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CAZ Checker - Clean Air Zone

CLEAN AIR ZONE (CAZ) CHECK

How does Carwow’s CAZ checker work?

Carwow’s free clean air zone check uses your vehicle’s registration to tell you if your vehicle is compliant and whether you’ll need to pay a daily charge to drive into a CAZ in the UK.

You can also enter a postcode, address, or city to see if it lies within a clean air zone.

What is a clean air zone?

A clean air zone (CAZ) is a specific inner-city area that drivers of older, more polluting vehicles must pay to drive through. The aim of a CAZ is to improve air quality by encouraging drivers to use newer, cleaner vehicles, or make the switch to public transport.

The most well-known zone is the London ULEZ (Ultra-Low Emission Zone), although more UK cities are introducing their own clean air zones.

Vehicles with emissions above a certain minimum criteria are either banned from entering the clean air zone (in some areas) or have to pay a charge for each day they drive in the CAZ.

These restrictions are usually in place 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

There are four different types of clean air zones, which target different types of vehicles, ranging from classes A to D:

  • A: Buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles
  • B: Buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles, heavy goods vehicles
  • C: Buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, vans, minibuses
  • D: Buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, vans, minibuses, cars and in some local authorities can also include motorbikes

Clean air zones require emissions from vehicles to meet a certain minimum standard for each type of vehicle. Currently, these are:

  • Buses, coaches, HGVs: Euro 6 emissions standard
  • Vans, minibuses, taxis, private hire vehicles, cars: Euro 6 emissions standard (diesel engine) and Euro 4 emissions standard (petrol engine)
  • Motorcycles: Euro 3 emissions standard

Where are clean air zones located in the UK?

Clean air zones are located in an increasing number of cities in England and currently include:

In Scotland, there are Low Emission Zones (LEZs). These have been introduced in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Unlike CAZs, LEZs in Scotland are particularly strict and do not permit any non-compliant vehicles to pay to enter. Glasgow is already enforcing this with a £60 per day penalty.

Wales and Northern Ireland do not currently have any clean air zones that charge drivers.

Is my vehicle CAZ compliant?

Being CAZ compliant depends on the emissions standard that your vehicle’s engine complies to. For example, diesel cars have to comply with 6 standards and for petrol cars it is Euro 4.

The best way to check if your vehicle is clear air zone compliant is to enter your registration number in the carwow CAZ checker.

CAZ FAQs

Clean air zones are being introduced to improve air quality by reducing pollution and, in particular, exhaust emissions from vehicles. Another objective is trying to reduce congestion by encouraging people to use public transport instead.

Clean air zones are being introduced to improve air quality by reducing pollution and, in particular, exhaust emissions from vehicles. Another objective is trying to reduce congestion by encouraging people to use public transport instead.

A clean air zone is essentially the same as a low emission zone (LEZ). One step further than this is an ultra low emission zone (ULEZ) and zero emission zone (ZEZ). As their names suggest, these have stricter regulations on emissions. They all have the same objective to improve air quality by reducing exhaust emissions from vehicles.

ANPR number plate recognition cameras are widely used to detect non-compliant vehicles driving in a clean air zone. These can quickly and easily check the official records against a vehicle’s number plate and automatically issue a fine if payment is not made within the time allowed.

Charges vary from city to city, so it is best to check each one.

For example, the daily charge to drive into the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London for cars that do not comply is £12.50. Bristol’s charges range from £9 for non-compliant cars to £100 for heavy goods vehicles (HGV). In Birmingham, for the same non-compliant vehicles, it is currently £8 and £50 respectively.

Some vehicles are exempt from paying a charge for driving in a CAZ even if they do not comply with the emissions standard.

It is worth checking with each local authority in case these exemptions vary, but typically they include: military or historic vehicles, some agricultural vehicles, vehicles with ultra low emissions (such as electric vehicles), disabled tax class vehicles or vehicles retrofitted with technology accredited by the Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme (CVRAS).