To ensure that you are driving in compliance with current legislation in terms of vehicles, you must absolutely undergo a regular technical ...
To ensure that you are driving in compliance with current legislation in terms of vehicles, you must absolutely undergo a regular technical inspection. To this end, several points will be checked, such as the chassis, equipment or the LED headlamp that makes up the lighting.
What are the check points for the technical inspection?
The frequency
The statutory technical inspection of the vehicle must be carried out every two years in an accredited inspection center, a certified technical center. The EU is planning a greater degree of harmonization of the rules to make them compulsory on an annual basis. These plans are still at a relatively early stage.
For new vehicles, the first test must be carried out within 6 months before the fourth year of registration. There is also a separate pollution test for commercial vehicles more than 4 years old, to be carried out on an annual basis. During the test, the lighting will be checked: make sure you have the right LED headlamp.
You will not receive any official notification that your vehicle has to pass the test, so you should make a note of the date. However, once you have completed the first TC, the center will normally send you a reminder when the next one is due.
Vehicle sale
There are special rules governing the sale of a vehicle and the inspection technique.
If you sell your car and it is at least 4 years old, the seller must provide a test certificate dated no later than 6 months after the sale. This period is reduced to two months if a new test is required or if faults have been found such as in the LED headlight. This requirement does not apply if you sell the vehicle to a garage or dealer.
The test may also have been carried out in another EU country, provided it was carried out within the last 6 months and registered in that country. If the car fails the test, it is valid for two months from the date of the test.
There is no requirement that the vehicle must have passed the test or that the seller must undertake the necessary work to make it roadworthy, if it has failed due to the failure of an LED headlamp. You are entirely free to sell or buy a vehicle that has failed the test, provided the test was carried out within the specified time period.
For a vehicle less than 4 years old, it is possible to organize a voluntary test, which the seller or buyer may find useful. This test has no official status. If it has been registered in another country and not yet registered in France, then the existing registration document will suffice, ideally accompanied by a certificate of conformity.
A technical inspection carried out in another country is not valid in France. In addition, you should be aware that there are regulations in force concerning the installation of LED headlights.
The control elements
The dual objective of the test is vehicle safety and pollution control. The test is carried out without dismantling any part of the vehicle, by visual inspection or performance testing.
Thus, during an examination lasting approximately 45 minutes, ten main functions will be checked: vehicle identification, lighting, braking, steering, visibility, suspension, bodywork, pollution and noise, safety and main mechanical components.
At the end of the vehicle examination, you will receive a report listing the defects found, such as the LED headlamp. Some of these may be mentioned for information purposes, without affecting the test result, so that your vehicle has the opportunity to undergo a routine check.
In order to comply with a European directive, since 20 May 2018 the test checklist has been increased from 124 to 132. Many checks also need to be examined in more detail, with 606 checkpoints, compared to 453 under the previous system.
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