Conditional Registration Schemes in NSW – Member information 2023

Conditional Registration in NSW provides for vehicles which will have limited road access and in our Club’s case will be either vehicles to be registered in the Historic Vehicle Scheme (HVS) or the Classic Vehicle Scheme (CVS).  The limitation for use is 60 days per annum excluding Primary Club events.  The use of the vehicle must be logged in a Transport for NSW (TfNSW) Logbook provided at the time of annual registration.

The New South Wales Government’s agency, TfNSW have an abundance of information on the internet relating to Conditional Registration of vehicles.  Between Service NSW, Roads and Maritime Services, and TfNSW, you can disappear into a new “rabbit hole” of the internet very easily and pop out the other side and wonder where the heck you have been with plenty of cross-referenced documents.  Some information is clearly documented in detail, but also referred to as “Draft Version only”.  Sometimes some things are not what they seem; more on this later.

A Review of what to consider for conditional Registration

 What defines a registered owner of a conditionally registered (HVS and/or CVS) vehicle:

•  The registered owner of the vehicle to be conditionally registered MUST have a NSW Driver’s license.
•  The registered owner must be a financial member a TfNSW recognised Historic Vehicle Club.
•  The financial status of the member must be, at a minimum, for the duration of the registration of the vehicle at the time of registering the vehicle.  Example:  If your financial status to our Club is current to 1 October 2025 and in February 2024 you renew the vehicle’s registration for 12 months.  Before HVS renewal, you will need to renew your membership to extend beyond February 2024.
•  If the registered owner changes Clubs during the registration period they will need to complete a new Historic Vehicle Declaration, have it signed by the new club and present to Service NSW for a replacement Certificate of Approved Operations.

• What is the point of conditionally registering a vehicle?

• Considering that the vehicle is 30 years of age plus, the use of such a vehicle is probably going to be limited.  A precondition to conditionally registering a vehicle is that it is to be used for no more than 60 days in its registered year.  For many this would be excessive given the appreciated value of some treasured BMWs.  Additionally, the registered owner is obligated to document the use of the vehicle in the TfNSW logbook, provided with your registration from Service NSW.  As a Club, we would encourage members with historic vehicles to participate in Club events such as motorsport events, social drives, Cars, and Coffee etc.
• There is a very significant annual cost saving in both registration fee and CTP Insurance.  And very importantly if newly acquired or ownership is to be transferred, State Government Stamp Duty does not apply on the purchase price or value of the vehicle.
• For the BMW Drivers Club of NSW, if the vehicle is not a BMW, then the Club requires that you must be a current financial member and have been a financial member for a minimum of 12 months before HVS or CVS Registration is to be endorsed by our Club.
• The financial benefit of HVS and or CVS, particularly if you are in the process of purchasing a 30-year+ vehicle.  And let’s face it, Classic BMWs are getting more valuable in shorter time frames.

As an example, for a typical standard vehicle, registration costs are:

For a 30+ year old vehicle, with HVS or CVS registration, the costs are:

Note the major difference in the cost of stamp duty not applying to HVS/CVS new purchases, and the CTP insurance, affords a significant cost reduction, which might just help in getting that stamp of approval or permission from someone in the household.

With the HVS or CVS registrations your vehicle will “sport” special number plates to signify the conditional registration status. 

We have been working on making the applications for both HVS and CVS an easier process to navigate and have produced functional flow charts to guide members and ease the pain in dealing with the number of different NSW Government documents, not all of which are updated to be cohesive.

Purchasing a vehicle which is eligible for Conditional Registration (either HVS or CVS registrations):

• Purchase the vehicle as unregistered (i.e., without registration plates). Note that Stamp Duty for the purchase does NOT APPLY for conditional registrations.
• Ensure you have a receipt with the vehicle’s details for whatever value, signed by the previous owner.
• Have the Registration Certificate signed over from the previous owner to you as the new owner.
• To get the vehicle registered will require completion of TfNSW paperwork and sign-off from your TfNSW approved car club.
• Refer to our relevant cross functional process flow chart to see what scheme your vehicle might be eligible for.

To reiterate, the difference between a vehicle eligible for Historic and Classic Vehicle Schemes when both are 30 years or older from date of manufacture?   Note that a vehicle which is eligible for HVS can be registered in the CVS.  If you intend to do any modifications or alterations, then choose the Classic Vehicle Scheme.

• HVS is a scheme for 30+ year old vehicle which is standard (except some safety items like seatbelts)
• CVS is a scheme for 30+ year old vehicles which are not standard or planning to be modified and therefore to be not standard.

If the vehicle has modifications (e.g., bigger diameter and width wheel/tyres or big brakes or if you have changed the seats to non BMW seats) then it should be in the Classic Vehicle Scheme.  Refer to vsi-06-light-vehicle-modifications.pdf and RMS-Guideline-for-alternative-wheels-and-tyres-Vehicle-Standards-Information-No-9-November-2003.pdf for the technical information to check you will have selected the correct Conditional Registration Scheme.

Note:  As part of approving a vehicle for conditional registration there is a process which is to be followed by the registered owner to afford a reasonable assessment by the Club’s Classic & Historic Registrar as to the eligibility of the vehicle in the Scheme which is being applied for.

Our Club requires registered owners to complete and sign (personal and witness signatures) a Statutory Declaration, declaring the vehicle’s eligibility to the conditional registration scheme.

Before proceeding to conditionally register your vehicle in the scheme, please consider the legal implications of signing a Statutory Declaration, for not just yourself but the Club and other Club members should the vehicle in question not be as eligible as you think or decree.

Personal implications are that you are required to sign a Club HVS / CVS Statutory Declaration as to the eligibility of the vehicle – i.e., The Registered Owner and Declarant takes full responsibility.  If you are at all unsure, you should seek professional advice.  A Statutory Declaration is a legal document.  If the vehicle is deemed ineligible by the authorities (TfNSW, Police or an Insurance Company), then your vehicle is considered “unregistered” and therefore uninsured.  If there are “serial offences” picked up by the authorities of non-compliant ineligible vehicles TfNSW can remove our Club’s affiliation and approved status to be part of the conditional registration schemes.  This would affect around 200 members.