The motorboat number assigned shall consist of the symbol "VA" identifying the Commonwealth followed by not more than four arabic numerals and two capital letters, in sequence, separated by a hyphen or equivalent letter space that is greater than "I" or "1" and is in accordance with the serial numerically and alphabetically; e.g., "VA 1234 BB" or "VA-1234-BB." Since the letters "I," "O" and "Q" may be mistaken for arabic numbers, all letter sequences using "I," "O" and "Q" shall be omitted.

Any vessel used as a rental, livery, or leased as specified in the Application for Watercraft Certificate of Title and Certificate of Number (Registration), shall be registered with the suffix: RB, BR, LB or a suffix designated by the department. Only owners of vessels specified with the primary operation as rent, lease, or livery on the Application for Watercraft Certificate of Title and Certificate of Number (Registration) are considered by the department to be rental or leased boat companies. Only vessels specified with the primary operation as rent, lease, or livery are considered rental, leased, or livery motorboats.

The numbers assigned for a motorboat shall be painted on or attached to each side of the forward half of the vessel to which issued in such a position as to provide clear legibility for identification; provided, that on vessels so configured that a number on the hull or superstructure would not be easily visible or the numbers would not remain securely attached, the number must be painted on or attached to a backing plate that is attached to the forward half of the vessel so that the number is visible from each side of the vessel. The numbers shall read from left to right and shall be in block characters of good proportion not less than and three inches in height. The numbers shall be a color which will contrast with the color of the background and so maintained as to be clearly visible and legible; i.e., dark numbers on a light background or light numbers on a dark background.