Spain inspects its recreational boats on a fixed cycle. Real Decreto 1434/1999 sets the inspections, the certificate that records them and the bodies that carry them out, and owners and brokers usually call the whole thing the ITB. For a buyer, the inspection history is on the boat's certificado de navegabilidad. For a surveyor, Annex II is a ready-made checklist.
Which boats and how often
Article 2: boats registered in Spain from 2.5 to 24 m hull length, built for recreation and sport, carrying no more than 12 passengers. Article 3 sets the inspections:
| Inspection | Which boats | When |
|---|---|---|
| Initial | Every boat, by the maritime administration. CE-marked boats are exempt and get the certificate automatically | Before first registration |
| Periodic | Private boats (lista 7) from 6 m to under 24 m, and every charter boat (lista 6) | Every 5 years at most |
| Intermediate, out of the water | Lista 6 from 6 m, lista 7 from 15 m, and lista 7 from 6 m with a wooden hull | Between the 2nd and 3rd year of the period |
| Additional | Any boat after repairs or changes to hull, machinery or equipment, a move from lista 7 to lista 6, or a grounding, collision or serious damage | When it happens |
| Extraordinary | At the request of a court or the Directorate General of the Merchant Marine | When ordered |
Private boats under 6 m on lista 7 have no periodic inspections, and their certificate reads SIN CADUCIDAD.
Who inspects
Article 5: periodic, intermediate, additional and extraordinary inspections are done by entidades colaboradoras de inspección, private inspection bodies authorised by the transport ministry and accredited by ENAC. Applus, one of them, lists its ENAC accreditation for the periodic inspection of recreational boats. The owner books the inspection at least 15 days before the certificate expires and chooses the place: a yard, a boatyard, a workshop, a port or a club.
The certificado de navegabilidad
Article 4: the certificate records each inspection, its type and the date of the next one. It must be kept on board. Missing an inspection makes it lapse, and sailing with a lapsed certificate is a serious infringement.
What the inspector checks
Annex II lists the items, among them:
- Hull and deck. Stanchions and guardrails, through-hulls and seacocks, watertightness of hatches and portlights, the hull-to-deck joint, chainplates, cockpit drains and the hull for osmosis, cracks and delamination, sounded with a hammer.
- Keel joint. Keel bolt tightness and corrosion, exposing at least one nut if they're glassed over, and cracks beyond the paint.
- Machinery. Bilge pumps manual and automatic, fuel tanks, vents and fills, engine room ventilation, seacocks, cooling and fuel circuits, exhaust, stern gland, engine mounts and the shaft line.
- Rig. Spars, split pins in rigging screws, shackles and the standing and running rigging, with no broken strands.
- Electrical. Batteries, their box, ventilation and isolator, wiring, fuses and grounding.
- Safety and radio. EPIRB battery and hydrostatic release dates, liferaft service, extinguishers in date, navigation lights and the anchor and windlass.
Serious deficiencies
Annex II counts as serious anything affecting watertightness, steering, the main engine, bilge pumping, radio, safety equipment that's incomplete or out of date, navigation lights, poorly installed or flat batteries, or fire-fighting equipment missing or out of date. Article 10: the body gives up to two months to put deficiencies right. If the boat isn't passed by then, the certificate lapses, and defects that put navigation at risk go to the harbourmaster at once.
Citing it in a finding
"Certificado de navegabilidad: periodic inspection overdue, next inspection date passed. Under Real Decreto 1434/1999 article 4 the certificate has lapsed until the inspection is passed." For a buyer, record the date and type of the last inspection and the next one due. Equipment by zone is in Real Decreto 339/2021.