Assessment of the production process

If you are a manufacturer of vehicles, systems, parts or technical units for the automotive sector, you have to have EC, ECE or national type-approvals in order to sell/register products in the EU and/or countries that have signed an ECE agreement.

As a manufacturer, you have to demonstrate that the products are produced in accordance with the type-approval concerned. In order to demonstrate CoP, you have to submit the required documents to us (see Initial Assessment (IA) in the Conformity of Production form).

We assess these documents and if these satisfy our requirements, we will issue a ‘Communication concerning the Initial Assessment’ (valid for a maximum of15 months). This is how you, as a manufacturer, demonstrate that we have assessed the production process and have accepted it for production in conformity with the relevant type-approval specifications.

If necessary, we can decide to plan an audit , before deciding about the Initial Assessment. 

Audit

Manufacturers are visited by us for an on-site audit, within 15 months after the issue of the “Communication concerning the Initial Assessment”.

We will issue a ‘Compliance Statement’ if the findings of this audit show that you produce/work in accordance with the applicable legislation.

You cannot apply for a type-approval without a valid ‘Communication concerning the Initial Assessment’ or a ‘Compliance Statement’.       

Applying for a CoP or reporting changes

You can apply for a CoP or notify a change using the Conformity of Production form. 
This form can also be requested via [email protected].    

Surveillance  of the production process

We supervise approvals granted by it by means of:

• document assessment,
• audits and
• a product assessment if necessary.

How often supervision takes place (frequency) depends on any provisions in respect thereof in the legislation as well as a risk analysis carried out by us.

The risk factors may consist, among other things, of the following:

• the absence of an ISO certificate,
• results from previous assessments, 
• the nature of the product, 
• the moment of the most recent audit,
• complaints and
• information concerning product deviations known to us.
  
  We carry out the audits itself, but we also have these carried out by RDW partners or technical services (category C) designated for this purpose by us. This means that manufacturers may also be visited by these organisations.

Contribution Fee

Since 2012, RDW charges an annual contribution fee to manufacturers with respect to conformity of production (COP). These fees covers the costs of work performed by RDW which is not directly related to the audits onsite. Nevertheless, such administrative work does have a direct relationship regarding our COP activities.  

We need such necessary capacity and resources to do this job properly. The last couple of years, there has been a significant growth in these activities. Partly due to the increasing complexity of recently introduced legislations and the introduction of the new European Type Approval Framework Regulation 2018/858. Therefore, we have been forced (in some ways) to increase the annual contribution fee.  

The following prices apply for the year 2021:           

• Manufacturers based in Europe €782;             
• Manufacturers based outside Europe €1150;

The differences in costs is based on the necessary administration involved in handling and invoicing orders, as well as the work involved in supervising manufacturers outside Europe.   

The annual contribution fee covers the following:

• Information provision not related to an order, by email, letter or phone;             
• Assessing and editing your company/personal details;             
• Assessing and adding products (regulations);             
• Assessing and changing/adding production locations;            
• Issuing Compliance Statement after an administrative change and/or verification audit;            
• Providing information about (future) relevant changes to regulations and legislations;           
• Informing and consulting with EU member states (ETAES) and UNECE about regulations and existing type-approvals.  

Products or services which are not included in the annual contribution fee:

• Type Approval Statements and/or licences;       
•  Issuing Compliance Statement after IA audit;       
•  All costs relating to an audit onsite or an extensive administrative audit (Aplus).  

Early March, the invoices regarding the annual contribution fee will be sent.  

Should you have any questions you can contact RDW by email at [email protected].

More information 

We have a document for obtaining/retaining the CoP with specific information on the requirements, assessments and procedures of the RDW. This document can be requested by sending an email to [email protected].