This will boil Growler's yellow stuff!
As you can imagine, the transport industry (yes, it's one of Dick's boring transport posts) is no stranger to over-enthusiastic regulations. When the subject of red tape comes up, I often find it amusing to detail the incredible hoops our company has to jump through to perform even the simplest of jobs and watch as the jaw of the person I'm conversing with drops in astonishment.
As such, I thought no daft new regulation or rule emanating from Westminster or Brussels could surprise me any more. However, today I was proved wrong.
In addition to the layer upon layer of legislation with which we are already forced to comply - some understandable, some not - our sector has recently had a brand new type of inspection imposed on us. It involves all of a certain type of vehicle being checked over for much of what is already checked in one or more of the seven inspections each vehicle must go through per year. Except this latest one is quite absurd.
For example, we have had vehicles failed, so effectively taken off the road, for trivia such as a factory-fitted - and therefore already EU compliant - air conditioning knob being 'too sharp', and one inch of a seat belt being slightly frayed, amongst other trifling reasons. Another insurmountable failure was for not producing a certificate for an alteration which has never needed certification before, which we can't now get because the company ceased trading three years ago.
But, as I found out today, one of the other fail criteria is so unutterably crazy as to be almost disturbing.
A number of our vehicles have been failed for having windows (it need only be one) which bear the wrong safety mark. Instead of the new EU mandated logo, ours bear the previous British Standards (BSI) kite mark.
It doesn't matter that these have been working for seven or eight years for us, the new rule is retrospective so they're off the road. Since we deal with specialist vehicles, all parts are priced at a premium so we were looking at a hefty bill if we are to replace so many pieces of glass - as we were told was the only solution by the testing centre - at around £200 each.
It begged the question why BSI kite-marked glass was no longer considered safe, whereas EU marked glass is. It is only thanks to this curiosity that we found that there is absolutely no difference between the two, it is the same standard of glass ... it just isn't marked correctly. The mark, and not the safety of the glass, is why our vehicles have been deemed unroadworthy. Unless the EU mark is visible on the glass, we cannot trade with that vehicle.
Yes, it's a relief not to have to shell out so much money, but it's still staggering that we are being forced - at pain of the vehicles being banned - to pay £50 per window to have the BSI mark erased, and the EU one etched on.
I've learned my lesson. I shall never again be arrogant as to assume I've seen it all from insane tax-funded bureaucrats.
Read it (+more in the comments) and weep
here... 
