Electronic Certificates of Conformity (eCoCs)

Overview

A Certificate of Conformity (CoC) is issued by a manufacturer to certify that an individual vehicle has been produced in conformity with an approved type.

An initiative is underway to move from paper to electronic CoCs (eCoCs).

Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2018/858 mandates that from 5 July 2026, the manufacturer must make the certificate of conformity of newly manufactured vehicles available to the VCA as structured data in electronic format.

The VCA is implementing a new digital service which will support this transition for the UK market. As the service is developed and implemented, further information will be added to this page as required.

Scope

Vehicles of categories M, N and O approved under either the GB or UKNI type approval schemes will be required to submit eCoCs as part of Phase 1 implementation of the new service. Vehicles approved under the medium or small series variants of these schemes are also subject to eCoC requirements.

Category L, T, C, R and S vehicles are not subject to eCoC requirements at this time and should continue to utilise paper CoCs until further notice.

Implementation Plan

The VCA is delivering a new digital service to facilitate the submission, storage and presentation of eCoC data. This service will be delivered in two phases:

• Phase 1 will deliver a new database for the storage of eCoC data, a web portal for manufacturers to manage and manually submit eCoC data, and an Application Programming Interface (API) service to facilitate automated transmission of data. The target delivery date for Phase 1 is 31 March 2026.
• Phase 2 will deliver a public-facing webpage through which anyone can locate and view the eCoC data of a vehicle for which an eCoC submission was made, by using the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) as a unique identifier. The target delivery date for Phase 2 is July 2026.

Please note that despite the intended launch of the submission portal and API in March 2026, there is no obligation to submit eCoC data for vehicles manufactured before 5 July 2026.

eCoC Data and Format

The structure and content of UK eCoCs will differ from that prescribed in GB type approval legislation for paper CoCs.

UK eCoCs will be based on the Initial Vehicle Information (IVI) file developed for use in the EU eCoC system. The UK IVI file will follow the same structure and include all content from the EU IVI file, with some additions to facilitate inclusion of GB and UKNI specific approval information (e.g. the use of ‘g11’ or ‘n11’ as an Approval Authority code for various fields).

IVI files must be in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format. Further information and guidance on the production of XML files following the IVI template will be shared in due course.

Submission of eCoC Data

There will be two routes for the submission of eCoCs to the VCA:

1. Manual file upload and submission via the VCA eCoC Portal.
2. System-to-system integration using an API.

It is anticipated that option 1 will be more suited to small volume manufacturers and option 2 to high volume manufacturers, however both options will be available for manufacturers to use at their preference.

Only manufacturers or their authorised representatives as identified on type approval documentation can submit eCoCs.

A VCA account will be required for both submission methods. For manufacturers who already have an account for the VCA’s Type Approval Portal, this can also be used to access the eCoC Portal when it launches. Manufacturers will be able to assign additional users access to their accounts and manage permissions via the eCoC Portal.

Once received, eCoC data will be validated against the UK IVI XML schema to confirm that the format is correct. Manufacturers will receive feedback if there are any errors or issues relating to uploaded files to enable correction and resubmission.

Security and Authenticity

UK eCoCs will incorporate a digital signature, following the same standard as is applied for EU eCoCs. Data may only be submitted by authorised users, utilising secure data exchange platforms.

Access to eCoC Data

Once Phase 2 of the new digital service is delivered, data for vehicles covered by an eCoC submission will be publicly available via a new web service using the VIN as search criteria.

The VCA is engaging with the Department for Transport and Executive Agencies (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to determine potential use cases for future information sharing, and how best to facilitate this if required.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Do manufacturers still need to issue paper CoCs?
Vehicles manufactured before 5 July 2026 must be provided with a paper CoC. Vehicles manufactured from the 5 July 2026 should be covered by an eCoC submission, at which point no paper CoC is required.

In exceptional cases the VCA may request the issuing of a duplicate paper CoC for a vehicle covered by an eCoC submission.

Do I need to submit eCoCs for vehicles built before 5 July 2026?
No, there is no legal requirement to submit an eCoC for vehicles built before this date, even if the vehicle is not registered until after this date.

Which vehicles are in scope?
Category M, N and O vehicles.

Is there an exemption for vehicles approved as national small series?
No, vehicles approved via this route are still subject to eCoC requirements.

Will the VCA require copies of EU eCoCs?
Only in cases where an EU approved vehicle forms part of a multistage build of a completed vehicle. In cases where a vehicle is dual-marked only the GB eCoC needs to be provided.

Where a manufacturer uses an EU approval to place vehicles on the market in Northern Ireland or via unfettered access, eCoC records for these vehicles should be submitted to the EU Type Approval Authority in question.