DECEMBER 2021

Defects bring 'unwarranted hassles'

Call for RV builders' code of practice

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THE Caravan Council of Australia has stressed the importance for RV manufacturers to be ruled by an official quality standard or code of practice.

Founder and general manager Colin Young said there had been "thousands of calls, emails, and letters" from upset caravanners who had unacceptable problems with their new RVs.

"Despite often frequent requests and heated demands to their dealers, they had unwarranted hassles in getting the defects rectified," he claimed.

Mr Young said a high percentage of complaints involved non-compliancy with legal requirements, some of them being "downright dangerous".

"Some industry veterans, along with many aggrieved 'vanners, have agreed with me that there is a definite need for a 'Standard' or a 'Quality Code of Practice' to cover items not prescribed in Vehicle Standards Bulletin 1."

Mr Young said the new standard would not be "design-restrictive" in any way ... that is, it would merely specify minimum requirements that needed to be met without stating how this is achieved.

It was intended to best-ensure that all caravans ‒ locally-made and imported ‒ provide reasonable levels of reliability and durability, as would typically be expected by their owners.

It was anticipated that all well-resourced, well-established local manufacturers would currently comply with the vast majority of the proposed standard, thus they would not be required to make any significant changes to their design, production and quality assurance operations.

The intent of the new standard was to raise the level of professionalism of manufacturers and importers who needed to improve the quality and reputation of their caravans so as to best-prevent unacceptable problems ... and subsequent complaints by owners.

"The new standard would not, in any way, conflict with the new RVSA or the revised version of VSB1," Mr Young said.

"It would, in fact, complement them and cover items not included in the requirements of these two vital regulatory documents."

Mr Young said anyone with an interest in Australia's caravan industry was welcome to forward their constructive and practical suggestions to the Caravan Council of Australia at caravancouncil@optsnet.com.au regarding items that should be included for consideration.

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