Definition between a commercial van used for camping and a campervan?
Duh said
07:16 AM Oct 9, 2013
I know it would probably differ from state to state, but when does say a commercial van become a campervan and have to be registered as such.
Lets say I buy an empty commercial van and fit a bed in it , I have see one used by a bloke that he had fixed an ordinary single bed down one side bolted to the floor, removed the bed wire and replaced it with three ply, then a foam mattress on top. For a fridge he had a portable Engel secured by brackets, a 12V Aux battery and charger, portable gas stove (those little ones with the gas cannisters) and plastic boxes with his food and kitchen utensils, plates, cups, bowls, etc. His clothing was in plastic boxes under his bed.
Does this make his van a campervan? Any one know what the law states about this or at which point does it change to a campervan?
I have often wondered about this, perhaps it may be having things fixed inside like a fridge or gas stove etc that would have to have a compliance certificate (ie; gas or electric).
PhillT said
08:04 AM Oct 9, 2013
30 or so years ago (days of the Kombi) to be eligible for the then reduced license fee (??) it had to have 1 bed and a fixed sink.
This refers to W.A. only
Duh said
09:48 AM Oct 9, 2013
Thanks Phill,
I was mainly wondering whether there is a point where by law it must be called a mobile home (campervan) or commercial vehicle.
I once bought a Hi Ace commercial van and had it converted professionally to a campervan, once the conversion had finished it had to be weighed (tare) due to the extra tare weight and go over the pits and be re-classified as a mobile caravan with a higher tare than an empty commercial van.
Sounds like it may have to be re-weighed and go over the pits for a new tare for registration and insurance purposes.
Big Gorilla said
05:45 PM Oct 9, 2013
Vic, I experienced this situation in Tasmania. I purchased an Iveco Daily Van in Sydney, drove it to Tasmania then registered it in Tassie when the NSW rego expired. I had to get a roadworthy, and being a commercial vehicle, I completed at Stat. Dec. that the Iveco would be for private use. That reduced the overall annual registration down from the cost of a Commercial vehicle. I then had it professionally fitted out as a Motorhome.
I can't find anything on the Services Tasmania website that tells me I have to have the vehicle reclassified. I did make a personal inquiry and was told to take the MH to an approved Inspection workshop, they would issue a Certificate, then submit it to State Transport. However I can't find any requirement to do this, so I have done nothing about it. As you say, it's probably a State to State thing, but as far as I can see in Tasmania, I'm not obliged to take any action.
Of course I could be wrong and stand corrected if anyone can point me to the legislation requiring change of category from a private use commercial vehicle to a MH.............Ken
VKPORTABLE said
09:22 PM Oct 9, 2013
The Coaster I had was classified as a caravan on it's registration. Yeah I know... Caravan's don't have motors! I wasn't going to argue with them though.
A guy I know brought an old school bus - and went about decking it out by himself.
I did advise him to have appropriate people do any structural, electrical, plumbing and gas work, since he was a handyman he went about it himself - did a top job and followed all regulations as such, but didn't have those numbers to sign off on the work with. He tried to register it, wasn't going to happen. He mentioned it to me one night during the course of a convo and I suggested that he find some 'friends' who worked in each field, get them to inspect it and sign off on the work, which he did. That covered that aspect, until he presented it to be registered again.
He had modified the door and some other structural things in between this, and they again refused to register it until he had an engineering cert for the work, which no one would give him. So it had to be all done over again.
Now this is in Vic, I am sure it would be similar in other states as well. But any structural work will require an engineering cert. And any electrical, plumbing, and gas work needs to be done by a registered tradie and they also provide cert on the work.
Big Gorilla said
09:47 PM Oct 9, 2013
Certainly important any electrical, plumbing, and gas work needs to be carried out and/or certified by a suitably qualified tradesman..
Duh said
10:06 PM Oct 9, 2013
Thanks for the feedback BG and VK, in WA we can have a commercial vehicle for private use, just a matter of ticking a box on our rego, but if it has been professionally converted then it needs to have a weigh bridge certificate giving the new tare and with the gas and electrical fitting certificates supplied by the conversion company it then has to be inspected by the transport authority to be classified as a mobile caravan (MOBCVN ) which gives cheaper rego.
This is usually done by the conversion company, but as I have time on my hands and rather than wait until they had the time to take it in had it weighed and inspected at the pits did it myself, they provided vouchers for the cost and the necessary paperwork etc for it to be done. This was for a Hi Ace I had professionally converted.
What do they classify a troopy that has fixed beds and maybe a portable engel or similar etc?
moamajohn said
04:40 AM Oct 10, 2013
Gday Vic.First up the comments seem to be digressing from your original question ,nevertheless lets deal with them .Any state will req all or any installations ,structural mods etc to be certified by the relevant person and that applies to vehicle, domestic or industrial etc.Not one of us would knowingly want to purchase something that was dodgy !Now ...your first sentence asked about commercial reg etc .As the was word indicates the vehicle is generally used in the pursuit of income [hence the word commerce] That is to say your troopy may be driven around Aus with all the touring gear including a jason recliner.But if you bunged a nice tool box in the back and fitted a vice to the back bumper and derived a regular income along the way, the ATO would accept that you are a mobile tradie and as such you would need to have a commercial rego for Ins reasons.Not to mention that the trip may be tax deductible.I can only speak of Victoria here ,but the only reason you would entertain comm rego is for ins purposes related to income. I decided 4 yrs ago that I was tired of utes vans etc and I had a works trailer built, heavy duty all round racks etc and all sign written to suit. I lasted 4 weeks before a cop pulled me over and informed me that I could not use my vehicle rego no on the trailer.I argued that i spoke to the RTA and they said it was 100ml under length for separate rego. He said I was right till I had it signwritten as this indicated that it was for the use of gaining income .so it needed its own commercial rego as had it come adrift from my vehicle and did bad things to others so to speak I would not be covered !He said it was purely to pay the RTA for the ins of said trailer.I see no reason to pay additional money for rego if you are able to go private .John
Wombat 280 said
06:03 AM Oct 10, 2013
I believe in NSW it's the weight that counts .Obviously you will need all the compliance certificates once it's complete not that the RMS worry about it there more concerned about the weight but the insurance company will and so will some van parks especially it's involved in a fire and their insurer is looking for some one to carry the can. Once built a HD box trailer and because it went over the weight by 25 kg the inspector wanted brakes fitted , looked at the rules and didn't see any requirement to have a spare wheel so took it off the "A" frame and got it reassessed and it came in under the weight for brakes. Goes without saying when getting any conversion weight make sure you only have the basics on board no water, food, spare wheels, bull bars extra batteries, gas bottles, tool kits etc, , may save you hundreds in rego
Duh said
06:09 AM Oct 10, 2013
Thanks John, mine is a hypothetical question, so if a person bought a trade van but only used it privately and had say a fridge or other item fitted by an electrician and certified, but perhaps fitted a bed and cupboards themselves what could the van be sold as?
A bit OT, but years ago when I was living in NSW, I had a station wagon, but the RTA over there then considered it a commercial vehicle even though used privately and I had to pay commercial registration, despite telling them I was only using it as a family wagon (had all the correct seats etc). I wonder if that is still the case or have they repealed that for private (non commercial) use.
I know it would probably differ from state to state, but when does say a commercial van become a campervan and have to be registered as such.
Lets say I buy an empty commercial van and fit a bed in it , I have see one used by a bloke that he had fixed an ordinary single bed down one side bolted to the floor, removed the bed wire and replaced it with three ply, then a foam mattress on top. For a fridge he had a portable Engel secured by brackets, a 12V Aux battery and charger, portable gas stove (those little ones with the gas cannisters) and plastic boxes with his food and kitchen utensils, plates, cups, bowls, etc. His clothing was in plastic boxes under his bed.
Does this make his van a campervan? Any one know what the law states about this or at which point does it change to a campervan?
I have often wondered about this, perhaps it may be having things fixed inside like a fridge or gas stove etc that would have to have a compliance certificate (ie; gas or electric).
This refers to W.A. only
Thanks Phill,
I was mainly wondering whether there is a point where by law it must be called a mobile home (campervan) or commercial vehicle.
I once bought a Hi Ace commercial van and had it converted professionally to a campervan, once the conversion had finished it had to be weighed (tare) due to the extra tare weight and go over the pits and be re-classified as a mobile caravan with a higher tare than an empty commercial van.
Sounds like it may have to be re-weighed and go over the pits for a new tare for registration and insurance purposes.
Vic, I experienced this situation in Tasmania. I purchased an Iveco Daily Van in Sydney, drove it to Tasmania then registered it in Tassie when the NSW rego expired. I had to get a roadworthy, and being a commercial vehicle, I completed at Stat. Dec. that the Iveco would be for private use. That reduced the overall annual registration down from the cost of a Commercial vehicle. I then had it professionally fitted out as a Motorhome.
I can't find anything on the Services Tasmania website that tells me I have to have the vehicle reclassified. I did make a personal inquiry and was told to take the MH to an approved Inspection workshop, they would issue a Certificate, then submit it to State Transport. However I can't find any requirement to do this, so I have done nothing about it. As you say, it's probably a State to State thing, but as far as I can see in Tasmania, I'm not obliged to take any action.
Of course I could be wrong and stand corrected if anyone can point me to the legislation requiring change of category from a private use commercial vehicle to a MH.............Ken
A guy I know brought an old school bus - and went about decking it out by himself.
I did advise him to have appropriate people do any structural, electrical, plumbing and gas work, since he was a handyman he went about it himself - did a top job and followed all regulations as such, but didn't have those numbers to sign off on the work with. He tried to register it, wasn't going to happen. He mentioned it to me one night during the course of a convo and I suggested that he find some 'friends' who worked in each field, get them to inspect it and sign off on the work, which he did. That covered that aspect, until he presented it to be registered again.
He had modified the door and some other structural things in between this, and they again refused to register it until he had an engineering cert for the work, which no one would give him. So it had to be all done over again.
Now this is in Vic, I am sure it would be similar in other states as well. But any structural work will require an engineering cert. And any electrical, plumbing, and gas work needs to be done by a registered tradie and they also provide cert on the work.
Certainly important any electrical, plumbing, and gas work needs to be carried out and/or certified by a suitably qualified tradesman..
Thanks for the feedback BG and VK, in WA we can have a commercial vehicle for private use, just a matter of ticking a box on our rego, but if it has been professionally converted then it needs to have a weigh bridge certificate giving the new tare and with the gas and electrical fitting certificates supplied by the conversion company it then has to be inspected by the transport authority to be classified as a mobile caravan (MOBCVN ) which gives cheaper rego.
This is usually done by the conversion company, but as I have time on my hands and rather than wait until they had the time to take it in had it weighed and inspected at the pits did it myself, they provided vouchers for the cost and the necessary paperwork etc for it to be done. This was for a Hi Ace I had professionally converted.
What do they classify a troopy that has fixed beds and maybe a portable engel or similar etc?
Thanks John, mine is a hypothetical question, so if a person bought a trade van but only used it privately and had say a fridge or other item fitted by an electrician and certified, but perhaps fitted a bed and cupboards themselves what could the van be sold as?
A bit OT, but years ago when I was living in NSW, I had a station wagon, but the RTA over there then considered it a commercial vehicle even though used privately and I had to pay commercial registration, despite telling them I was only using it as a family wagon (had all the correct seats etc). I wonder if that is still the case or have they repealed that for private (non commercial) use.