The UK's New Type Approval Duties: eCoC Under Assimilated Regulation 2018/858
The legal foundation for UK eCoCs
The UK's eCoC mandate flows from Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2018/858 — the EU type approval framework regulation kept on in UK law after Brexit. Under it, from 5 July 2026 manufacturers must make the Certificate of Conformity available to the VCA as structured electronic data once the vehicle is built, without undue delay and free of charge.
This regulation took over from the earlier Directive 2007/46/EC (now defunct) and sets the overarching framework for vehicle type approval, market surveillance and conformity obligations in the UK.
The GB and UK(NI) type approval schemes
The UK runs two type approval schemes side by side:
GB Type Approval (g11)
Covers vehicles sold in Great Britain. Since February 2026, all M and N category vehicle types have had to hold a full GB type approval (g11), with provisional approvals now lapsed. O category vehicles must secure full GB approval by February 2027.
UK(NI) Type Approval (n11)
Covers vehicles sold in Northern Ireland, which stays aligned with the EU type approval framework. Vehicles approved under the UK(NI) scheme bear the n11 approval authority code.
Dual marking and Northern Ireland
In December 2025 the UK Government set out its plan to require dual GB and EU type approval marking on vehicles placed on the Great Britain market. The effect would be that any vehicle sold in GB could also be sold in Northern Ireland without a separate approval.
On the eCoC side, manufacturers with dual-marked vehicles have to produce both UK and EU eCoCs from a single data set. For dual-marked vehicles, only the GB eCoC has to be submitted to the VCA.
The key regulations at a glance
- Assimilated Reg (EU) 2018/858 — makes the eCoC mandatory from 5 July 2026
- Implementing Reg (EU) 2021/133 — defines the eCoC data format and how it is exchanged
- Implementing Reg (EU) 2024/1061 — adds further eCoC implementation detail
- SI 2025 No. 661 — the GB type approval amendment regulations
A multi-stage derogation for body builders
Acknowledging how involved multi-stage builds are, the VCA has granted a temporary derogation: second-stage manufacturers (vehicle body builders) may obtain multi-stage approvals before the base vehicle manufacturer has secured full GB type approval.
- For M and N category vehicles, the derogation runs until 1 August 2026
- For O category vehicles, it runs until 1 August 2027
- It doesn't apply when the same manufacturer holds both the base and the completed vehicle approvals
The EU-format CoC derogation is closing
A derogation allows EU-format CoCs to be used in Great Britain up to 1 July 2026. Beyond that date, only GB eCoCs lodged with the VCA will be accepted, so manufacturers still leaning on EU-format CoCs need to move across to the UK IVI format before the deadline.
eCoC EU² — made for UK regulatory compliance
eCoC EU² software is built to cover the full breadth of UK eCoC obligations: