The development and continuous review of IACS Resolutions is an essential part of the Association’s work. Keeping them up-to-date in response to technical, regulatory or operational advances demonstrates IACS’ technical leadership
**PR – Procedural Requirements **are adopted Resolutions on matters of procedures to be incorporated in the practices and procedures of IACS Members within the periods agreed by the IACS General Policy Group.
**UR – Unified Requirements** are adopted Resolutions on matters directly connected to or covered by specific Rule requirements and practices of classification societies, and the general philosophy on which the rules and practices of classification societies are established. Subject to ratification by the governing body of each IACS Member, Unified Requirements should be seen as minimum requirements to be incorporated in the Rules and practices of Members within one year of approval by the IACS General Policy Group. While each Member remains free to set more stringent requirements, the existence of a UR does not oblige a Member to issue respective Rules if it chooses not to have Rules for the type of ship or marine structure concerned.
**UI – Unified Interpretations** are adopted Resolutions on matters arising from implementing the requirements of IMO Conventions or Recommendations. The Resolutions can involve uniform interpretations of Convention Regulations or IMO Regulations on matters that are unclear. Interpretations are circulated to the flag State Administrations concerned or sent to IMO for information. They are also designed to aid the development of regulations that are clear, unambiguous
and can be easily applied by IACS Members to ships whose flag State Administrations have not issued definite instructions on the interpretation of the IMO regulations concerned, amid statutory certification on behalf of those flag Administrations.
**Recommendations **IACS produces Recommendations and guidelines related to adopted Resolutions that not only deal with matters of class but also offer some advice to the marine industry.
**Common Structural Rules** – The IACS Council adopted the CSR for Double Hull Oil Tankers (CSR-OT) and Common Structural Rules for Bulk Carriers (CSR-BC) on December 14, 2005, for implementation on April 1, 2006, on the basis that these Rules were founded on sound technical grounds, and achieved the goal of more robust and safer ships.
These two sets of Rules were developed independently, and in order to remove variations and achieve consistency, IACS decided to harmonise these Rules to create a single set of Rules – “Common Structural Rules for Bulk Carriers and Oil Tankers” (CSR BC & OT). This comprised two parts: Part One gave requirements common to both bulk carriers and double hull oil tankers and Part Two provided additional specialised requirements specific to either bulk carriers or double hull oil tankers.
**Note to Classification Societies which are not Members of IACS**IACS publishes all Unified Requirements (“URs”), including CSR, and technical background (“TB”) information on the IACS website. Any classification society which is not a member of IACS may register with IACS for free RSS* newsfeeds with updates of all IACS’ new publications by navigating to the page it wants to subscribe to and using the RSS* link on that page. By clicking on the RSS* link the classification society can add its contact details for subscription.*we have identified some irregularities with our RSS feed, therefore we have provided the list of adopted IACS Resolutions and Recommendations above for your use. Notwithstanding the intellectual property rights held by IACS Members in IACS’ URs and the related TB information, all classification societies are free to use the URs (including CSR) by effectively embedding them into their own published rules. Classification societies are also at liberty to enter into any agreement with any IACS member in relation to the provision of further information or assistance.In the event that any classification society decides to embed IACS’ requirements into its own rules, it will be the responsibility of that classification society to verify the contents and the application of those requirements. The classification society’s right to incorporate IACS’ requirements into its own rules implies no representation by IACS or its Members that the classification society in question is operating in compliance with those requirements. IACS and IACS’ Members accept no liability (in contract, tort or otherwise) for any defect or deficiency in IACS’ unified requirements and the related information or for any resulting damage.The Procedure governing applications for confirmation by IACS that an entity is a classification society is explained in IACS’ Procedures Volume 2, Section C. A non-IACS Classification Society that is recognised as a Classification society is entitled to participate in IACS work. This can be achieved by approaching the IACS Secretary General who will discuss your particular requirements as regards participation in specific IACS Working Group(s) with a view to finding a mutually agreeable arrangement.
