Plates - Registration Plates

Information 

Unregistered vehicles need not be fitted with registration plates. 

A three-wheeled vehicle which has a motorcycle derived front end, does not require a front number plate 

Vehicles manufactured 40 or more years ago may have registration plates displaying white, grey or silver characters on a black background. 

Vehicles manufactured less than 40 years ago must display registration plates of reflex-reflecting material, white at the front and yellow at the rear, the characters must be black. 

The reflex-reflecting material is not part of the inspection. 

NOTE:- The following requirements for registration plates fitted to vehicles first registered on or after 1 September 2001 are not part of the inspection :- 

a. The display of the name and postcode of the registration plate supplying outlet. 

b. The display of the BSAU number. 

c. The display of the Euro symbol on registration plates which is optional. 

Size of Characters 

Examiners are not required to physically measure the characters or their spacing and the following information is provided for guidance only. Registration plates should only be rejected for character dimensions or spacing if they are clearly incorrect.

	Vehicles before 1 Sept 2001 – Option 1	Vehicles before 1 Sept 2001 – Option 2	Vehicles on or after 1 Sept 2001	Quadricycles and motor tricycles
Character height	89mm	79mm	79mm	64mm
Character width (except 1 & I)	64mm	57mm	50mm	44mm
Character stroke	16mm	14mm	14mm	10mm
Space between characters	13mm	11mm	11mm	10mm
Space between groups (horizontal)	38mm	33mm	33mm	30mm
Top and bottom margins (minimum)	13mm	11mm	11mm	11mm
Side margins (minimum)	25mm	11mm	11mm	11mm
Space between groups (vertical)	19mm	19mm	19mm	13mm

Note 1: Imported vehicles whose construction/design cannot accommodate standard size number plates are permitted to display registration plates with smaller characters, in line with those for tricycles and quadricycles detailed in the table. Their margins and vertical space between groups may also be reduced to 5mm. 

Note 2: The space permitted between a “1” or an “I” and another character is proportionately greater than the above dimensions. 

Borders 

Registration plates can optionally display a non-reflective border with a maximum width of 6mm and not closer than 5mm to the characters.

Mandatory Font

Note 1: Three-dimensional characters are permitted to use grey edging in order to achieve the 3D effect on any age of vehicle, provided the font style is adhered to. 

Note 2: There is no difference in ‘0’ and ‘o’ nor is there deference in ‘I’ and ’1’.

Registration Plate Layout

Note: Vehicles registered on or after 1st September 2001, can only use the layout shown above i.e. one or two row. While vehicles registered before 1st September 2001 may also use a three row layout as shown below.

Cherished Plates 

Older style registrations must meet the registration plate requirements according to the date of first registration of the vehicle, with a format style similar to that illustrated below e.g. letters on one line, figures on another, or a larger space between the two groups of characters.

Method Of Inspection 

1. Check that there is a registration plate both at the front and the rear of the vehicle, and check each one for security and condition. 

2. On vehicles manufactured less than 40 years ago, check 

• the colour of the characters and background 

• that the registration plates are fixed vertically, or as close to vertical as is reasonably practical. 

3. On vehicles first registered on or after 1 September 2001, check that the registration plates do not display a honeycomb or similar effect background. 

4. Check visually that the characters are correctly formed, spaced, and are not obviously likely to be misread due to, for example, badly positioned or uncovered retaining bolts etc. 

Reason For Rejection 

		Reason For Rejection	Deficiency Category
1		A registration plate:
	A	missing or incorrect	MAJOR
	B	so insecure that it is likely to fall off	MAJOR
	C	letter or figure missing or incomplete	MAJOR
	D	faded, dirty, delaminated, deteriorated or obscured, (for example by a towbar) so that it is likely to be misread or is not easily legible by a person standing approximately 20 meters to the front/rear of the vehicle	MAJOR
	E	background overprinted or shadowed with text e.g. vehicle manufacturer name	MAJOR
2		On a vehicle manufactured less than 40 years ago:
	A	a front registration plate does not have black characters on a white background	MAJOR
	B	a rear registration plate does not have black characters on a yellow background	MAJOR
	C	a registration plate not fixed vertically, or as close to vertical as is reasonably practical.	MAJOR
3		A registration plate on a vehicle first registered on or after 1 September 2001 obviously displaying a honeycomb or similar effect background.	MAJOR
4		A registration plate with:
	A	any feature that has the effect of changing the appearance or legibility of any of the characters, so that the true identity of the vehicle is not easily established	MAJOR
	B	character likely to be misread.	MAJOR
	C	a character not correctly formed, or sloping, but unlikely to be misread	MINOR
	D	characters which are obviously not the correct height, character width, stroke width, not of equal width along their entire length or incorrectly spaced, but unlikely to be misread.	MINOR
	E	characters formed using a font which is not substantially similar to the prescribed font but unlikely to be misread.	MINOR
	F	characters formed using broken or multiple strokes but unlikely to be misread.	MINOR
	G	characters laid out in an incorrect format but unlikely to be misread.	MINOR
	H	a margin obviously less than the minimum requirement but unlikely to be misread.	MINOR
	I	a non-reflective border obviously wider than permitted or positioned too close to the characters, but unlikely to be misread. See note on Borders.	MINOR