Now the bus has been registered as RV. 34 passanger seats have been removed except 8 seats. Driver plus 8 passangers are maximum allowed in RV in Finland. You can have as many seats as you want but in trafic 1+8 is the maximum number allowed passangers. If you want/need to transport more than 1+8 people then you need to keep to RV as bus and have a bus driver license (D) which is quite expensive plus the yearly taxes and insurance are totally in different level than for over 3500 kg RV.
In order to register a vehicle as RV it needs to have following:
- weight > 2500 kg
- passanger seats for all passangers
- fridge
- stove
- stowage
- table
- minimum 2 beds, size 60 x 180 cm, maximum 9. For half of the passangers in registration rounded to even number need to have a bed which can be made from sofas (1+8 RV needs five beds of which one needs to be a fixed bed). There needs to be minimum of 50 cm free space above the bed for 2/3 of the lenght of the bed measured above the mattress.
- sink
- heating
Minimum inside heigh 185 cm in a area of 40 x 130 cm within line of vehicle.
If the RV exceeds the lenght of 13 m it needs a special permit from trafic authority which can be given for valid reason like need to transport a vehicle at the back of the RV. For this the application with drawings are needed where the space for a car is. After the special permit has come the vehicle can be registered as RV with these items listed above.
Most RV builders leave the center aisle as is and build the interior around it. Many leaves the over head stowage and A/C channel also in place on both sides of the ceiling. This is kind of symmetrical design which does not go with me at all. I want to have flat floor without aisle so that I can design the interior without the limitation that the aisle in the middle forces.
How to build RV from bus?