All the relevant information on licenses and certificates needed to purchase engines in the UK. This text includes changes made on the 4th Dec 2007 by HSE.

• The Laws At A Glance
  
• How Big is A 1Kg Net Propelant Motor?
  
• An Introduction to the the relevant paperwork
  
• Tell me more detail about the exempt UN numbers?
  

The Laws At A Glance

It is great news for rocketeers in Great Britain. Thanks to years of discussions between UKRA and the HSE, no or very little paperwork is now required for most rocketeers enjoying this great hobby. All model, mid and even some smaller high powered engines can now be purchased with either no or very little paperwork.

Rocketeers who wish to fly large K motors and above or store a large amount of engines or black powder, or fly rocket motors not contained in the list of exempted engines will still require some paperwork.

The law in summary states that any person over the age of 18 is allowed to purchase and store a combined total of 5kg of explosives if that explosive is contained within a list of exemptions and is to be used for model rockets. Please note that with regard rocket motors the weight is the net propellant weight and not the gross weight which will include packaging. If you do not know the net propellant weight, then the law states that you must assume one quarter of the product weight is propellant.

Rather than you having to know all the UN numbers for the motors, we have put together a simple list of all the available UK motors Here is a list of all the common items and engines used by rocketeers:

We would like to once again stress that the 5kg limit is a COMBINED limit. Some acceptable combinations would therefore be:

• 1Kg assorted fuses and Quickmatch, 2Kg of Estes A-D and 2Kg of Aerotech, each Aerotech being less than 1Kg net propellant.
  
• 5Kg of assorted AP engines from Aerotech and Cesaroni, each one being less than 1Kg net propellant.
  

How Big is A 1Kg Net Propelant Motor?

A common question is, how big is an engine with 1Kg of net propellant. The answer is a K impulse motor. Some of the smaller K engines are just below 1Kg, the larger K motors being above it.

An Introduction to the relevant paperwork

If you decide that you wish to keep Black Powder or wish to fly larger motors or just want to stock lots, then you will need to do various pieces of paperwork.

• Explosives License
  

  This document is issued by your Local Firearms Officer and is required if you wish to store Black Powder, or if you wish to store an engine over 1kg of net propellant or you wish to store over 5kg of net propellant of rocket motors.

  There are 2 types of Explosive License, an "Acquire and Keep" and an "Acquire Only".

  • The "Acquire Only" type is currently free, but as the name suggests this will only allow you to purchase an engine at an event. You will not be able to remove it from the event and store it off the premises.
  
  
  
  • The "Acquire and Keep" allows you to store the engines offsite at your house or maybe an alternative premises. If you only have a small amount of black powder and you are under 5Kg of rocket motors then this will probably be free also.

  The price will vary from county to county depending on your local Firearms officers. Some counties it is free of charge irrelevant of quantities stored.

• Registered Store Certificate
  

  This document is required if you wish to store more than the 20kg allowance offered by your explosives license. Typically you will not need one of these unless you are selling engines or you wish to keep a large amount of them. Again the price will vary from county to county depending on your local Firearms officers. Some counties it is free of charge.

• Recipient Competent Authority Transfer Document (RCA)
  

  This document is issued by Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and does not cost anything. It is free of charge currently. This document allows you to transport the explosives on your explosives license between your explosives license address and other events or registered stores. You only need an RCA to transport items listed that require an Explosives License.

Tell me more detail about the exempt UN numbers?

Up until 4th Dec 2007, there has always been a list of explosives that are exempt from COER (explosives certificate) up to 5Kg. These have traditionally been small items, such as fuses, igniters and very low power Black Power motors, such as Estes. This exemption list is known as Schedule 1. Any item on this schedule does NOT require an explosives license up to a combined total of 5Kg net propellant. For a full list, see HSE Schedule 1.

On the 4th Dec 2007, HSE created an exemption to COER for articles with UN numbers 0186, 0272, 0349, 0351 and 0471, provided that:

1. each individual article contains no more that 1 kg (net mass) of explosive
2. the article is intended to be used in the propulsion of model rockets
3. they are kept in a safe and suitable place

On the 4th Dec 2007, HSE created an exemption to MSER (Registration/Storage License) to allow people to keep up to 5 kg (net mass) of articles with UN numbers 0186, 0272, 0349, 0351 and 0471 without the need for a registration or storage licence provided that

1. each individual article contains no more that 1 kg (net mass) of explosive
2. the article is intended to be used in the propulsion of model rockets
3. they are kept in a safe and suitable place

Also MSER was altered to allow exemption from the separation distance requirements if a rocketeer keeps a small amount of shooters powder with less than 5 Kg of AP motors.