On 10 September 2026 the Department for Transport laid The Motor Vehicles (Type Approval and Approval Marks) (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/992) before Parliament, made two days earlier on 7 September 2026 by the Secretary of State for Transport under the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Finance Act 1973. It comes into force across the United Kingdom on 1 November 2026 and rewrites the fee schedule governing Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) examinations since the 1999 Regulations. Two changes drive the cost impact: the standard hourly rate rises from £89 to £134, and a wholly new £192 per hour specialist tariff is created for emissions control-strategy, cyber security, software-update and ADAS analysis. (SI 2026/992, legislation.gov.uk)
The 1999 fee regime predates the cyber and automated-driving obligations now embedded in GB type approval. Since full GB whole vehicle type approval (g11) became mandatory for M and N category vehicle types on 1 February 2026, the VCA examines vehicles against UNECE R155 (cyber security) and R156 (software updates) and advanced driver assistance systems, work the old £89 rate never priced.
What are the new VCA examination fees, and when do they apply?
From 1 November 2026 every examination or supervision by a non-specialist DfT officer is charged at £134 per hour, up from £89, an increase of £45. Examinations requiring a specialist are charged at £192 per hour. Both rates cover the technical work and associated admin, other than issuing Schedule 3 and 4 documents. Regulations 7, 16 and 17 were amended so the new rates flow through to the appeal, re-examination and re-test fees referencing regulation 4(1).
| Fee item | Before (1999 Regulations) | From 1 November 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Standard officer examination | £89/hour | £134/hour |
| Specialist technical analysis | No separate rate | £192/hour (new) |
| Reference instrument use | No separate charge | £75 per examination |
| Standard workshop equipment | No separate charge | £76 per examination |
Which work attracts the new £192 specialist hourly rate?
SI 2026/992 defines a "specialist" as a DfT officer carrying out technical analysis in one of five areas, and the £192 rate applies to all of them: (a) emissions and environmental performance, including analysis of control strategies; (b) cyber security and software updates, including analysis of cyber security management systems (CSMS) and software update management systems (SUMS), set by UNECE R155 and R156; (c) the safety performance of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving systems (ADS); (d) scenario modelling or simulation supporting ADAS and ADS assessment; and (e) setting the design and criteria for an ADAS or ADS examination.
In practice this tier prices work GB type approval now requires but the 1999 schedule never contemplated: control-strategy scrutiny under the emissions regime, the R155 and R156 cyber and over-the-air update assessments, and scenario-based ADAS validation. OEMs and Technical Services booking these after 1 November will see a specialist cost line that did not exist before.
What equipment fees does the new Schedule 6 add?
Where the Secretary of State owns equipment used in an examination, SI 2026/992 adds a Schedule 6 fee per equipment group, plus a flat £75 per examination where a reference instrument calibrates the equipment and £76 per examination for standard workshop equipment. The day-rate items are the most material for ADAS and emissions work: the Guided Soft Target, the robotic platform carrying the soft target for a passenger vehicle, is £1,400 per day, and the Launch Pad, carrying dummies for motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians, is £800 per day. Per-examination equipment fees range from £111 for a data logger to £807 for a climatic chamber, with braking, noise, steering-effort, structural, coordinate-measurement, electrical-isolation and weather-station groups in between.
Who is affected, and what should homologation teams do before 1 November?
The Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so every maker seeking GB type approval pays the new rates. The exposed actors are GB-based OEMs and their homologation leads at JLR, Nissan, Toyota and Ford, plus non-UK makers selling into the GB market, including Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, Tesla, Hyundai and BYD, who book through the VCA or EU-designated Technical Services accepted under the derogation to 31 December 2026. The specialist tier and Schedule 6 fees hit cyber security, software-update, emissions control-strategy and ADAS work in particular.
Two operational levers are open before 1 November. OEMs with examinations already in the VCA pipeline can pull work orders forward to complete them at the £89 rate before the cutoff. Teams budgeting R155 or R156, control-strategy or ADAS examinations for 2026 and 2027 delivery should rebudget now against the £192 specialist rate and the £1,400-per-day Guided Soft Target and £800-per-day Launch Pad costs. The VCA previewed the £134 and £192 figures on 19 August 2026 as subject to Parliamentary approval; SI 2026/992 is the legal lock-in.
Obsidian's continuous, per-jurisdiction monitoring of the GB type-approval fee and obligation registers surfaces an instrument like SI 2026/992 the moment it is laid, before the window to act compresses.
Confirm which vehicle types need VCA examinations this quarter and next, and whether any fall under a specialist area (cyber security, software update, emissions control strategy or ADAS). Pull eligible work orders into October to stay on the £89 rate, rebudget specialist examinations against the £192 hourly rate and Schedule 6 fees, and brief your homologation and finance leads on the 1 November 2026 cutoff.
