Commercial vessel surveys

Before any commercial vessel can operate in the State of Western Australia, the vessel is required to have onboard a valid Certificate of Survey, issued by the Department. This Certificate of Survey is only issued when the vessel satisfactorily complies with the Western Australian Marine Act in respect to it's hull, machinery and equipment and is crewed according to the WA Marine Act 1982 (external link).

"It is an Offence for a ship to ply without a certificate of survey."

A certificate of survey may be issued to:

• Vessels being built in Western Australia, for commercial use in Western Australia,

• Vessels being built in another state, territory or country for commercial use in Western Australia,

• Vessels certificated with another State or Territory,

• Vessels which have been previously surveyed by an approved classification society,

• Vessels which have never been certificated or surveyed at all.

Uniform Shipping Laws (USL) Code

Vessels are surveyed for compliance with the Uniform Shipping Laws (USL) Code of Australia. It is this code that contains most of the construction, accommodation, fire safety, engineering, safety, navigation and miscellaneous equipment requirements for commercial vessels. This code also refers to other standards and codes, such as Australian Standards.

Please note:

• Vessels that are issued with a valid Certificate of Survey are often referred to by the marine industry as "being in survey".

• For the purpose of this site, a reference to "Survey" will be the physical inspection of the vessels, and a vessel that is "in survey" will be referred to as a "certificated" vessel.