Uniform Shipping Laws code
The Uniform Shipping Laws code (USL code) provides standards for the design, construction and operations of domestic commercial vessels in Australia.
The USL code was first published in 1979 in response to the need for a common national safety standard for commercial vessels. The National Standard for Commercial Vessels has largely replaced the USL code for all new domestic commercial vessels.
Access the My Boat system for guidance on how to keep your vessel compliant.
| Section | Title | Year of publication | Applicable region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction, definitions and general requirements | 1993 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 2 | Qualifications and manning: trading vessels | 1991 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 3 | Qualifications and manning: fishing vessels | 1991 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 5 |
Construction |
||
| 5A | Preliminary | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 5B | Structural strength | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 5C | Watertight subdivision of passenger vessels | 1993 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 5D | Watertight subdivision of class 2 and class 3 vessels | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 5E | Passengers, passenger accommodation, guard rails and bulwarks | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 5F | Structural fire protection | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 5G | Design loading | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 5H | Aluminium | 1993 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 5I | Copper nickel | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 5J | Ferro-cement | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 5K | Fibre reinforced plastic | 1993 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 5L | Steel | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 5M | Timber | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 6 | Crew accommodation | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 7 | Load lines | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 8 | Stability | ||
| 8A | Preliminary | 1993 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 8B | Simplified presentation of stability | 1993 | |
| 8C | Stability criteria | 1993 | |
| 9 | Engineering | 1993 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 10 | Life saving appliances | 1993 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 11 | Fire appliances | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 12 | Radio equipment | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 13 | Miscellaneous equipment | 1989 | |
| 2008 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 14 | Surveys and certificates of survey | 1993 | |
| 2008 | All regions (PDF 1.76 MB) | ||
| 15 | Emergency procedures and safety of navigation | 1993 | All regions (PDF 1.15 MB) |
| 2008 | All regions (PDF 1.17 MB) | ||
| 16 | Collision regulations | 1989 | All regions (PDF 2.42 MB) |
| 2008 | All regions (PDF 2.45 MB) | ||
| 17 | River Murray traffic regulations | 1989 | All regions (PDF 1.15 MB) |
| 2008 | All regions (PDF 1.06 MB) | ||
| 18 | Hire and drive vessels | 1989 | All regions (PDF 714.34 KB) |
| 2008 | All regions (PDF 114.41 KB) | ||
| Amendments | 1993 | Amendment list 1 (PDF 303.62 KB) | |
| 1996 | Amendment list 2 (PDF 853.62 KB) | ||
| 1996 | Amendment list 3 (PDF 228.08 KB) | ||
| 1997 | Amendment list 4 (PDF 357.03 KB) | ||
| 2007 | Amendment list 5 (PDF 83.52 KB) | ||
| 2007 | Amendment list 6 (PDF 170.03 KB) | ||
| Amendment list 6 attachment A (PDF 154.74 KB) | |||
| 2008 | Amendment list 7 (PDF 203.05 KB) | ||
| 2010 | Amendment list 8 (PDF 214.91 KB) | ||
| 2010 | Amendment list 9 (PDF 62.51 KB) |
Last updated:
Thursday 21 January 2021