Test vehicle identity and class
Annex A is the normative measurement sheet for the test vehicle. The first control is identity: the make, model, category and individual vehicle that produced the impact.
Basis. Annex A is normative; the public guidance explains the measurement. The clause number and defined terms are the standard's; the explanation is our own.
Annex A is normative. It is the measurement sheet for the test vehicle. The control ids on this site are our record codes; the citation names the annex and the clauses that supply the facts.
What annex A-01 asks
Annex A is normative and is titled Test vehicle specification measurements. Read with Clause 3.3 and Table 2, it requires the test vehicle to be identified and measured. The vehicle category is one of M1, N1G, N1, N2A, N2B, N3C, N3D, N3E, N3F or N3G. The category is linked to a test mass in Table 2: 1 500 kg for M1, 2 500 kg for N1G, 3 500 kg for N1, 7 200 kg for N2A, N2B and N3C, 12 000 kg for N3D, 24 000 kg for N3F, 29 500 kg for N3E and 30 000 kg for N3G. The public preview shows the heading of Annex A but not its internal numbering, so this control is cited to Annex A and the clauses that supply the facts, not to an invented subclause.
Why it matters
Identity is the first control because every other measurement depends on it. A mass is only meaningful for a category. A dimension is only meaningful for a model. A datum point is only meaningful for a body type. If the report says "7 200 kg vehicle" without the category, the reader cannot tell whether it was an N2A, an N2B or an N3C, and those three have different gross vehicle weights and different body shapes. The buyer who is comparing a rating with a site threat needs the category to make the comparison.
What good looks like
Record the vehicle identity in a single controlled sheet: make, model, category, registration or VIN, odometer, photograph, and the Table 2 mass that applies. Ask the test house to state the category in the report, not only the mass. Compare the category with the vehicles that actually approach the site.
Evidence an assessor asks for
The reviewer will ask which category the vehicle was and which Table 2 mass applied. A report that gives only a mass has not answered the identity control.
- Vehicle identity sheet Make, model, category, registration or VIN, odometer and photographs
- Category statement The M1, N1G, N1, N2A, N2B, N3C, N3D, N3E, N3F or N3G category used
- Table 2 reference The test mass the category attracts under Table 2
- Site comparison The category against the vehicle classes in the site threat assessment
Where it commonly fails
- The report gives a mass but not the vehicle category
- A vehicle is described by model name only, with no category or registration
- The category in the report does not match the category in the threat assessment
- A modified vehicle is identified as a standard model
What to do before the amendment publishes
Add the category and Table 2 mass to the vehicle identity sheet and require both in every report.