The four minimum living facilities
Revenue describes a motor caravan as a special-purpose category M vehicle with bodywork code SA. Its living accommodation must contain:
- seats and a table;
- sleeping accommodation, which may convert from the seats;
- cooking facilities; and
- storage facilities.
The equipment must be securely fitted to the living compartment, although the table may be designed for easy removal. Revenue also says the space should provide mobile living accommodation in which a person of average height can move around comfortably while standing, normally using the whole rear compartment, with internal access to the facilities. Its current guidance expects side windows and says a Gas Installer Certificate should be available where cooking uses gas.
A day van can still be a useful travel vehicle, but Revenue says it does not qualify as a motor caravan where the modifications do not sufficiently change the rear interior or where living facilities are reasonably accessible only from outside.
Before cutting or buying equipment
- Read the current criteria: save Revenue's specific-vehicle and conversion pages on the day you design the layout.
- Identify the existing registration: check the Vehicle Registration Certificate (VRC), including the vehicle category, body type, seats and registered mass.
- Speak to an SQI early: do not wait until the build is sealed behind finished walls. Ask what inspection access, drawings, receipts, certifications and photographs will be needed.
- Check insurance appetite: describe the base vehicle, conversion method, value and intended use before committing money. See our campervan insurance checklist.
- Protect payload: estimate every fixed component before building. Use the campervan payload guide.
What the Declaration of Conversion needs
For an Irish-registered vehicle converted to a motor caravan, Revenue's current process requires a declaration and supporting documents. The form includes the owner declaration and the Suitably Qualified Individual declaration. The submission route is Revenue's MyEnquiries service or post to the National VRT Service.
Revenue currently lists these core supporting items:
- a copy of both sides of the VRC;
- evidence of carbon-dioxide and nitrogen-oxide emissions;
- invoices showing the conversion costs;
- up to six exterior photographs, including both sides, front with registration visible and rear; and
- up to nine interior photographs showing seating/table, sleeping, cooking, storage and clear front-to-rear and rear-to-front views.
Do not crop the evidence so tightly that the layout relationship disappears. Keep original receipts, certificates and full-resolution images even if the submission limits the number sent.
What happens after submission
The National VRT Service classifies the converted vehicle and assesses whether additional VRT is due. If tax is due, Revenue writes with the amount and payment route. The exact assessment is not created by an online blogger or the cost of your parts alone; read our separate campervan VRT guide before budgeting.
After the registered details change, the vehicle must meet the roadworthiness rules for its new category. CVRT says a converted motor caravan aged four years or more is due a test immediately, based on the date of conversion. The campervan CVRT guide explains the age bands and test-date traps.
Common mistakes that delay the process
- Designing to social-media folklore: an old forum checklist is not the current Revenue test.
- Treating portable boxes as fixed facilities: Revenue explicitly looks for securely fitted equipment, except for the removable table allowance.
- Finishing before SQI input: safety-critical work may become inaccessible for inspection.
- Discarding invoices: conversion costs are part of the submission and may inform the VRT assessment.
- Adding travel seats casually: seats and seatbelt mountings are safety and registration changes, not normal furniture work.
- Driving on mismatched documents: registration, roadworthiness, insurance and actual vehicle use need to describe the same vehicle.
A sensible order of work
Use this sequence as a planning aid, then confirm it for your exact vehicle:
- verify the base vehicle, registration, history, available payload and licence fit;
- agree the intended classification and evidence plan with the SQI;
- design the securely fitted living facilities and safety systems;
- retain staged photographs, invoices and certificates during the build;
- complete the SQI inspection and declaration;
- submit the declaration and supporting evidence to Revenue;
- pay any assessed VRT and complete the registration update route; and
- complete any immediately due CVRT and update the insurer before use.
Official sources
- Revenue: specific vehicles and motor-caravan criteria
- Revenue: conversion declaration and documents
- Revenue: VRTCONV declaration form
- RSA: motorhomes, motor caravans and camper vans
This is general information, not an engineering, tax or legal determination. Requirements can depend on the vehicle and can change; confirm the current primary guidance before work begins.