Transport rules

[Nigh]

I'm hoping to get a definitive guide to the rules governing the transport of fireworks.

We are a group of volunteers who do perhaps 12 displays each year to raise money for local charities. We have a licensed store & proper insurance but no office or other premises Our members have up to 20 years experience in firing displays.

The last advice I had from the DTI in response to a question about placarding from our local Fire Officer was that no special transport or marking was required if we were carrying less than 50kg NEQ but this advice is perhaps now 2 years old.

Since then I have had conflicting casual advice about the need to follow ADR regs, if we need TREM cards, placarding vans etc. No one has been able to point me to the regulations covering this.

We do not own transport & use hire vans to carry our displays. We have never been asked any specific questions for insurance when hiring but the hire company are well aware of what we are doing & even support our charitable works. We do not carry Cat 1, if we need large shells we have them delivered to the fire site on the day. We still hand fire so do not transport anything with dets fitted.

Should we be following the full ADR regs?
Do we need TREM cards?
Should we be placarding the vans &, if so, can we get away with placing a sign in the front screen?
Should mortar shells & cakes be in sealed boxes? We currently fuse shells in 3s or 10s then bag them for transport.
Can any one point me to the regulations for the transport of small displays?

[Arthur]

One or more of you really should do the Illuminate Consult course They cover well the edges of the rules and how to travel legally without becoming an ADR journey.

Otherwise full and current regulatory compliance info is best found by fee paid enquiry to one of several DGSAs including some on the forum. However if you carry explosives (ie fireworks) the you do need to carry the in cab documents etc. If it is NOT an ADR journey then you should not display placards or diamonds.

[Masterchief]

Arthur do you have shares in Illuminate Consult from what i have read does seem a good course. I just stick with common sense and experience through practice

If they have over 20 years experience between them this sort of training may not be neccessary for the safe use of fireworks side of things and i wouldnt go paying fee's either. There are a few VERY clued up people on this forum who will answer your queries clearly in short time

Is the IC course amost a mirror syllabus to the BPA? Or one or the other more 'in depth'?

[PDC Fireworks]

Originally Posted by Masterchief

Arthur do you have shares in Illuminate Consult from what i have read does seem a good course. I just stick with common sense and experience through practice

If they have over 20 years experience between them this sort of training may not be neccessary for the safe use of fireworks side of things and i wouldnt go paying fee's either. There are a few VERY clued up people on this forum who will answer your queries clearly in short time

Is the IC course amost a mirror syllabus to the BPA? Or one or the other more 'in depth'?

i have done the Illuminate Consult course, personally you cant compare the BPA course to Illuminate Consult course because they are two separate courses.

Illuminate Consult is if you run your own comany or you are the main person incharge dealing with risk assessments, adr ect.

bpa is for people that fire for a company.

both are good courses but it depend on what you want to learn.

[Arthur]

I've done the IC course, I learned a lot. I chose that course because an insurer suggested it! However doing the course has reduced my insurance quote by a LOT more than the course fee so it is actually financial sense to do the course.

Anything based on "Experience" runs the risk that a revision to the top level UN regulations or the UK CDG regs will catch you out and perhaps set you up for a run in with VOSA for an illegal load. Far better to get and keep up to date and use a service that keeps current with regs and gets all the updates from DTI DVLA and VOSA and the rest of the alphabet soup called driving regs.

[Masterchief]

Contrary to my comment.... my name is already down for the UKPS IC course

[PDC Fireworks]

To answer the original question ADR Will come into play if the NEQ is greater / equal to 500Kg of 1.4
or 50Kg of 1.3, 1.2 or 1.1.

also if you are under the ADR threshold then the minimum is,
2Kg cab extinguisher,
photographic ID
appropriate training for all persons in transit.
a transport document (identifying the dangerous good being carried)

if you transport more than 50Kg of any class 1 then you must use a diesel engine and have a full bulkhead installed)

there are different rules that come into play if you mix different transport categories in the same vehicle.

these are the main rules (though there are more but i would be here all day telling you them lol) If you want to make sure you do everything by the book i would reccomend do the Illuminate Consult course.

[»PureParty]

There are MANY aspects to running your own fireworks display company and as knowledgeable as the guys are that run the Illuminate courses, there is only so much that can be crammed into a one day course.

Anything based on "Experience" runs the risk that a revision to the top level UN regulations or the UK CDG regs will catch you out and perhaps set you up for a run in with VOSA for an illegal load.

To be fair, the very same can be said for any training course you attend - it can be out of date as soon as you have passed it, however I am sure the IC guys would be quite happy to advise any course attendees regarding rule changes

[PDC Fireworks]

Originally Posted by PureParty

There are MANY aspects to running your own fireworks display company and as knowledgeable as the guys are that run the Illuminate courses, there is only so much that can be crammed into a one day course.

I do agree with this, in fact they did say they were extending it to a two day course because there was so much information to do in one day and to have the exam same day was hard.

Originally Posted by PureParty

Anything based on "Experience" runs the risk that a revision to the top level UN regulations or the UK CDG regs will catch you out and perhaps set you up for a run in with VOSA for an illegal load. To be fair, the very same can be said for any training course you attend - it can be out of date as soon as you have passed it, however I am sure the IC guys would be quite happy to advise any course attendees regarding rule changes

yes in fact the day we did our course there was a change in the regs on ADR and they had us add it in the hand book. they also do a consult package which enables you a years subscription to email them with any questions you have.

but as with all courses none will give you experience, This will only come over time.

[»PureParty]

yeah, Steve is a knowledgeable chap and helped me when I first started out