The Intended Pleasure Vessel Code (IPV Code)

The purpose of this guide is to provide information concerning the Intended Pleasure Vessel Code (IPV Code).

The IPV Code is published by the United Kingdom’s Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) who are an Executive Agency of the UK Government’s Department for Transport holding responsibility and accountability for UK merchant shipping regulations and their enforcement.

The IPV Code code came into force on 1 January 2019 allowing pleasure craft to be put into temporary commercial use at sea for a number of defined purposes.

In cases where a vessel is to be used under one of the define purposes the IPV Code enables the owned / user to comply with the code as an alternative to the more onerous regulations laid down in the relevant codes of practice for the safety of commercial vessels that would otherwise apply.

The code is split into two main sections, namely vessels used for business purposes and vessels used for race support purposes.

The code defines an Intended Pleasure Vessel as follows:

Intended Pleasure Vessel (IPV) means for Part 1 of this Code of Practice any vessel intended to be used or normally in use as a Pleasure Vessel but which is used at sea on a single-voyage basis by the vessel Owner, Manufacturer, broker, surveyor, repairer, Delivery Company, or Equipment Service Provider for business purposes relating to sale, repair, post-production / post-repair / mid-survey sea trials, equipment sea trials, customer sea trials, or vessel delivery for use in connection with that business purpose. For Part 2 of this Code of Practice, Intended Pleasure Vessel means any vessel intended to be used or normally in use as a Pleasure Vessel but which is used at sea as a Race Support Boat.

A copy of the code can be accessed at the following link:

The Intended Pleasure Vessel Code (IPV Code)

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