Thread: Building rear seats for the county - engineers cert?

Hey guys,

I'm looking to build a troopie seat for the rear of my 110 County and I'm trying to figure out the legalities of doing such. I'd like to build my own so I can integrate it into the camper I'm planning on building as opposed to buying one of the rear seats from like like of Bearmach et al.

I've been looking through the ADRs which apply to seating, seat mounts and seat belt mounts and it appears as if because my County was manufactured as a "Omnibus" (a horse drawn cart?) and is over 3.5 tonnes GVM (3.95T) is appears as if ADRs 5A and 3A don't apply.

Now, ADR's aren't laws, and every state treats this differently though I'm unsure of which legislation applies in these circumstances. Can I build a seat, install lap restraints and register it as a 10 seat vehicle because they're there? Surely states don't have their own specific design requirements and rely on the ADR's instead?

Does anyone know a bit more about this?

Originally Posted by alexturner

.....
Does anyone know a bit more about this?

If it is plated as "omnibus", it should be registered as either nine or ten seats, and be fitted with the side seats. I gather from your post these are not fitted, but the mounting points (two holes each side) and seat belt mounts are presumably still there. Fitting standard seats and seat belts should only require a blue slip to change the number of seats (which is not specified on the compliance plate on these!). Build your own seats, and you need to get it engineered - talk to an engineer before even starting planning!

One point you need to be aware of - fit ten seats and it will be registered in NSW as an omnibus, with six monthly inspections, and higher registration costs. There is a good reason why most do not have the middle front seat.

John