---
title: O.C.G.A. § 52-7-6. Exemptions from numbering requirements.
collection: code
id: 52-7-6
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 52-7-6 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/52-7-6
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/52-7-6.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/52-7-6/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t52-t53-(v40)-2021-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=d23ba203_0#page=107
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/52-7.md
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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: WATERS OF THE STATE, PORTS, AND WATERCRAFT / REGISTRATION, OPERATION, AND SALE OF WATERCRAFT / GENERAL PROVISIONS
extraction_warnings:
  - dehyphenation_unverified:speed-boats
---

# O.C.G.A. § 52-7-6. Exemptions from numbering requirements.

A vessel shall not be required to be numbered under Code Sections 52-7-4 and 52-7-5 if it is:

(1) Not motor propelled; provided, however, that sailboats 12 feet or more in length shall require registration;

(2) Covered by a certificate of number in full force and effect which has been issued to it pursuant to federal law or a federally approved numbering system of another state, provided that such vessel shall not be used on the waters of this state for a period in excess of 60 consecutive days;

(3) From a country other than the United States, provided that such vessel shall not be used on the waters of this state for a period in excess of 60 consecutive days;

(4) A vessel whose owner is the United States, a state, or a subdivision thereof, which vessel is used exclusively in the nonrecreation public service and which is clearly identifiable as such;

(5) A vessel’s lifeboat if the boat is used solely for lifesaving purposes; this exemption does not include dinghies, tenders, speedboats, or other types of craft carried aboard vessels and used for other than lifesaving purposes;

(6) A vessel that is used exclusively for racing;

(7) A vessel belonging to a class of boats which has been exempted from numbering by the department after the department has found that:

(A) The numbering of vessels of such class will not materially aid in their identification;

(B) An agency of the federal government has a numbering system applicable to the class of vessel to which the vessel in question belongs; and

(C) The vessel would also be exempt from numbering if it were subject to the federal law;

(8) Operating temporarily by virtue of evidence that an application for a certificate of number has been submitted within the previous 60 days; or

(9) Used exclusively on privately owned ponds or lakes, except for those licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

## History

Ga. L. 1960, p. 235, § 5; Ga. L. 1973, p. 1427, § 5; Ga. L. 1981, p. 147, § 4; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 52; Ga. L. 1987, p. 567, § 5; Ga. L. 2006, p. 96, § 4/HB 1490; Ga. L. 2013, p. 892, § 2/HB 497.

## Code Commission Notes

Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1988, the correct spelling of ‘‘exclusively’’ was substituted in paragraph (9).