Construction Requirements

All pleasure craft and all non-pleasure craft of not more than 15 gross tonnage must meet the construction requirements of the Small Vessel Regulations if they are:

• propelled or designed to be propelled by an engine;
• permanently fitted with an auxiliary engine; or
• fitted with a fuel-burning appliance or system that uses gaseous fuel, liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas or naphtha.

There are a few exceptions in the application of the construction requirements, mainly:

• Pleasure craft of more than 24 metres in length must be built in accordance with the applicable recommended practices and standards of a marine classification society or any other organization that publishes appropriate rules or standards, and must also comply with sections 701, 703 and 704 of the Regulations.
• Personal watercraft may be built according to the standard ISO 13590 Small Craft —Personal Watercraft — Construction and System Installation Requirements and sections 701, 702, 704 to 709 and 711.
• Tugs must be built according to the requirements of the Hull Construction Regulations, Marine Machinery Regulations and other applicable Transport Canada Regulations and standards. The Critical Safety Requirements of Part 6 of the Small Vessel Regulations also apply to tugs.

The construction requirements are stated in Part 7 of the Regulations. The Regulations also incorporate by reference a number of documents that must be complied with as a result. The main document is the Construction Standards for Small Vessels (TP 1332).

For ease of reference, the construction requirements of the Small Vessel Regulations have been included in information boxes in the Construction Standards for Small Vessels (TP 1332).

Pleasure craft must comply with the construction requirements that where in force at the time the vessel was built, as stated in section 702 of the Regulations. If the pleasure craft was built or imported before May 2010, it must comply with one of the previous editions of the Construction Standards for Small Vessels. Previous editions of the construction standards were published in 1974, 1978, 1999, 2002 and 2004.

Non-pleasure craft built between April 1, 2005 and the coming into force of the new Small Vessel Regulations (April 29, 2010) must comply with the 2004 edition of the Construction Standards for Small Vessels (TP 1332) as stated in paragraph 707(2) of the Regulations.

As stated in section 708 of the Regulations, non-pleasure craft built before April 1, 2005 must meet the safety objectives of the 2004 edition of the Construction Standards for Small Vessels, or to the recommended practices and standards that provide a level of safety at least equivalent to that provided by the 2004 edition of the construction standards for safety critical elements. These vessels must also comply, as far as is reasonable and practicable, with then non-critical safety elements of the 2004 edition of the Construction Standards for Small Vessels (TP 1332).

As stated in section 4 of standard TP 1332, monohull vessels of not more than 6 metres that are subject to swamping must be fitted with flotation. Information on buoyancy material is available.