BS AU 145e is the British Standard every road-legal number plate sold in the UK must meet. The “BS AU 145” series has been around since the 1960s — the “e” suffix is the latest revision, introduced in September 2021 and now the only version your plates can legally meet.

If you’ve ever seen “BS AU 145e certified” on a number plate listing and wondered what it actually covers, here’s the plain-English version.

What BS AU 145e covers

The standard sets the minimum legal requirements for a UK road number plate across six areas:

1. Materials — what the plate must be made from
2. Visual specifications — font, size, spacing, colour
3. Reflectivity — how visible the plate must be at night
4. Durability — how it must perform in heat, cold, sun, rain and impact
5. Permanent marking — what manufacturer info must appear on the back
6. Identification — supplier traceability requirements

Plates that pass independent BS AU 145e testing get certified. DVLA-registered suppliers must use BS AU 145e components for every plate they sell.

What changed in BS AU 145e (vs BS AU 145d)

The 2021 update tightened a few things:

• Solid black characters only — previously a small range of charcoal/dark-grey was allowed. Now strictly solid black.
• Stricter test for impact resistance — modern plate manufacturing methods (raised acrylic, gel coats) needed clearer pass criteria.
• Permanent marking format clarified — must include supplier postcode, BS number, and date of manufacture in a specific format.
• Anti-fade testing — plates must retain reflectivity after extended UV exposure simulation.

If you’re buying plates today, they must meet 145e — not the older 145d.

The visual specs you can check yourself

Without a lab, you can’t test reflectivity or impact resistance, but you can check the visible specifications. Every BS AU 145e plate must use:

Why Charles Wright 2001 specifically?

The Charles Wright font was originally designed in 1935 by Charles Wright Ltd. The “2001” refers to the year the DVLA chose this exact version — slightly modified for ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) cameras — as the legal UK standard.

The choice isn’t arbitrary: Charles Wright 2001 has clear letter shapes that are easy to read at speed, and unmistakable to ANPR systems. Sticky-style fonts, italic variants, “stylised” Charles Wright lookalikes — all illegal. If your plate uses anything other than the standard 2001 font, it doesn’t meet BS AU 145e.

The supplier marking on the back

Flip any road-legal UK plate over and you’ll see four pieces of permanent marking:

1. The supplier name or postcode
2. “BS AU 145e” (or older for plates predating 2021)
3. The component manufacturer’s mark (the company that made the acrylic/reflective sheet)
4. The date of manufacture (year and month)

This marking must be permanent — etched, hot-stamped, or printed under a protective layer. If it can be peeled off or rubbed away, it doesn’t meet 145e.

What’s NOT compliant under BS AU 145e

• Tinted, smoked or coloured backgrounds
• Carbon-fibre or “3D carbon” effect plates for road use
• Italic, gothic, decorative or “stylised” Charles Wright fonts
• Plates without permanent supplier markings
• Plates printed on non-reflective material
• Plates with non-standard character spacing (e.g. “tight” plates that bunch letters to spell words)
• Show plates of any kind on a road-driven vehicle

Show plates exist legally for off-road, display, motorsport and photography use — they just can’t be on a vehicle being driven on public roads.

How to verify your supplier is BS AU 145e compliant

1. Look for an explicit “BS AU 145e certified” claim on the product page
2. Check the supplier displays a DVLA Registered Number Plate Supplier (RNPS) code — every legal supplier has one
3. Verify the supplier asks for V5C and photo ID before processing your order — this is a legal requirement, not optional
4. Check the supplier is registered with Companies House at a UK address
5. Look for the supplier’s name in the DVLA’s public RNPS register

If any of those are missing, walk away. Cheap eBay or marketplace plates are often non-compliant.

What happens if my plates don’t comply

• MOT failure — testers check fonts, spacing and supplier markings
• Fixed penalty notice — up to £1,000 for displaying non-compliant plates
• Insurance complications — some insurers query non-standard plates after an accident
• Police stop — particularly common for tinted, smoked or stylised plates

None of this is worth the £5 you might save buying from an unverified seller.

Where Car Plates Pro fits

We’re a DVLA-registered supplier and every plate we ship is BS AU 145e certified — Standard 2D, 3D Gel, 4D laser-cut and 4D Gel alike. The compliance markings, postcode and BS number are permanently etched on the back of every plate before it leaves us.

If you’d like to see how our plates are made and what BS AU 145e looks like in practice, our Number Plate Builder walks you through the entire spec at order time.

Want a deeper dive on the rules? Our FAQ page covers 50 common questions about UK plate compliance.