Will a missing airbag mean a failed NCT?

My car is missing the passenger airbag. Will this fail its NCT (there are no airbag lamps on)?

Noel Kalsh (Dublin )

Jul 2014 Filed under: NCT

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Expert answer

Hi Noel,

Bit of a grey area that one. First off, why does the car not have a passenger airbag? Is it a basic model that just didn't come with one fitted? Or is it actually supposed to have one but it isn't there? Theoretically, if there is a failure in the airbag system that does mean an NCT failure so I would think that if the spec says airbag and there's none in place, that counts as a failure. 

More worryingly though is my original question of why isn't it there? Did it deploy at some stage and not get replaced? If so that raises concerns about (a) what kind of accident was the car previously in and (b) if the airbag wasn't replaced as part of the repair then what else was scrimped on?

Neil Briscoe - Complete Car Adviser
@neilmbriscoe