Not sure how this applies to yours? Get a quote for my motorhome import and we will tell you before you spend anything.
What is a Certificate of Conformity?
It's the paper version of the vehicle's type approval. When a manufacturer gets a model approved, each vehicle built to that approval can be issued a CoC listing its identity and technical data: manufacturer, type, variant, weights, dimensions, emissions.
DVLA's INF106 leaflet explains why it wants one: "Before a vehicle can be registered and taxed, by law we need proof your vehicle meets environmental and safety regulations." The CoC is the first document on its list. DVLA's V355/5 guide adds that, for registration in Great Britain, applications currently need "type approval starting with 'e', 'p', 'g' or 'n'". The number in the type approval box on the CoC is what DVLA reads.
Why does a motorhome have more than one CoC?
Take a typical European motorhome. The chassis and cab come from a vehicle maker, say a Fiat Ducato or a Mercedes Sprinter. A converter then builds the habitation part on top: walls, beds, kitchen, washroom. Two companies, two stages, and potentially two CoCs: one for the base vehicle, one for the completed motorhome.
The one that describes the motorhome you're actually buying is the final-stage CoC. The Vehicle Certification Agency's application form for GB conversion IVA on a motorhome (form MR-004) says it plainly: "If your vehicle is a Motorhome, please provide the CoC for the final stage."
The V55/5 registration form knows about this too. Box 65 is "Stage of completion", to be taken "from the Certificate of Conformity (if shown)".
A base-vehicle CoC describes the vehicle as it left the first factory, before anyone built a kitchen in the back. The data DVLA copies onto your V55/5 should describe the motorhome you're registering, and that's the final-stage document.
Send us the details before you pay. We tell you what the import involves, then handle the customs, the NOVA and the DVLA paperwork.
When does an imported motorhome need a CoC?
It depends on age and where the motorhome was registered.
Under 10 years old. gov.uk's registration guidance asks for "proof of vehicle approval if the vehicle is under 10 years old (unless it's exempt from vehicle approval)". For a motorhome registered in the EU, gov.uk says a European Certificate of Conformity is how you "show you have approval for an EU-registered vehicle".
Left-hand drive and under 10. INF106 says an original EU CoC "must state that the speedometer shows miles per hour (imperial units) and that the vehicle is suitable for driving on the left-hand side of the road. If this is not shown then you'll require additional approval." For a left-hand drive EU motorhome, gov.uk says you'll also need a certificate of GB conversion IVA from the VCA, which has a £100 fee and its own motorhome form. That form is the one asking for the final-stage CoC.
Over 10 years old. gov.uk says a vehicle first registered or manufactured more than 10 years ago "might not need approval", and the VCA motorhome form says one over 10 years old "based on the date of first registration" is exempt from the VCA procedure. But see the next section.
Registered outside Europe. An American RV has no EU CoC. The VCA form says vehicles first registered outside Europe go to DVSA for Individual Vehicle Approval instead, and DVSA lists motor caravans among the vehicles eligible for Basic IVA.
Can a motorhome over 10 years old still need one?
Yes, for tax. gov.uk says you will need vehicle approval "to tax your vehicle if it was first registered on or after 1 March 2001 with EU type approval" and it is a light goods vehicle, or a light passenger vehicle "with a CO2 emissions figure in g/km". DVLA's INF106 puts it in motorhome terms without meaning to: it covers a vehicle first registered from 1 March 2001 on an EU CoC "which identifies the vehicle as an M1 vehicle with a CO2 emissions figure in g/km". Motor caravans are M1.
So a 13-year-old Italian-built motorhome, first registered in 2013 with a CO2 figure on its CoC, may still need that CoC so DVLA can tax it correctly. The CO2 figure also feeds box 36 of the V55/5, and for some motorhomes registered from 1 April 2017 it can change the rate. Our motorhome road tax guide covers that.
What does DVLA take from the CoC?
Most of page 1 of the V55/5. The V355/5 guide sends you to the CoC for the manufacturer (box 5), type approval number and category (box 11), type, variant and version (boxes 12 to 14), length and width, max permissible mass (box 23), wheelbase, Euro status and the CO2 figure (box 36), among many others. If the CoC is the wrong one, every one of those boxes is wrong with it. Our guide to filling in the V55/5 for a motorhome goes through the boxes.
The CoC also has to be the original. gov.uk says the proof of vehicle approval for an imported vehicle must be sent as an original document, and "Do not send photocopies or faxed copies."
What does a CoC cost?
It varies with the vehicle. As a guide, a CoC costs from £120 to around £385, depending on the make, model and year. On a motorhome, the final-stage CoC is the one you want to be paying for.
How we handle the CoC for you
We obtain the Certificate of Conformity for you. Before the motorhome is registered, we check it's the final-stage one, that the VIN matches, and whether it shows mph and driving on the left. Then we use it to fill in your V55/5 and, where needed, the paperwork around a GB conversion IVA application. If the motorhome needs physical changes such as headlamps or a speedometer, a garage or converter does that work and we handle the paperwork around it.
Quick answers
Is the CoC the same as the foreign registration document?
No. The registration document (the foreign logbook) shows who registered it and when; the CoC shows what the vehicle is. DVLA wants both, and it keeps the original foreign registration document.
Will the VCA accept the base-vehicle CoC for my motorhome?
Its motorhome form asks for "the CoC for the final stage", so plan on that one.
My motorhome was built in Germany but first registered in France. Does that change anything?
Not for the CoC itself, which follows the vehicle's type approval. Where it was made matters for customs duty, which is a separate question covered in our guide to motorhome origin and 0% duty.
Does my 2004 motorhome need a CoC?
It may. It's over 10 years old, but if it was first registered in the EU on or after 1 March 2001 with a CO2 figure on its CoC, gov.uk says approval is needed to tax it. Send us the papers and we'll check.
Official sources, checked on 27 September 2026: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6911cb91bda892e068aa6400/inf106-how-to-import-a-vehicle-into-the-united-kingdom.pdf; assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68f62e57e8e4040c38a3d0c8/v355-5-guide-to-filling-application-for-first-vehicle-tax-and-registration-of-used-motor-vehicle.pdf; assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61f7d351e90e0768a3523237/application-for-gb-conversion-iva-motor-homes.pdf; gov.uk/vehicle-registration/new-registrations; gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/getting-vehicle-approval; gov.uk/vehicle-approval/individual-vehicle-approval; assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65fc443765ca2f00117da7f2/individual-vehicle-approval-scheme-guide.pdf; gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables/rates-for-motorhomes; gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/registering-an-imported-vehicle; gov.uk/guidance/check-your-goods-meet-the-rules-of-origin.