The manufacturer’s certificate, the key document

It states what your vehicle already complies with, and therefore what you still have to prove. Request it before anything else.

Updated on

Three possible answers

Manufacturer’s answerConsequence
Full conformity to an approved typeIdentification certificate: you apply for registration, without an RTI
Partial conformityRTI, only for the non-conforming points
Non-conformityFull RTI

For full conformity, see attestation-identification.fr.

What it must specify

A useful certificate lists the points the manufacturer certifies and those it does not. The latter are then split between the nine areas to prove in writing and the points the DREAL checks on the vehicle.

Good to know. A vehicle built for a market outside Europe, or designed for driving on the left, obtains partial conformity at best: this is what manufacturers themselves state.

Person on the phone holding a letter from the manufacturer

Timing and cost

The certificate is requested from the manufacturer or its representative in France, with the foreign registration document and the chassis number. Some manufacturers charge for it and it is often the slowest document to obtain. Start the request as soon as you buy the vehicle.

If the manufacturer does not reply

The nine areas can also be justified by approval communication forms or by test reports from a notified technical service. The tests are at your expense.