The International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) has published new and amended Global Conformity Guidelines for construction standards. The purpose of the guidelines is to assist boat builders who comply with either ABYC or ISO, but are looking to start exporting to countries using the opposite system.

There are now a total of nine universal guidelines published by ICOMIA. The launched guidelines include: (Guideline 1) Fuel Systems and Fixed Fuel Tanks; (2) LPG Systems and Appliances; (3) Electrical; (4) Windows, Portlights and Hatches; (5) Powering – newly revised since its original publication in December 2010; (6) Man Overboard Prevention; (7) Boat Capacity Labels – currently being amended, publication expected imminently, and two new guidelines, (8) Ventilation and (9) Field of Vision.

ABYC and ISO standards’ systems have different requirements for the construction of boats, and are based on separate calculations and criteria. Any boat builder interested in exporting overseas faced a severe challenge in trying to comply with both standards’ systems. It was with this in mind that ICOMIA decided to form a dedicated standards’ harmonisation working group in 2007. The standards’ harmonisation working group is made up of partners from the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC), British Marine Federation (BMF), ICOMIA, International Marine Certification Institute (IMCI), ISO, and National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA).

The Global Conformity Guidelines are aimed at boat builders with previous experience of either the ABYC or ISO standards. They are not meant to replace or guarantee compliance with either standard system, but to act as a guide for the user.

The guidelines are completely free and are available for download in the ICOMIA Online Library www.icomia.com/library, as annexes to the ABYC standards or from www.rulefinder.net