Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006 (Conferral of Functions) Order 2006 (S.I. No. 477 of 2006) the Road Safety Authority has overall responsibility for the delivery and oversight of the National Car Test.
A NCT is due when a vehicle is four years old and every two years thereafter until it reaches 10 years when it becomes subject to annual testing. Periods of non-use of a vehicle or periods of not having to pay motor tax are not relevant in relation to determining NCT test due dates. The test due date is determined by reference to the date of registration and subsequent anniversaries of that date.
NCT certificates are not back dated. As a test certificate reflects the condition of the vehicle at the time the test was carried out, it would not be possible to issue a test certificate with an effective start date other than the date of execution of a successful test. Where a vehicle is presented late for its NCT inspection, the NCT certificate is valid from the date of the successful test to the next test due date. This can result in a certificate of less than 1 or 2 years duration, depending on the age of the vehicle. No provision exists to permit an extension of the period covered by an NCT certificate beyond the next test due date.
Voluntary early testing refers to vehicles presented for test more than 90 days in advance of their test due date. Subsequent test due dates are re-set to anniversaries of the voluntary test date and this would result in subsequent test due dates being brought forward.
