Motor vehicle registration renewal in the Philippines is required annually by the Land Transportation Office (LTO). One of the main requirements to have your registration renewed is the Certificate of Emission Compliance or CEC which can be secured from a Private Emission Testing Center (PETC).
What are PETCs?
A PETC is a privately owned facility used for determining the level of opacity and testing the gaseous content of motor vehicle emissions. It determines the conformity of vehicle emissions to the standards set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The implementation of requiring CEC in motor vehicle renewal is the state’s measure intended to control the air pollution emitted by motor vehicles as mandated by Republic Act No. 8749, otherwise known as the Clean Air Act, which aims to protect and advance the right of the people to a clean and healthy environment.
For PETCs to legitimately operate, they must first be accredited by the Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) then they need to secure their authorization from the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
According to the Annual Report of the LTO, for 2016, the office has registered 12 million motor vehicle units and this is expected to grow fast as the annual sales rate of new vehicles plays around 16%-20% (http://www.lto.gov.ph/transparency-seal/annual-reports.html). Since all these automobiles are required to renew their registrations annually, entrepreneurs find the PETC business surely lucrative. But how does one get into this business? We start with understanding the basics.
Venue and equipment
First you need a venue and the equipment. Your PETC must be located in a permanent site with a maneuvering area of at least 6 meters wide and 6 meters long. For the equipment, you must have one test equipment for gasoline-fueled vehicles or the gas analyzer and one for diesel-fueled vehicles or the opacimeter. The equipment must be certified by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Your PETC’s system must be aligned to the Philippine National Standard (PNS) International Organization for Standardization / International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 17025. This is the standard that provides for the general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.
Personnel and Business Permits
Other than the administration officers, you must employ at least one TESDA-certified Vehicle Emission Control Technician to operate the equipment. The business permits required are the usual, Business Name Registration, Mayor’s Permit and BIR registration. You need to have these documents ready when you apply for the BPS accreditation.
Application for Accreditation
As earlier stated, the DTI-BPS accreditation is a mandatory requirement before you can operate a PETC. For PETCs within NCR, one must file their application at the BPS main office at the DTI Main Building in Makati City. For those outside of Metro Manila, applications can be filed at the DTI Regional Office nearest you. Below are the required documents to be submitted:
- Duly accomplished application form, under oath
- For single proprietors, Certificate of Business Name Registration. For corporations and partnerships, SEC Registration Certificate and for Cooperatives, Certificate of Registration from the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA)
- Mayor’s permit
- BIR Registration and TIN
- SSS Registration
- Audited Financial Statement
- Location Map (including the dimensions of the site)
- Organizational Structure
- List of personnel including the Certificate of Competency of the TESDA technician
- List of all equipment including the manuals and other reference materials
Fees and Bond Requirement
Setting up a PETC is not cheap. Other than the equipment, business permits and venue rent, you must shell out some amount for the accreditation fees and charges enumerated below:
- Application fee: 300 PHP
- Assessment Fee (which depends on the size of your facility)
- Small 8,000 PHP
- Medium 16,000 PHP
- Large 24,000 PHP
- Reassessment Fee (applicable only in cases of verification visit)
- Small 8,000 PHP
- Medium 16,000 PHP
- Large 12,000 PHP
- Accreditation Certificate
- Small 3,000 PHP
- Medium 4,000 PHP
- Large 5,000 PHP
- Annual Accreditation Fee
- Small 1,000 PHP
- Medium 2,000 PHP
- Large 3,000 PHP
The size of your facility is classified based on the amount of its assets in Pesos. For small, it is 1M to 15M PHP; medium is 15M to 100M; and large is over 100M. Please note that other than the above mentioned fees, a bond of 100,000 PHP must be posted before the issuance of the certification of accreditation.
When you have complied with all the documentary requirements, fees and bond requirements, your PETC will be assessed by the DTI-BPS Assessment Team who in turn, will submit their findings to the DTI-BPS Accreditation Committee for evaluation. If there are no corrective actions needed, the office will issue you the Certificate of Accreditation (COA). The certificate is valid for three (3) years and must be posted prominently in the facility. With your certification on hand, your PETC can now operate and start providing emission test services.
It’s good to know too that running a PETC is not only a guaranteed income-generating engine but also a business that takes care of the environment. In operating a PETC, you become a valuable contributor in helping the earth become a cleaner and healthier to planet live in.
For more information on PETCs, accreditation and standards, call DTI Direct 751.3330 or visit www.bps.dti.gov.ph.♦
Date of release: 06 April 2018