The EASI Standard

What the standard is

EASI Standard 1 is the written safety and training standard that EASI accredits operator businesses against. It exists so that a rider stepping onto a board in one country meets the same controls they would meet in another, and so that an operator has something concrete to be measured on rather than a badge with nothing behind it.

It is built on the ISO 24801 chapter structure used by recreational diver training, and every hard figure in it — power thresholds, supervision ratios, minimum ages, separation distances, weather limits — is drawn from an existing legislated or industry comparator rather than invented. Where EASI has had to make a judgement with no comparator to draw on, the standard says so on the face of the text.

Who does what — and what EASI does not do

EASI accredits operator businesses: schools and rental operations.

An accredited operator trains, assesses and awards. Where a rider or an instructor holds a level, that level was assessed and awarded by an accredited operator. EASI records it.

EASI does not train, examine or assess any individual, and issues no certificates of competence to individuals.

That boundary is not a disclaimer bolted on afterwards. It is the architecture of the standard, and every part of it is drafted to that line.

What the standard covers

Part 0 — Definitions and craft classes. Motorised personal hydrofoils are classified on continuous power paired with governed speed, into three classes: Class MPH-E (e-assist, up to 1.5 kW), Class MPH-A (limited, up to 4.5 kW and 25 knots) and Class MPH-B (performance, above that). Part 0 is the single normative home of those thresholds and of the definitions every other part uses. Every common safety provision applies to all three classes in full — a propeller on a low-power assist unit injures exactly as effectively as any other.

Part 1 — Rider progression. Every rider holds a verified logbook, opened at their first session with an accredited operator and confirmed by the operator that ran each session. It is portable to any accredited operator, anywhere.

Four optional rider levels sit above the logbook: R1 DEMO, R2 LESSONS, R3 SESSIONS and R4 RENTALS. Levels are optional and no rider is required to hold one — a rider may ride with accredited operators indefinitely, build a full logbook and remain a full participant without ever asking for an award. What a level buys is a specific privilege: an operator looks for R3 before admitting a rider to a managed session without one-to-one instruction, and for R4 before renting a craft for unsupervised riding.

Part 1 also carries the common safety floor: mandatory kill switch, guarded or ducted propulsion on every instruction and rental craft, PPE, minimum ages, separation limits and stage-by-stage weather gates.

Part 2 — Instructor competence. Five grades: I1 Assistant, I2 Instructor, I3 Senior Instructor, I4 Instructor Trainer and I5 Moderator. An accredited operator assesses and appoints its instructors; EASI registers the appointment. The separation between the person who trains and the person who assesses is non-derogable, and currency runs on a dual cycle of annual register listing and periodic revalidation.

Part 3 — Operator accreditation. Five tiers, each with its own requirements, privileges and inspection basis:

O1 REGISTERED (provisional) O2 ACCREDITED O3 ACCREDITED TRAINING OPERATOR O4 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPERATOR O5 ASSESSMENT CENTRE

Every operator at O2 and above appoints a Chief Instructor for each site, who must hold I3 or above and be based within reasonable travelling proximity of that site. If the Chief Instructor leaves, accreditation of that site is suspended immediately and the operator reverts to O1 privileges while a replacement is nominated. Part 3 also carries the operational annex, the pre-ride briefing checklist, records and retention requirements, protected incident reporting, and a published sanctions ladder with independent appeals.

Where the standard is today

EASI Standard 1 is at working-draft stage. Parts 0 to 3 are drafted in full and are in final review; they have not yet been published as a citable edition and have not yet completed independent legal review.

An operator applying to EASI today is applying to the register and accepting the EASI Operator Agreement; the standard is what accreditation will be assessed against as each tier opens, and the published edition will be available here before any operator is assessed against it.

If you want to be told when the first edition publishes, email admin@easi.network.

Independence

EASI is a private, voluntary industry scheme. It is not accredited by, or affiliated with, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), holds no recognition under retained Regulation (EC) 765/2008, and is not a national accreditation body. EASI accreditation applies to operator businesses only and carries no government or UKAS status.

Questions

Riley Grey, trading as EASI — from incorporation, eFoil Accreditation & Safety International Ltd

Email: admin@easi.network