Kraftfahrzeug: Erlaubnis für den Betrieb von Einzelfahrzeugen beantragen

If your vehicle does not have EC type approval, you must apply for type approval before the vehicle can be registered for road use.

The operating license, together with the registration plate, is part of the registration procedure for motor vehicles on public roads. An operating license is a confirmation that your vehicle complies with the relevant regulations.

It is issued for type-approved vehicles by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) or comparable institutions in other countries of the European Union. For vehicles without type approval, it is issued by the registration authority as an individual approval.

You need the general type approval if you want to manufacture vehicles in series. In this case, you will be issued with a general type approval following an inspection carried out at your expense.

You require an individual type approval (EBE) if

• you manufacture a vehicle individually or in small series production
• it is a vehicle that you have designed yourself
• you have imported it from abroad without EC type approval or
• it is a decommissioned vehicle that has been deregistered after 7 years and is to be re-registered.

The individual type approval is issued by the local registration authority for a single vehicle and is only valid for this vehicle.

Upon application, the competent licensing authority issues

• for new vehicles, an individual approval on the basis of an expert opinion from an officially recognized expert from a technical inspection authority
• for all other vehicles, an operating permit on the basis of an expert opinion from an officially recognized expert or a technical service.

You can submit an application for individual approval for new vehicles if it is the first registration of a new vehicle of category

• M, for example passenger cars, motorhomes
• N, including trucks or tractor units and
• O, i.e. trailers

for which you do not have an EC type approval including COC certificate.

For the registration of all other new or used vehicles for which you do not have EC type approval including COC certificate, you must apply for type approval on the basis of an expert opinion from an officially recognized expert or a technical service. This also applies in the event that you have received an expert opinion from an officially recognized expert due to modifications to the vehicle - for example by installing a gas system or changing the suspension - as the type approval for your vehicle has also expired in this case and must therefore be reissued.

Unless it is expressly limited in time or withdrawn, the operating license remains valid until the vehicle is finally taken out of service. The operating license expires if

• you have made changes to the vehicle which result in
  • the type of vehicle is changed
  • technical defects are likely to endanger road users or
    • the exhaust or noise behavior is worsened.
• a component is subject to mandatory approval, but you have not complied with this requirement.
• you have not complied with installation regulations, restrictions or requirements for technical modifications.

If you drive without an operating license or with an expired operating license, you are committing an administrative offence. The licensing authority can then prohibit you from continuing to use the vehicle. The registration authority will then cancel the license plate.

You must carry the operating license with you if changes have been made that are not on the vehicle registration document.

Issue of an individual approval

• Expert opinion from an officially recognized expert or a technical service designated to test complete vehicles of the respective vehicle category.
• Identity card or passport of the applicant. The applicant and the subsequent owner of the vehicle do not necessarily have to be one and the same person.
• For legal entities: Copy of the extract from the trade register
• Proof of authorization to dispose of the vehicle, if applicable

Issue of an operating license

• Expert opinion from an officially recognized expert or a technical service appointed to test complete vehicles of the respective vehicle class.
• Any existing registration certificate or vehicle registration document, also from abroad
• Identity card or passport of the applicant. The applicant and the subsequent owner of the vehicle do not necessarily have to be one and the same person.
• For legal entities: Copy of the extract from the trade register
• Proof of authorization to dispose of the vehicle, if applicable

You need an operating license for

• a vehicle that you have designed yourself
• a vehicle that is imported from a country outside the European Economic Area
• a vehicle that does not have EC type approval
• a vehicle that was deregistered more than 7 years ago.

As the applicant, you are authorized to dispose of the vehicle or have been commissioned by the person authorized to dispose of the vehicle.

• You apply for an expert opinion from an officially recognized expert or a technical service designated to test complete vehicles of the respective vehicle class
• You submit the certificate together with the other documents to your local registration authority.
• The authority then issues or amends the registration certificate, i.e. the vehicle registration document and vehicle registration certificate, or notes with a seal on the expert opinion for obtaining individual approval or general operating license that the operating license has been issued.

You can prove the operating license for a vehicle by means of the registration certificate part I or the vehicle registration document. You must carry these with you as the driver. You must also have a copy or photocopy of the relevant operating license for parts installed or attached to the vehicle.

• relevant operating license
• type approval
• approval within the scope of the type approval or an addendum thereto or an extract from this permit or approval

must be carried.

If the modification is accepted on the basis of

• a permit
• an approval or
• a parts certificate

you must carry corresponding proof of this with confirmation of proper installation or fitting and the conditions to be observed. You no longer have to carry this proof if a corresponding entry has been made in the vehicle registration document.

If the operating license has expired, you may only drive the vehicle if you immediately acquire a new operating license. You must keep the previous license plates or red license plates on the vehicle. Short-term license plates on vehicles that do not belong to an approved type may only be returned when driving for the aforementioned purposes in the district of the registration authority responsible for the location of the vehicle or an adjacent district.

• Contradiction

• Operation of individual vehicles; approval
• Applying for type approval or individual approval for vehicles for which no EC type approval exists
• Operating permit is issued after an inspection at the expense of the applicant
• Individual operating permit (EBE) required if
  • the vehicle is manufactured individually or in small series production
  • it is a self-designed vehicle or this vehicle was imported from abroad without EC type approval
  • it is a decommissioned vehicle that has been deregistered after 7 years and is to be re-registered
• type approval is part of the registration procedure for motor vehicles and confirmation of compliance with the regulations
• Operating license is issued for
  • type-approved vehicles: from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) or comparable institutions in other European Union states
  • Vehicles without type approval: from the registration authority as individual approval
• Type approval remains valid until the vehicle is finally taken out of service
• Competent registration authority issues on application
  • for new vehicles: individual approval on the basis of an expert opinion from an officially recognized expert from a technical inspection authority. New vehicles must not have EC type approval or must belong to one of the following classes:
    • M
    • N
    • O
  • for all other vehicles: type approval on the basis of an expert opinion from an officially recognized expert or technical service
• Operating license expires if
  • certain modifications have been made to the vehicle which
    • a change in the type of vehicle,
    • foreseeable danger to road users due to technical defects or deterioration of exhaust or noise behavior.
    • deterioration of exhaust or noise behavior.
  • a component is subject to mandatory approval, but this has not been complied with
  • installation regulations, restrictions or requirements for technical modifications have not been observed
• Driving with an expired operating license is an administrative offense that
  • a ban on further use of the vehicle and
  • can lead to the license plate being unstamped
• Responsible: local registration authority

The licensing authorities are the district administrators, mayors of the independent cities and the large cities belonging to the district (licensing authority). The authority with local jurisdiction is the authority of the place of residence, in the case of several residences the place of the main residence or, in the absence of such, the place of residence of the applicant or the person concerned. Jurisdiction is based on the place of residence of the vehicle owner (main residence according to the identity card).