New and tougher standards are coming in for the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) on 1st March. 

Heavy vehicles, including lorries, buses, coaches and specialist vehicles, will need to meet Euro VI emissions standards or pay a daily charge to drive within the Greater London area. 

One option for meeting the new standard, where appropriate solutions are available, is to retrofit emissions reduction technology.  CILT understands that some operators are concerned that they will not be able to get such retrofits installed before 1st March. 

Because of this, Transport for London (TfL) has announced a three-month grace period for vehicles that have a confirmed booking with a CVRAS-approved fitter for a CVRAS-approved retrofit solution. 

During this three-month grace period, these vehicle owners will not need to pay the LEZ daily charge if driving in the zone. 

This three-month period starts from the date TfL is notified of the booking by the retrofit manufacturer and has updated the vehicle record in the system. 

During the grace period, TfL's vehicle checker will show your vehicle(s) as compliant. After this period, if your vehicle has not been retrofitted, the vehicle checker will return the vehicle to its non-compliant status. 

You must continue to pay the LEZ daily charge when driving in the zone until our vehicle checker shows your vehicle as compliant. These charges are non-refundable.

It may take up to seven days for the system to update. If seven days have elapsed since your booking was confirmed and the vehicle checker returns a non-compliant status, please check with your retrofit manufacturer that they have notified TfL of the booking. 

After 28th February 2022, the grace period will no longer be offered. Vehicle owners that book a retrofit solution beyond this date will need to pay the LEZ daily charge until their vehicle has been fitted and complies with the LEZ emissions standards.

Please note that the LEZ retrofit grace period is NOT the same as the Direct Vision Standard (DVS) grace period for fitting of safe systems to zero-star-rated HGVs.