Some people believe that Recreational Boats are Coast Guard Approved (or certified).

Not True: The Coast Guard does not certify or approve recreational boats.  The terms US Coast Guard Certified and US Coast Guard Approved have specific meanings defined by law.  Recreational boats are certified, but it is the builder or manufacturer who must certify that their boats meet the requirements of the Federal Regulations.

Do not put on your web site that your boats are US Coast Guard Approved or that your factory is US Coast Guard Inspected!

I keep getting asked, how do I get my boats Coast Guard Certified, or Coast Guard Approved? Or they ask, how do I get the Coast Guard to inspect my boats? The Coast Guard does not certify or approve recreational boats. They may send a representative to your factory to help you comply with the regulations, but it is not an inspection, and it does not mean your boats are Approved or Certified. The terms US Coast Guard Certified and US Coast Guard Approved have specific meanings defined by law.   Later I will explain what they mean, but first I will talk about how this affects recreational boats.

For those of you not in the USA, other countries do this differently. In Europe boats must be certified by a Notifying Body to carry the CE Mark, in order to be sold. Go to Ike's List and find the link under Regulations, Standards: International. In Canada they must meet the Canadian Standards

Certification: Recreational boats are certified, but it is the builder or manufacturer who must certify that their boats meet the requirements of the Federal Regulations.  If your boat has to meet some of the Federal Regulations (not necessarily all) then you must put a label on it that says:

"The manufacturer certifies that this boat meets the Federal Regulations in effect on the date of certification." or words like on the label below.

Labels: See Labels. 

For example, if you have to meet loading and flotation, it must have a certification label, or if you must meet fuel and electrical, you must have a certification label.

Where do I get the labels, and where do I put the label?  You simply have them made.  Anyone who makes labels can make them for you.  Just as with capacity labels, you have them made. They must have the correct wording.  That's about it. They can go anywhere on the boat. No location is specified. They can be combined with the capacity labels, or they can be separate.  

You should of course, put them where they can be seen, somewhere near the helm. They do no good if they are in a locker or behind something. I have found them in all kinds of places which I find baffling. Why? Put them near the helm where people can see them. They can be combined with the capacity labels as well.

Recreational Boats: Recreational boats are manufactured in volume, that is, the typical manufacturer makes multiple copies of a boat, ranging from a handful to a thousand. Recreational boats are not Coast Guard Certified or Approved, and even use of the words Coast Guard Approved can get you cited for violating the law. For something to be Certified or Approved there must be a law or regulation that specifies what items must be certified or approved, and the process for getting them certified or approved. Recreational boats on the other hand are self certified. To inspect or test all those individual boats would require an army of engineers or inspectors because there are over 4000 boat manufacturers and hundreds more importers of boats in the USA. The manpower and man hours that would be needed to accomplish this would be staggering.  About 600,000 boats are sold every year in the USA, so self certification is the best way to be sure they all meet the Federal safety standards. Occasionally, if the Coast Guard suspects a boat model may not be in compliance, they will obtain one and send it to a lab for testing. If it does not pass the tests then the manufacturer must do a defect notification campaign (recall). See the page on recalls.

Coast Guard Certified; Now what does Coast Guard certified mean? Some commercial vessels are required by law to be inspected by the US Coast Guard. The builder submits plans and if satisfactory then builds the vessel. The build is inspected at regular intervals until complete. If they pass the inspections (which may include some tests, such as a stability test) they are given a certificate of inspection which the owner must then post in a place where it can be seen by passengers. This is Coast Guard Certification. Most of these are one-off builds. Rarely are they manufactured boats, unlike recreational boats. The builder may build a few for a specific customer, but usually it is just one.

A few other items get Coast Guard Certification, such as MSDs, (marine toilets).  The manufacturer submits the specifications to the Coast Guard. The item may be tested by an independent laboratory (such as Underwriters Laboratories) for performance. If the item meets the specifications and passes the tests, the Coast Guard issues a certification. The item must display a certification label on the item.

Coast Guard Approval How is that different from Coast Guard Certification?  Approval applies to certain items you must carry on board a boat. This includes things such as Fire Extinguishers, Personal Flotation Devices, and visual distress signals.  Also some courses and schools for professional mariners are Coast Guard Approved. 

Approval means that the Coast Guard has not only looked at the item and inspected it, but also tested it to see that it meets all of the regulations that apply.  The testing is usually carried out by an independent laboratory such as Underwriters Laboratories.

This Web site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of educational, economic, and scientific issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this Web site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit educational purposes. For more information see: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this Web site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.