New Order comes into force on December 31
In exercise of the powers conferred under the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 and in supersession of the Central Motor Vehicles (Accreditation of Bus Body Builders) Order, 2007, the Centre has issued a revised order to specify norms in respect of accreditation of bus body builders. The new Order is scheduled to come into force on December 31, 2012.
Accreditation implies evaluating, assessing and approving the capacities of a bus body builder to consistently ensure the specified quality of bus bodies. The Order applies to all companies and individuals engaged in bus manufacturing or bus body building of M2 and M3 type of vehicles having seating capacity of 13 or more passengers and all bus types covered under the Bus Code.
The Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Pune, is one among the approved testing agencies offering services for getting bus body building units accredited in accordance with the notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways related to enforcement of the new norms.
Under the Order, bus body builders are categorised on the basis of the activities undertaken by those having capability to manufacture fully-built buses either of integral type or those built on rigid chassis, based on their own designs and drawings, as well as those fabricating bus bodies as per their own designs and drawings or as per the drawings and designs supplied by any third party or customer.
Testing agencies are responsible to plan, conduct and control the audit based on the request submitted by the bus body builder, generate the audit report and to release the accreditation certificate. Overall supervision and control of the accreditation system is also their responsibility.
As for manufacturing process, a flow chart showing a broad manufacturing process having quality check-points for inward inspection, in process quality check and final quality inspection would be provided.
It is mandatory for the manufacturing facility to have at least a 1,000 sq. metre covered workplace to accommodate at least one bus to carry out bus body building. It should also ensure protection against corrosion and should have adequate water shower facility to check leakages.
Further, the established system should ensure product quality by having control on raw material quality, in-process quality as well as the final product quality. There should be adequate and commensurate technical manpower with knowledge and experience in bus body building as well as in the safety requirements as stipulated under the Rules.
The Order further stipulates that every bus body builder should furnish details of installed production capacity, production track record as well as future production plans, as also details of his own or licensed type approval certificates of bus bodies. In case there is no type approval certificate available, then the proposed future plan can be submitted.
Accreditation agencies would carry out functions like supervision and control of all the accreditation-related activities, planning of assessments, scrutiny of applications, audit and compilation of assessment reports, etc.
Once the assessment is completed, the study team would submit the report to the chief of the Accreditation Department. He would review the report of the assessment team and prepare the final recommendation for release of the certificate.
Further, the accreditation agency would conduct surveillance audit once in three years of each accredited bus body builder. This audit is aimed at examining whether the bus body builder is maintaining all the requirements claimed or declared in the application.
The accreditation agency may conduct a supplementary review or make a special visit at any time during the validity of accreditation in case there is change in category, misuse of accreditation certificate, or receipt of a complaint for verification of facts.
The bus body builder, at any time during the validity of accreditation, may discontinue accreditation voluntarily by making a written request to the agency. If he subsequently decides to obtain accreditation status, it would be treated as a fresh accreditation, and the bus body builder would have to pay a special fee for application and the expenses incurred on assessment.