Guide To Maintaining Roadworthiness - GOV.UK

Guide to maintainingroadworthinessCommercial goods and public service vehiclesDecember 2020

Produced by the Department for Transport in partnership with the transport industry Crown copyright 2020You may reuse this publication (not including logos and photographs) free of charge in anyformat or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0.To view this licence visit cence; orwrite to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW94DU; or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.This publication is also available on our website taining-roadworthinessAny enquiries about this publication should be sent to us atenquiries@dvsa.gov.uk.

Guide to maintaining roadworthinessCommercial goods and passenger carrying vehicles

Helping you stay safe on Britain's roadsContentsForeword by the DVSA Chief Executive6Foreword by the Traffic Commissioners 81.1.11.21.31.4Introduction 10About this guide 10What this guide contains 14Getting it right 15Key points of a good maintenance system162.Responsibilities for roadworthiness 192.1 Roadworthiness inspections 213.Daily walkaround checks 23263.1 A system of reporting and recording faults3.2 Drivers’ responsibilities 293.3 Traction services and third party trailers304.Regular safety inspections and first use inspection354.1 Inspection scope and content 354.2 First use inspection 364.3 Safety inspection intervals 384.4 Case studies 444.5 Safety inspection report forms 464.6 Intermediate safety checks 484.7 Ad hoc safety inspection intervals 484.8 Electronic capture and storage of safety inspection data494.9 Safety inspectors 564.10 Use of assistants 564.11 Authority to remove or reinstate a vehicle564.12 Vehicle cleanliness 574.13 Duties of staff 575.Safety inspection and repair facilities58Safety inspection facilities 60Tyre management 62Brake performance assessment 63Accessibility (PSV) 68Contracted out arrangements 715.15.25.35.45.54 of 112

Guide to maintaining roadworthiness5.6 Drawing up a contract 715.7 Contract limitations 735.8 Visiting agents 745.9 Roadside safety inspections 745.10 Planning a safety inspection programme 756.6.16.26.36.46.56.6Monitoring 77Monitoring of drivers daily checks 78Annual test results 79Operator compliance risk score 80British standards 81Vehicle safety recalls 81DVSA earned recognition scheme 82Annexes1.Enforcement of the operator licensing scheme2.Where to get additional help90Technical support 90Training 90Saving fuel and protecting the environment91Fault finding 91Publications 912.12.22.32.42.5863A.Example of a driver’s vehicle defect report (goods vehicles)923B.Example of a driver’s vehicle defect report (passenger vehicles)934A.Example of a safety inspection record (HGV)944B.Example of a safety inspection record (PSV)985.Example of a maintenance agreement 1026.Specimen maintenance planner 1047.Useful addresses 1068.HGV drivers walkaround check 1089.PSV drivers walkaround check 1105 of 112

Helping you stay safe on Britain's roadsForeword by the DVSA ChiefExecutiveGareth Llewellyn, DVSA Chief ExecutiveWelcome to the latest edition of DVSA’s guide to maintaining roadworthiness.DVSA’s vision is for safer drivers, safer vehicles and safer journeys for all. Animportant way in which we will achieve this is by helping you keep your vehiclesafe to drive. Whether you operate a large fleet or just one vehicle, keeping yourvehicles in a roadworthy condition is good for business, good for the environmentand helps you stay safe on Britain’s roads.This guide provides you with best practice advice on the responsibilities thatan operator or driver has to ensure the roadworthiness of their vehicles. It alsocovers what you are legally required to do and gives information on where to seekadditional help, including technical assistance or training.To help raise vehicle standards, DVSA will make sure the required standards areclear and easy to understand; tests will keep up with new technology in vehicles,and testers and test centres who don’t test to the right standards will be helped6 of 112

Guide to maintaining roadworthinessto improve. We will also provide accessible, up-to-date information about whena vehicle needs to be checked and fixed because of a safety recall.We have also introduced an ‘earned recognition’ scheme for operators witha strong track record of compliance and adherence to standards. Thosequalifying for the scheme will see commercial and financial benefits as weleave them to go about their business unhindered. This will enable us todirect our enforcement activities at the serially and seriously non-compliant.Qualification for this scheme is entirely based on merit, and so I encourage youto read through this guide, work to the principles it sets out and aim for ‘earnedrecognition.’Gareth LlewellynDVSA Chief Executive7 of 112

Helping you stay safe on Britain's roadsForeword by the Traffic CommissionersSarah BellKevin RooneyAs an operator, transport manager, driver or technician, you know just how quickly vehicletechnology continues to progress. That’s why it’s vital for this essential guide to be regularlyupdated.We’re pleased to have worked with DVSA and with those who operate and maintaincommercial vehicles to produce the latest version of the Guide to MaintainingRoadworthiness. This ongoing collaborative working ensures that the information isinformed, relevant and up-to-date. You will find references to new approaches such aselectronic brake performance monitoring which can remove some of the challenges aroundroller brake testing of trailers.On safety inspection intervals, this edition of the guide no longer features the graph ofmileage vs inspection frequency. We strongly encourage you to take a proactive, evidencebased approach to setting inspection frequencies. You know your vehicles and youroperations better than anyone. Six weekly is a good starting point for many operators, butthis should be regularly reviewed based on the results of inspections and the performance ofyour vehicles. Listening to operators, we learned that some of you felt that the graph was toorigid and didn’t encourage basing intervals on the reality of operations.8 of 112

Guide to maintaining roadworthinessWe also acknowledge the development of technology in helping you with youroperator licence responsibilities. Smartphone apps, for example, now assistwith driver defect reporting. DVSA still finds that between a third and a half of allprohibitable defects it finds at the roadside could have been prevented by the driverconducting an effective walkaround check. Undertaking an effective walkaroundcheck, acting on what is found and recording that action is as much a part of adriver’s duties as steering the vehicle down the road. Failure to do so puts bothdrivers’ and operators’ licences in jeopardy.This edition of the guide will be launched alongside DVSA’s earned recognitionscheme. The scheme’s introduction has led to the development of a range of newcompliance management tools available to all operators and transport managers.Whether you seek accreditation or not, your operation could still benefit from usingthese tools.As before, nothing in this guide is mandatory but, by following it, you’ll ensurethat you meet the relevant conditions and undertakings on your licence. If yourmaintenance contractor recommends a different approach, it is for you to satisfyyourself that you will still meet the standards. These are the commitments youmade when you first applied for your licence.Sarah Bell Kevin RooneyLead Traffic Commissioners Enforcement9 of 112

Helping you stay safe on Britain's roads1. Introduction1.1About this guideThe Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has produced this guide toexplain the responsibilities and systems involved in maintaining vehicles in aroadworthy condition, regardless of operating conditions, fleet size or vehicletype. The procedures and systems explained in this guide are useful for operators,drivers and all those who are responsible for operating, maintaining or providingcommercial goods and passenger carrying vehicles. The general principlesapply equally to light goods and passenger vehicles below the operator licensingthresholds and for vehicles that are otherwise exempt.Best practiceIt is not enough to rely on a maintenance system alone, because this cannot ensurethat vehicles are roadworthy. To ensure best practice, you will need to combinegood quality maintenance practices and skills with supervision and effectivemanagement of the system.New vehicle operatorsIf you are a new operator, you will find practical advice on how to devise, install andmonitor a system for ensuring roadworthiness. If you follow the advice given in thisguide, you can make sure you are complying with the law and that your compliancecan be monitored and controlled.Experienced vehicle operatorsIf you are an established or experienced vehicle operator, you will be able touse this guide as a benchmark to assess whether your systems are sufficientlycomprehensive or should be reviewed and improved in order to maintaincompliance. This guidance applies to you whether you carry out your ownmaintenance, contract out maintenance or do a combination of both. DVSA do notspecifically define a new or experienced vehicle operator because what constitutesan experienced operator could vary.10 of 112

Helping you stay safe on Britain's roads12 of 112

Guide to maintaining roadworthinessHowever, we do make suggestions as to what could make an experienced operator: If you have been trading under this licence or a previous licence for more thanthree years If you have been trading under this licence for more than 1 year, and you havebeen visited by a DVSA inspector and been approved as satisfactory If your company has been trading under this licence for a length of time suchthat you can prove that your roadworthiness process is effective and fullyestablished If you can demonstrate suitable evidence proving your experience whenquestioned by DVSA or the Traffic Commissioner. This could be a combinationof staff experience and skills, maintenance procedure experience andsubstantial defect reports/dataMaintaining ComplianceWe recognise that there are different methods and systems from those that are describedwithin this guide that can result in vehicles being maintained in a roadworthy condition.If you are an operator who wishes to adopt different systems, you must still satisfyTraffic Commissioners that the system you use is effective. Traffic Commissioners willonly agree to variations that will not reduce the control necessary to ensure satisfactorymaintenance.There must be a firm management commitment to review and improve maintenancesystems where defects are found on vehicles or when the fleet size or the natureof the business is changing. As a licensed operator, you can also be assured thatthe maintenance systems described in this guide will be accepted by the TrafficCommissioners, provided that the resulting condition of your vehicles remainsatisfactory. If this is not the case, however, Traffic Commissioners reserve theright to require more stringent arrangements from you (eg shorter periods betweeninspections), and the competence of the persons who carry out safety checks maybe challenged. The ultimate test will be whether a vehicle is, in fact, roadworthy.13 of 112