Design rule demands added administrative layer for manufacturers
Two new tyre-related Australian Design Rules (ADRs) that threatened to reduce flexibility for tyres fitted to vehicles at the time of manufacture have been altered following industry consultation, Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA) reports
ADRs 95 and 96 were introduced in July to facilitate the introduction of International Whole of Vehicle Type Approval (IWVTA) for light vehicles.
HVIA chief technical officer Paul Caus says new certification information requested by the Department of Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) following their introduction did not increase technical stringency but did significantly increase the administration burden for all manufacturers.
“After representations from HVIA and other associations, the Department has now issued advice indicating that they will alter certification paperwork to only ask for assurances again,” he says.
HVIA recently advocated to have the Road Vehicle Standards Act delayed
Previously, certification documents only needed to indicate via an assurance that tyres being fitted to the vehicle were compliant to a recognised standard (e.g. UN, DOT, AS or JIS.)
It was then the responsibility of the manufacturer to maintain more detailed records as to which tyres are fitted to a vehicle.
“The introduction of these new ADRs saw new certification information requested by the Department that required the UN certification number marked on the tyre to be fitted during production, or if not “E marked” required that a test report be included with submission,” Mr Caus explained.
“Long story short, we challenged the need for all this, as tyres are effectively a consumable.
“In commercial vehicle applications, it is not unusual that tyres are worn out six months after initial delivery.
“While it is known there are poor and non-compliant tyres out there, such a heavy hand was not warranted.
“The problem is not usually what is fitted at time of manufacture but rather the rubbish that gets put on afterwards.”