# The Merchant Shipping (International Safety Management (ISM) Code) Regulations 2026, Regulation 18: Duration and validity of relevant documents


(1) An Interim Document of Compliance issued pursuant to regulation 14(3) must be issued for a period of validity not exceeding 12 months beginning with the date of satisfactory completion of the interim verification.
(2) An Interim Safety Management Certificate issued pursuant to regulation 17(3) must be issued for a period of validity not exceeding six months beginning with the date of satisfactory completion of the interim ship verification.
(3) The period of validity of an Interim Safety Management Certificate specified in paragraph (2) may be extended by a Certifying Authority for a period of up to six months.
(4) A Document of Compliance issued pursuant to regulation 13(1) must be issued for a period of validity not exceeding five years beginning with the date of satisfactory completion of the initial verification.
(5) A Safety Management Certificate issued pursuant to regulation 16(1) must be issued for a period of validity not exceeding five years beginning with the date of satisfactory completion of the initial ship verification.
(6) Where a renewal verification or a renewal ship verification has been satisfactorily completed within a period of three months before the date of expiry of an existing Document of Compliance or Safety Management Certificate (as the case may be), the new Document of Compliance or Safety Management Certificate must be issued for a period of validity—
(a) beginning with the date of the satisfactory completion of the verification; and
(b) ending at the end of a period not exceeding five years beginning with the day after the date of expiry of the existing Document of Compliance or Safety Management Certificate.
(7) Where a renewal verification or a renewal ship verification has been satisfactorily completed more than three months before the date of expiry of an existing Document of Compliance or Safety Management Certificate (as the case may be), the new Document of Compliance or Safety Management Certificate must be issued for a period of validity beginning with the date of completion of the verification and ending with the last day of a period not exceeding five years.
(8) Where a renewal ship verification has been satisfactorily completed after the date of expiry of a Safety Management Certificate, the new Safety Management Certificate must be issued for a period of validity not exceeding five years beginning with the day after the date of expiry of the existing Safety Management Certificate.
(9) Where a renewal ship verification has been satisfactorily completed and a new Safety Management Certificate cannot be issued or placed on board the ship before the date of expiry of the existing Safety Management Certificate, a Certifying Authority may extend, by way of endorsement, the existing Safety Management Certificate for a further period of validity not exceeding five months beginning with the day after the date of expiry of the existing Safety Management Certificate.
(10) Where, on the date of expiry of its existing Safety Management Certificate, a ship is not in the port in which a Certifying Authority has agreed to carry out a renewal ship verification, that Certifying Authority may, where it is appropriate to do so, extend the validity of the existing Safety Management Certificate for a period not exceeding three months beginning with the day after the date of expiry of that certificate, solely for the purpose of allowing that ship to complete the voyage to the agreed port.
(11) A ship to which paragraph (10) applies must not leave the agreed port of verification unless the Certifying Authority has issued a new Safety Management Certificate.
(12) The period of validity of a new Safety Management Certificate issued in the circumstances described in paragraph (11) begins with the day after the date of expiry of the existing Safety Management Certificate before the extension of validity under paragraph (10).
(13) A Document of Compliance is only valid in respect of the types of ship expressly specified in it.
(14) A relevant document ceases to be valid if—
(a) it has been suspended or cancelled in accordance with regulation 19 (cancellation or suspension of relevant documents);
(b) it does not display endorsements showing that—
(i) in the case of a Document of Compliance, a satisfactory annual verification has been carried out in accordance with regulation 13(4) (verification and Document of Compliance requirements); or
(ii) in the case of a Safety Management Certificate, a satisfactory intermediate ship verification and (if required) an additional ship verification, has been carried out in accordance with regulation 16(4) and (5) (verification and Safety Management Certificate requirements); or
(c) the period of validity of that document, including any extension in accordance with this regulation, has expired.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/194/regulation/18 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/merchant-shipping-international-safety-management-ism-code-regulations-2026/regulation-18
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.