BSS- Renewal Approaches!

[jimbo]

Just spent a few days on the boat and decided to start looking round her, with my BSS expiring in March 09 I thought I would be ahead of the game so to speak! I knew my extinguisers would need servicing so I have made arrangements to get that little job done. Then came the unexpected find! My gas bottle tails will have to be replaced as they will be out of date at renewal time and also the fuel line flexable pipes will also have to be changed for the very same reason. Not big problems I know but it's amasing how these little jobs keep popping up!

Wondered if anyone else is also approaching renewal time and what little jobs you have found to do??

[senator]

Interesting and indicative of the BSS at present. Low level ventilation is advisory only and not a BSS fail, on most boats it is a physical imposibility to after fit the required ventilation.

Fire extinguishers have to be certified to a certain standard and be in date, (5 years) or recharged and certified, but the engine bay extinguishers are not covered by the BSS, mine failed on having a certain type of automatic extinguisher in the engine compartment, sealed from the accomodation and the other end of the boat to sleeping accomodation, there is not even a catogary on the paper for it so he wrote it in. At present the extinguisher in the engine bay is sufficient to extinguish the fire, at least by recommended calculations, in order to gain sufficiant cover with new extinguishers I would need 2, this is not recommended by the manufacturers as if one opperates before the other there may not be sufficiant agent to put out the fire. so I cn spend a few thousand on a linked sea fire system, to make the boat as safe as it is now or £80 and pass the BSS but the boat will burn.

The examiner has also insisted on cutting holes to access the point that the deck filler and vents for the fuel lines are, this is covered by the BSS and the guidence is that the boat should be marked as a fail untill the items can be inspected.

It appears that there is still no level playing field to the BSS and although the examiner I used came highly recommended he still failed elements on the boat that are nothing to do with the BSS.

Considering the BSS has been about for in excess of 10 years now isn't it time they got their act together?

Ian

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[jimbo]

Pete I think the date stamped on the various pipes is the date of manufacture, they then have a five year lifespan from that date.( Shame really as my pipes look like they were only fitted yesterday)!! But rules is rules I guess!

The mind boggles how they work out the ventilation lark, I have those UFO type vents on my boat but also the gap at the front and back of the sunroof are taken into consideration and there is a small sign warning not to block these areas from her hireboat days..

[senator]

Fuel lines have no requirment to be changed by date, the BSS for them has changed a bit in the latest set of revisions, if you have a look at the BSS guide it will put all the pieces in but basically.

Fuel lines are inspected for the correct number and condition.

Fuel filler hoses must be suitable for the fuel in use and stamped with one of 3 numbers or accompanied by a declaration from a reasonable source as to their suitability,

A reasonable amount of hose (reasonable is not defined) must be viewable to ascertain the condition of the hose.

Changes so I am told were made as US boats comming in did not have the number required by BSS but were actually of higher quality, dealers were having to change them before they could sell them.

Diesel hose does not require any stamps as long as it appears to be the correct type but in that case 100% of the hose must be available for inspection.

Fuel filler hoses must fall continuosly from the filler deck fitting to the tank so as no fuel can be retianed in the pipe.

more difficult is the requirment that they now have to inspect the hose to deck filler connection and hose to vent connection, something that is often well hidden away and that the vent hose if the vent is as normal positioned below the filler cap must rise to at least the same level as the deck filler before dropping back to the vent.

Ian

[jimbo]

Thanks for the info Ian, that has just saved me a bob or two!

[senator]

Have a look at this Jimbo, Guide is in PDF form and seperated up into sections, Is fairly comprehensive as long as the examiner in question has actually read it.

http://www.boatsafetyscheme.com/site/2n ... de_212.asp

It is section 2 that covers the fuel system

Ian

[jimbo]

Thanks for that Ian, nice to see it in black and white. Makes for interesting reading that.

[Antares_9]

"Changes so I am told were made as US boats comming in did not have the number required by BSS but were actually of higher quality"

Exactly so Ian, these boats would have been made to U.S.C.G. certification which makes the BSS loook easy to conform with.

[SteveO]

I am watching this post with interest because my Seamaster 813 will need a re-test next April. I am hoping for not too many nasty shocks, but I don't know what has changed since the original test and you never know what the individual examiner's interpretation and favourite areas are going to be. I am also wondering about putting in for the test early so that, if any work is needed, I can get this done over the winter and get straignt onto the water next Spring.

Regards

Steve

[Guest]

Diesel hose does not require any stamps as long as it appears to be the correct type but in that case 100% of the hose must be available for inspection.

That differs from what I was told Ian - that diesel fuel lines must also confirm to the relevant ISO number. However as Silver Dream had had her fuel system completely re-piped by the Volvo dealer during the course of our purchase we were hopeful the lines they used would conform, and did, so it was a non-issue.

[pks1702]

Fuel Lines would have been an issue on Kiki in the future according to Broom who did some recall work.

Although there was no BSS requirement on Kiki as a new boat Broom did a great job for me in getting the builder to foot the bill for changes that would allow her to meet a future BSS. This included changing her brand new Turkish Fuel hoses for those stamped with an ISO number.

[jimbo]

My fuel lines are the proper type with the relevant stamping on them, the only thing is they have a 1999 date stamp on but they are in very good nic so I hope they will pass??

[Guest chriscraft]

hi thought i d post this for info.

had my first bss this april,diesel fuel line s have to be marked with right iso numbers,the exception the examiner told me is the fuel intake hose and breather hose as these are under no pump pressure,if they are original as on my boat circa 1983,it can assumed that they are fit for purpose. I had to get a ruling from the E A about my spill hoses as they were rubber and i couldn,t get a iso 4071 hose small enough to fit on the injecters.T he solution was to fit original spec hoses and fit a non-return valve in the spill lline to isolate them from the main return line(engine is a 6.2 v8 gm hummer engine mk1) trev

[senator]

Sorry for the confusion but I did post up the link to the BSS Guide as well to clarify,

It is Deisel fuel filler and vent hoses that do not need a stamp, not fuel lines. the fuel lines need to be the correct number.

Petrol Filler hose and Vents are a lot more stringent which was my reason for stating it.

Ian

[newf]

If you have any issues with your BSS exam there is an option to contact the BSS office and complain. This can initiate , as in my case and if they feel it is warranted, a visit from one of their chief examiners .

In my case, which is still ongoing at the moment so I don't want to elaborate to much, I purchased my boat with a cert. which became due for renewal in Sept. The exam bought to light issues that obviously should have been picked up at the original exam and some that could have happened since.

My case is still in the process but believe me once you complain they really do a thorough job.

Newf