Chapter 8 vehicle kits are especially designed kits which comply with Department For Transport guidelines for safety at street works and road works

They are increasingly being requested by highway maintenance and emergency service operators. Applying them seems to be easy, but what are the ins and outs? In this issue I find out...

1. What you will need to get started 2. How to get the longest life from your kit 3. How to make the application process as easy as possible 4. How to maximise safety on the roads at all times When fitting any Chapter 8 vehicle kit you will need a small collection of tools to help during the process. The standard tools you will need are things like a bucket and sponge (for washing the vehicle!), a surface cleaner (such as Avery), masking tape, plastic applicators and snap off knives. Ever heard the saying ‘by failing to prepare you are preparing to fail’? Well, this is particularly true when applying Chapter 8 kits. Preparing the vehicles surface correctly will vastly reduce the possibility that the kit will prematurely fail – i.e. the panels will adhere to the surface correctly. Applying a Chapter 8 kit is easy as long as you stay organised and work methodically. Some kits will be supplied to you with each panel masked to its neighbour, meaning that all you need to do is position each section on your vehicle using masking tape to hold them in place and then start applying each panel. When the kit is masked in place on the rear of the vehicle, start applying from the centre of the kit and work outwards, applying one panel at a time. Before starting to fit a Chapter 8 kit to a vehicle you should always read any information you receive from your supplier. There may be valuable instructions that you need to follow in order to validate any warranty on the product you are using. Get those muscles working! With a plastic applicator apply even pressure to each panel of the kit in horizontal strokes. Be careful not to trap air under the panels as you apply them. If this does happen you can remove any small air bubbles with a snap off knife when the full kit has been fitted, taking care to squeegee the whole kit after doing so. When the vehicle is in use the driver may need to open the rear doors whilst stopped at the side of the road. By applying the door lozengers you will ensure that safety is not compromised and that the stationary vehicle is still visible to other road users. The final stage is to remove any dirt from your finished vehicle with a lint free cloth. For a more in depth guide why not take a look at this one from Victory Design (your supplier may have something similar that they can send to you). Click here to view the guide. You may want to find out more about Chapter 8 and other road safety products. Here is a short list of documents, web pages and videos that may be useful to you... Chapter 8 regulations Chapter 8 application guide (written by Victory Design) Chapter 8 kit application tools 3M ECE104 reflective rolls - application video