Since January 1, 2020, any individual or entity renting or leasing boats
must register with the Oregon State Marine Board. Please review the
Boat Rental Business Guide.
Registration is required every two years and allows the agency to provide pertinent boating safety and equipment information that rental businesses can pass along to customers.
The Oregon State Marine Board can also supply you with educational flyers, information, links, and other resources. We encourage you to use our electronic resources and print on demand to save postage and other costs. Please check out the sidebar for available resources.
If you are planning on renting boats in Oregon, there are some state laws you’ll need to know.
Oregon law requires that any boat you rent must include all legally required operating equipment (830.410). This includes the following:
- For all non-motorized boats: a sound-producing device (often a whistle) for each boat and an appropriately sized US Coast Guard-approved life jacket with suitable labeling for the activity for each person on board the boat.
- For non-motorized boats 10 feet and longer, a Waterway Access Permit for each boat in use. Non-motorized rental businesses will receive a quantity discount on permits which must be purchased directly from the Oregon State Marine Board's online store.
- For boats over 16 feet, except canoes and kayaks, a throwable flotation device.
- For any motorized boat, including electric-powered boards such as e-hydrofoils, the boat must be titled and registered in Oregon. It will also need navigation lights if operating at night, throwable flotation devices if the boat is 16 feet-24 feet long, a sound-producing device, a fire extinguisher if the fuel tank is enclosed, appropriately sized life jackets for each person on board; and
- If over 10 horsepower, each renter must have either a Boater Education Card or the renter must complete a watercraft rental safety checklist.
Other things to remember include:- You are required to register your business with the Oregon State Marine Board.
- If you knowingly rent equipment to a drug- or alcohol-impaired boater, you could be held liable.
- Any boating incidents or accidents involving injury beyond first aid, a death, $2,000 or more worth of damage, or complete loss of boat must be reported to the Oregon State Marine Board.
- You must maintain a record of rentals for a period of six months and make them available for inspection by a peace officer upon request.
- If you are organizing an on-water event related to your business, such as a regatta, float, or race, you may need a permit from the Oregon State Marine Board. Please check here for details.
- If in addition to your rentals you are, for a fee, accompanying people on the water to teach them a skill or help them along, you may be required to register as an outfitter guide. Failure to do so can be a misdemeanor. Check here for information.
You can sign up at
boat.oregon.gov/store. If you do not have an account, please register. If you believe you have an account for your business already, please contact our Livery Coordinator, Naomi Sherman, at 503-871-2940 or email the Oregon State Marine Board at
marine.board@boat.oregon.gov.
- ORS 830.005
(9) “Operator of a boat livery” means any person who is engaged wholly or in part in the business of chartering or renting boats to other persons.
- 830.410 Operator of boat livery to provide properly equipped boats.
An operator of a boat livery may not permit any boat the operator rents to depart from the livery premises unless the boat is equipped as provided under ORS 830.015 to 830.050, 830.175, 830.210 to 830.420 and 830.475 to 830.490.
- 830.415 Records of operator of boat livery.
The operator of a boat livery shall make and preserve for at least six months a written record of:
(1) The name of each person who hires a boat from the livery.
(2) The identifying number of the boat.
(3) The date on which the boat is hired, and the hour of departure from the livery.
(4) The expected date and hour of return.
(5) The date and hour of return.
- 830.425 Minimum requirements for boat livery operation.
(1) A person may not act as an operator of a boat livery without a boat livery registration issued by the State Marine Board.
(2) Application for a boat livery registration must be made in the form prescribed by the board and must contain the following:
(a) The applicant’s name.
(b) The applicant’s business address and telephone number.
(c) Proof of registration with the Secretary of State, if required.
(d) The number and types of boats provided by the livery at the time of registration.
(e) Any other information the board considers necessary.
(3) Every two years, each operator of a boat livery shall renew the boat livery registration by submitting a renewal application in the form prescribed by the board.
(4) An operator of a boat livery shall display proof of compliance with this section in the form and manner prescribed by the board.
- 830.624 Permit requirements for person 14 years of age or older; exceptions; rules.
(1) Except as provided in subsections (3) and (4) of this section, a person 14 years of age or older shall carry a waterway access permit while operating a nonmotorized boat that is at least 10 feet in length or a sailboat that is at least 10 feet but less than 12 feet in length, in the manner provided by the State Marine Board by rule. The person shall present proof of a permit upon request by a peace officer.
(2) A waterway access permit under this section is transferrable to any nonmotorized boat that is at least 10 feet in length or a sailboat that is at least 10 feet but less than 12 feet in length.
(3) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply to:
(a) Days that the board designates, by rule, as free boating days and on which the board allows individuals to operate a boat described in subsection (1) of this section without holding an otherwise required waterway access permit.
(b) A person operating a boat owned by an operator of a boat livery if the operator of a boat livery displays proof of holding a waterway access permit according to rules adopted by the board.
- 250-010-0800 Livery Registration
(1) A livery operator must present their livery registration certificate for inspection upon request by a law enforcement officer.
(2) Livery registration certificates are valid for two calendar years from the date of issuance.