---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 C.F.R. § 131.575"
title: "46"
number: "131.575"
heading: "Yearly inspections and repair."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/46/131.575"
---

# §131.575. Yearly inspections and repair.

- (a) Each lifeboat, rescue boat, rigid liferaft, buoyant apparatus, and life float must be stripped, cleaned, and thoroughly inspected and repaired as needed at least once a year. This procedure includes emptying and cleaning each fuel tank and refilling it with fresh fuel.
- (b) Each davit, winch, fall, and other launching-appliance must be thoroughly inspected at least once a year, and repaired as needed.
- (c) Each item of survival equipment with an expiration date must be replaced during the annual inspection and repair if this date has passed.
- (d) Each battery used in an item of survival equipment and clearly marked with an expiration date must be replaced during the annual inspection and repair if this date has passed.
- (e) Except a storage battery used in a lifeboat or in a rescue boat, each battery used in an item of survival equipment and not clearly marked with an expiration date must be replaced during the annual inspection and repair.
- (f) Compliance with the requirements of this section does not relieve the master or person in charge of the duty of compliance with requirements in [§ 131.540(a)](/cfr/46/131.540.md?p=a) of this subpart to keep the equipment ready for immediate use when the vessel is under way.

## Notes

### Authority

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(j); 46 U.S.C. 3306, 6101, 10104; E.O. 12234, 3 CFR, 1980 Comp., p. 277; E.O. 12777, 3 CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 351; DHS Delegation No. 00170.1, Revision No. 01.4. Section 131.990 also issued under sec. 617, Pub. L. 111-281, 124 Stat. 2905.

### Source

Source: CGD 82-004 and CGD 86-074, 62 FR 49340, Sept. 19, 1997, unless otherwise noted.