Business licences
A business licence is required if the boat is to be used for any purpose other than the personal use.
Before applying for a business licence for the first time for your boat, please discuss your operational plans as far as they affect our waterways with the local British Waterways Manager.
Leisure Business and Trading Licences are normally available for twelve month periods only. However, where you are introducing a new boat into a fleet and wish to synchronise licence start dates across the fleet, we will issue shorter period licences on a monthly pro rata basis.
Please contact BW Scotland for details of business licences for our Scottish waterways.
- Leisure Business Licence
- Trading Licence
- Trade Plate Licence
- Workboat Licence
- Freight Licence
- BW Scotland Business Licences
Leisure Business Licence
12 months,Canal & Rivers, England & Wales
These are for the following uses:
- self drive hire
- time share
- shared ownership boats not qualifying for a Standard Boat Licence
- passenger, trip and restaurant boats
- hotel boats
- education and community boats
- boats owned by a social club for the use of its members
This licence allows you to use the boat for hire or reward (including via a membership scheme), or for carrying passengers for a payment.
Trading Licence
12 months,Canal & Rivers, England & Wales
These are boats used for:
- cargo carrying (other than by freight vessels - see above)
- running a shop, store, workshop or office
There are different fees depending on which of these two types of activity you will be carrying out. You may carry cargo if you have paid the fee for shop, store or workshop, but you may not sell goods or services from a boat for which you have only paid the cargo carrying fee.
Trade Plate Licence
12 months, Canal & Rivers, England & Wales
We may issue Trade Plate Licences at our discretion to boat businesses. The purpose is to permit businesses to launch new boats or to temporarily use boats in their custody or under their control while they are being commissioned, inspected, repaired, sold etc or moved in order to carry out these activities. This Licence does not permit the boat to be used for pleasure cruising. There are other restrictions on their use - see the Licence Terms and Conditions.
Workboat Licence
12 months, Canal & Rivers, England & Wales
These are for tugs, dredgers or other vessels whose sole and exclusive use is for waterway maintenance work under contract with the navigation authority. Written confirmation from the local waterway office that the vessel is required for waterway maintenance purposes must be supplied with the application and at each subsequent renewal.
Freight Licence
There are different arrangements for freight vessels operated as part of a marine freight business, under British Waterways Freight Vessel Conditions. These vessels are not permitted to use the waterways for pleasure cruising or any purpose other than carriage of freight.
Please ask for an application pack from your local office.