Your boat must have a buoyancy certificate. When you purchase a boat, new or used, it must be accompanied by this buoyancy certificate. Your buoyancy certificate should be valid for at least five years. Many are valid for the life of the boat unless there has been damage to it. Look at the certificate to see that it hasn’t expired prior to your inspection.
Your buoyancy certificate should have the following information (but not limited to)
- Name of owner
- Manufacturer
- Type of vessel
- Length and breadth of the vessel
- Type of propulsion
- Weight of vessel and equipment (with the crew for seagoing vessels)
- Diagram of the layout of buoyancy
- Type of buoyancy
- Photo of the vessel
- Percentage and distribution of buoyancy
