scope:

Introduction

1. The year 2006 edition of the Rules for Building and Classing Steel Vessels Under 90 meters (295 feet) in Length is a complete reprint of the 2001 edition, consisting of the eight (8) booklets as shown in Table 1. With regard to there booklets, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 7:

a) The purpose of the generic title ABS Rules for Conditions of Classification (Part 1) is to reflect the expanded contents of PART 1, as a result of including consolidated requirements for "Classification" applicable to all types of and sizes of vessels, barges and specific shipboard arrangements/systems, etc., except for those in offshore service, as specified in the Foreword to Part 1. Additional specific requirements are contained in Part 1 of these Rules for Building and Classing Steel Vessels Under 90 meters (295 feet) in Length

b) The purpose of the generic title ABS Rules for Materials and Welding of PART 2 is to emphasize the common applicability of the requirements to ABS-classed vessels, other marine structures and their associated machinery, and thereby make PART 2 more readily a common "PART" of various ABS Rules and Guides, as appropriate.

c) The purpose of the generic title ABS Rules for Survey After Construction (Part 7) is to reflect the expanded contents of PART 7, as a result of including consolidated requirements for "Surveys After Construction" applicable to all types and sizes of vessels, barges and specific shipboard arrangements/systems, etc., as specified in Part 7, Chapter 1, Section 1.

2. The numbering system applied in the Rules is shown in Table 2.

3. Rule Change Notice No. 14, as per Table 3, with an effective date of 1 January 2011, has been incorporated into the 2011 Rules for Building and Classing Steel Vessels Under 90 meters (295 feet) in Length. In addition, the Rule Changes contained in the previously published Notices 1 through 13 to the 2006 Rules for Building and Classing Steel Vessels Under 90 meters (295 feet) in Length (together with Corrigenda items) have also been incorporated into the text of the 2011 Rules for Building and Classing Steel Vessels Under 90 meters (295 feet) in Length.

4. The effective date of each technical change since 1993 is shown in parenthesis at the end of the subsection/paragraph titles within the text of each Part. 

5. Until the next edition of the Rules for Building and Classing Steel Vessels Under 90 meters (295 feet) in Length is published, Rule Change Notices and/or Corrigenda, as necessary, will be published on the ABS website - www. eagle.org - only, and will be available free for downloading. It is not intended to publish hard copies of future Rule Change Notices and/or Corrigenda to existing Rules or Guides. The consolidated edition of the Rules for Building and Classing Steel Vessels Under 90 meters (295 feet) in Length, which includes Rule Change Notices and/or Corrigenda using different colors for easy recognition will be published on the ABS website only when RCN and/or Corrigenda are issued.

6. The listing of CLASSIFICATION SYMBOLS AND NOTATIONS is available from the ABS website www.eagle.org/rules/downloads.html for download.