The Goods Vehicles (Plating and Testing) Regulations 1988

Certificates of temporary exemption

46.—(1) The person in charge of the Goods Vehicle Centre or a vehicle testing station may issue in respect of a vehicle a certificate of temporary exemption, by virtue of which that vehicle shall not, during the period specified in paragraph (2)(d), be subject to the provisions of section 46(1) or (2) of the 1972 Act, where—

(a) he is satisfied that by reason of exceptional circumstances, as defined in regulation 39(1) affecting either a vehicle testing station or the vehicle, an examination cannot be completed by a date fixed under these Regulations for carrying out the examination; and

(b) the use of the vehicle on or after that date would be unlawful by virtue of the said provisions.

(2) Every certificate of temporary exemption shall be on a form approved by the Secretary of State and shall be signed by a person duly authorised on his behalf and shall contain—

(a) in the case of a certificate issued for a motor vehicle, the registration mark (if any) exhibited on the vehicle or, if no such mark is so exhibited, the chassis or serial number marked on the vehicle or, if no such number is so marked, the identification mark which shall have been allotted to the vehicle by the Secretary of State in the notice of appointment relating to the first examination of the vehicle;

(b) in the case of a certificate issued for a trailer, the identification mark which shall have been allotted to the trailer by the Secretary of State in the notice of appointment (if any) relating to the first examination of the trailer or shall have otherwise been allotted to the trailer by the Secretary of State under these Regulations;

(c) the date on which the certificate is issued; and

(d) the period during which the vehicle is exempted from the provisions of section 46(1) or (2) of the 1972 Act so, however, that no such period shall exceed three months in duration.