Safety Equipment and Certificates Survey

A safety and certificates survey tests the life-saving and fire equipment by operating it, and checks the validity of the vessel’s documents. Equipment is not listed; it is run.

Not a formality — the last line of defence

Safety equipment looks like a cost line until the day it is needed, when it becomes worth more than everything else aboard. The principle of this survey is simple: nothing that must perform in an emergency is left in “probably works” condition — it is tested, or it goes on the replacement list.

Equipment checks

Life-saving: liferaft (service date, capacity, mounting and hydrostatic release), lifejackets, lifebuoys, EPIRB and SART, emergency lighting and pyrotechnics — each checked for date, function and stowage. Fire: portable extinguisher charge and pressure, fixed system capacity and piping, fire pumps and blankets, with the engine-room system’s detection and trigger chain specifically tested. Emergency arrangements: alarm panels, gas detectors, emergency stops, backup power and escape routes.

Document checks

Seaworthiness, registration and flag papers, tonnage certificate, radio licence and MMSI, insurance and equipment service certificates are verified for validity and ownership consistency. On boats that have changed hands, an MMSI still registered to the previous owner and un-updated papers are the most common defects — easily fixed when caught, costly in an official inspection or a claim when not.

Listing is not enough — it has to be operated

Safety equipment is the item most often passed over as simply “present”. Yet all of it is used once, and at the worst moment; if it does not work then, its presence meant nothing.

• The fire main is pressurised and water is seen at every outlet.
• Fixed suppression — bottle pressure, service date and release chain are traced; the automatic closing of the engine room flaps is tested.
• Bilge pumps and float switches are run in manual and automatic; the alarm is tested.
• Liferaft and lifejackets — service date, capacity and the hydrostatic release are checked.
• Detectors — smoke, heat and gas detectors are tested with a real stimulus, not from the test button.

The report

Everything in one table: item, condition, expiry/service date and action. Items nearing expiry are flagged separately, so the report doubles as next season’s renewal calendar.

Duration and fee

This inspection is a chapter within a survey: it is carried out within a pre-purchase survey and a pre-season check and is not billed separately. We do not sell it as a standalone item, because coming to the boat once to look at this heading alone serves neither you nor us.

If you do need this heading on its own — in a dispute, or for a second opinion — the door is not closed. Call us and we will talk about the boat.

Fees vary with the length of the boat, where she lies and the season. For a firm price call us — tell us about the boat and we will give you the number on the phone.

Estimate your survey fee