All these comments seem to be tailored to the North American recreational market. Things become even more complicated and challenging with overseas shipyards, everything from pre-qualification of the yard, to regular inspections, to final delivery/seatrials/commissioning/warranty.
If a boat is being built with CE Certification, would those applicable inspections be considered satisfactory, in reference to what is being discussed on this thread? Has anyone gone through this and think that hiring an additional surveyor (beyond the CE surveyor) is superfluous?
CE certification is valuable in its own right, however, like ABYC Standards, it cannot regulate for general boat building know-how and skills. I routinely inspect vessels built to CE, Transport Canada, Au/NZ, ABS, as well as ABYC/NMMA standards. Those standards include certain mandates for the gear that's used (CE calls for metal bowls on all primary fuel filters, I actually consider that a detriment, Au/NZ electrical standards call for a disconnect switch located at every AC-powered appliance, fan, pump, compressor etc, that is, IMO, advantageous, ABS calls for check valves in overboard discharges, that can make for bulky plumbing), but they don't regulate attention to detail, thoughtful layout of equipment for access and maximum utilization of space, proper battery bank sizing, selection of the highest quality and best-supported equipment, proper fiberglass core closeout, general neatness in wiring and plumbing and a host of other details.
Again, while CE certification can add value to a vessel, it's not a gate keeper when it comes to overall quality.
I wrote an article on Standards Compliance, including CE, for Fleming's in house "Venturer" magazine. While those are available on line here
https://www.flemingyachts.com/Venturer-Magazine the issue that contains that article isn't; if anyone wants a copy email
katie@stevedmarine.com and she'll send you a PDF. While I'm a strong advocate of standards compliance, you can build a poor quality boat that is compliant, it's by far not the last word in boat building. You need to possess a host of other skills, beyond knowing how to comply with CE or other standards, and experience to build a good boat.
In the next few months I'll be in Taiwan, China and Malaysia inspecting new builds, some of which will be CE Certified, and some ABS, while others will also meet select, agreed upon ABYC Standards. For a new build, determining what standards the vessel will meet, is a discussion that should occur before signing any agreements, and before any funds exchange hands.