvals) may choose to obtain, in addition, a GB type approval based on the existing UK(NI) approval.  This will be a new approval, but it will not be classed as a new type.

Small series approvals in the GB type approval scheme

Within the GB type approval scheme there are two simplified routes to approval available for vehicles produced in limited volumes, these are:

• GB Medium Series Approval – based upon the requirements previously defined as EU small series type approval in retained legislation. These approvals are currently only available for M1 or N1 vehicles where less than 1500 units are produced each year.
• GB Small Series Approval – a continuation of what was previously known as the national small series type approval scheme. This is available for all vehicle categories, with production limits of 250 or 500 units depending on category.
• Vehicles exceeding 4m in height (where the vehicle type solely consists of vehicle exceeding 4m high) which were originally approved as e11 NKS under 2007/46/EC (continuation of the same type) and migrated across to the GB scheme on or after 1 Jan 2021 as g11*NKS* approvals have production limits of 1000, 1200 or 2000 units for M2/M3, N2/N3 and O3/O4 categories respectively.

Manufacturer’s Representative

To hold a GB Type Approval the approval holder will need to be based in Great Britain.  If they are not, then a representative must be appointed who is.

A representative could be the approval holder or an additional third-party representative if the approval holder is not based in the required country.  The obligations on the representative where they are a third-party are set out in Article 15 of EU regulation 2018/858 as retained in the UK.