Approval Fees
This page was last updated on 15th April 2025Introduction
The VCA Type Approval Authority will charge the following fees for undertaking approval activities. All Type Approval applications will be subject to a Certification Fee (see Table 1) and a Compliance Review Fee (see Table 2) where VCA issues an approval certificate. The Compliance Review Fee will cover a review of the application against Type Approval legislation, the suitability of the test results and reports, and the status of the Conformity of Production clearance.
Type Approval activities not requiring the issuance of a certificate are subject to the relevant Certification Fee and Administrative Fee (see Table 3).
Please note these fees apply from 1 May 2023 for all new GB and UK(NI) applications and from 5 February 2024 for all new UN applications. The fees are reviewed annually each January with any changes taking effect from 1 April. Value Added Tax (VAT) is not applicable on any of the below fees.
How to use these tables
In most cases, the overall fee charged will consist of:
- one value only from the Certification Fee (CF-1 to CF-22) and
- one value only from the Compliance Review Fee (CRF-1 to CRF-11)
There is no need to apply more than one value from each of those two fees unless it relates to whole vehicle applications using single step or mixed type approval routes. In these instances, VCA will charge a Compliance Review Fee for each system / component subject submitted and subsequently checked.
The Administrative Fee (AF-1 to AF-6) is a separate fee and is not always required in all applications.
For ease of use, please read the three tables below with the fee pairing table (Table 4).
Please note, the ‘Fee Ref.’ in the first column of each table is an internal VCA reference number; it has been included here to enable ease of identifying the various fee types.
Please note that if you require the invoice in an overseas currency, please contact your local VCA representative for details of how the fees below translate into other currencies and which invoicing currencies are available.
Table 1 - Certification Fees
Fee Ref. Subject / Approval Type UK Fee GBP (£)
CF-1 Whole Vehicle Approval - Base or Extension Certification Fee 75
CF-2 Whole Vehicle Approval - Base Vehicle Update Letter Certification Fee [see Explanatory Note 1] 73
CF-3 Whole Vehicle Approval - Revision Certification Fee 37
CF-4 Whole Vehicle Approval - Correction Certification Fee 75
CF-5 Whole Vehicle Approval - Type Approval Letter Certification Fee 75
CF-6 Whole Vehicle Approval - Test Report Only Certification Fee 75
CF-7 System & Component Approval - Base Certification Fee 37
CF-8 System & Component Approval - Extension Certification Fee 78
CF-9 System & Component Approval - Revision Certification Fee 37
CF-10 System & Component Approval - Correction Certification Fee 37
CF-11 System & Component Approval - Type Approval Letter Certification Fee 37
CF-12 System & Component Approval - Test Report Only Certification Fee 37
CF-13 Type Approval Letter Certification Fee [see Explanatory Note 2] 37
CF-14 Test report (where no approval is issued) Certification Fee 37
CF-15 Type Approval Withdrawal Certification Fee 78
CF-16 GB Provisional Approval - EU Base Certification Fee 37
CF-17 GB Provisional Approval - EU Extension Certification Fee 78
CF-18 GB Conversion IVA Certification Fee [see Explanatory Note 3] 100
CF-19 M1 Enhancement IVA Certification Fee [see Explanatory Note 3] 1.10
CF-20 N1 Enhancement IVA Certification Fee [see Explanatory Note 3] 1.10
CF-21 IVA (Not Inspected) Certification Fee [see Explanatory Note 3] 125
CF-22 IVA (Inspected) Certification Fee [see Explanatory Note 3] 250
Table 2 - Compliance Review Fees
Fee Ref. Subject / Approval Type UK Fee GBP (£)
CRF-1 GB / UK(NI) WVTA - M Compliance Fee (including multi-stage) 350
CRF-2 GB / UK(NI) WVTA - N Compliance Fee (including multi-stage) 350
CRF-3 Not currently in use N/A
CRF-4 Not currently in use N/A
CRF-5 GB / UK(NI) WVTA - O Compliance Fee 180
CRF-12 System & Component Compliance Fee - Level 4 [see Explanatory Notes 4 & 7] See note 7
CRF-6 Whole Vehicle Approval Index Revision Compliance Fee 90
CRF-7 System & Component Compliance Fee - Level 3 [see Explanatory Note 4] 200
CRF-8 System & Component Compliance Fee - Level 2 [see Explanatory Note 4] 115
CRF-9 System & Component Compliance Fee - Level 1 [see Explanatory Note 4] 28
CRF-10 System & Component Index Revision Compliance Fee 90
CRF-11 Designated Technical Service Compliance Fee 181
Table 3 - Administrative Fees
Fee Ref. Subject / Approval Type UK Fee GBP (£)
AF-1 Type Approval Letter Administrative Fee [see Explanatory Note 2] 73
AF-2 Test Report Only Administrative Fee 73
AF-3 Approval Correction (Chargeable) Administrative Fee 90
AF-4 GB Provisional Administrative Fee 73
AF-5 Provisional Approval Number Letter Administrative Fee [see Explanatory Note 5] 37
AF-6 Rework Administrative Fee [see Explanatory Note 6] See note 6
Table 4 - Fee Pairing
Fee Ref. Subject / Approval Type UK Fee GBP (£) Plus Fee Ref. Subject / Approval Type UK Fee GBP (£) Total Fee GBP (£)
CF-2 Whole Vehicle Approval - Base Vehicle Update Letter Certification Fee [see Explanatory Note 1] 73 + AF-1 Type Approval Letter Administrative Fee 73 146
CF-3 Whole Vehicle Approval -
Revision Certification Fee37 + CRF-6 Whole Vehicle Approval Index Revision Compliance Fee 90 127
CF-4 Whole Vehicle Approval -
Correction Certification Fee75 + AF-3 Approval Correction (Chargeable) Administrative Fee 90 165
CF-5 Whole Vehicle Approval -
Type Approval Letter Certification Fee75 + AF-1 Type Approval Letter Administrative Fee 73 148
CF-6 Whole Vehicle Approval -
Test Report Only Certification Fee75 + AF-2 Test Report Only Administrative Fee 73 148
CF-9 System & Component Approval - Revision Certification Fee 37 + CRF-10 System & Component Index Revision Compliance Fee 90 127
CF-10 System & Component Approval - Correction Certification Fee 37 + AF-3 Approval Correction (Chargeable) Administrative Fee 90 127
CF-11 System & Component Approval - Type Approval Letter Certification Fee 37 + AF-1 Type Approval Letter Administrative Fee 73 110
CF-12 System & Component Approval - Test Report Only Certification Fee 37 + AF-2 Test Report Only Administrative Fee 73 110
CF-13 Type Approval Letter Certification Fee [see Explanatory Note 2] 37 + AF-1 Type Approval Letter Administrative Fee 73 110
CF-14 Test report (where no approval is issued) Certification Fee 37 + AF-2 Test Report Only Administrative Fee 73 110
CF-16 GB Provisional Approval -
EU Base Certification Fee37 + AF-4 GB Provisional Administrative Fee 73 110
CF-17 GB Provisional Approval -
EU Extension Certification Fee78 + AF-4 GB Provisional Administrative Fee 73 151
CRF-11 Technical Service Compliance Fee 181 + CF-7 System & Component Approval -
Base Certification Fee37 218
CRF-11 Technical Service Compliance Fee 181 + CF-8 System & Component Approval -
Extension Certification Fee78 259
Additional Charges
Additional charges (not covered by the above tables) will be applied according to VCA’s statutory hourly rate (currently £89 per hour).
Explanatory Notes
- CF-2 is charged alongside the engineer’s time at £89 per hour. This is subject to a minimum charge of £44.50 (or 30 minutes). The total charged will therefore be a minimum of £73 [CF-2] plus £44.50 [30 minutes of engineer’s time] = £117.50, plus £73 [AF-1] = £190.50 total.
- CF-13 and AF-1 are used to issue a) Letters of No Concern (LoNC), b) requests to confirm information, c) other ad hoc requests. (This is not an exhaustive list.) These two fees are charged together (e.g., £37 [CF-13] plus £73 [AF-1] = £110 total charge). Where multiple changes are required (e.g. via a LoNC) then a single charge of CF-13 will be levied along with a single charge of AF-1 to cover our initial time. Any additional time is charged at £89 per hour but will reflect the actual time taken, subject to a minimum charge of £22.25 (or 15 minutes).
- CF-18 to CF-22 inclusive are not currently applied for via the VCA Customer Portal.
- The Compliance Review Fee varies depending on subject complexity; Level 4 subjects are categorised as cyber security, software updating, automated technologies, and heavy-duty CO2 emissions. Level 3 subjects are categorised as all other emissions, and sound levels. Level 1 subjects are categorised as Replacement Brake Parts and Tyre Components. Level 2 is all other subjects.
- Provisional approval numbers can be requested in advance of the issuing of the Type Approval Certificate where testing is complete, and Conformity of Production is in place. Where provisional approval numbers are required as part of the application process, for example for component approval markings, there will be no charge. Where provisional approval numbers are optional, charges will be applied at £37 for the Provisional Approval Number Letter Administrative Fee plus £89 per hour for the time taken to create the numbers, subject to a minimum charge of £22.25 (or 15 minutes). The total fee will therefore be at least £59.25.
- VCA reserves the right to charge a fee to complete rework of applications where they exceed the normal processing time. This fee is charged at £89 per hour but will reflect the actual time taken, subject to a minimum charge of £22.25 (or 15 minutes).
- Level 4 compliance reviews vary significantly in complexity and scope, and as such are charged at the statutory hourly rate (currently £89 per hour) according to time taken to complete technical review of the application.
Ref: TAC-E-WE-03 Rev 6