Risk ratings
DVSA has made some substantial changes, including more focus on the work testers do. Although the majority of garages are very professional, looking at the risk ratings has helped DVSA target those that aren’t doing things properly.
DVSA will continue to monitor the risk rating model and will adapt it following your comments and feedback on the blog.
Annual assessment – don’t leave it too late
One of the things DVSA now looks at as part of site reviews is a garage’s approach to staff training. This is one of the things that forms part of the overall risk score for a garage - especially the approach to organising testers’ annual training and assessment.
The blog says that “it’s sensible to do training and assessment in plenty of time. This will leave you time to get any extra training done and to practice what you’ve learned”.
Registering vehicles correctly
In previous blog posts DVSA mentioned that they were looking to try and reduce the number of vehicles registered incorrectly during MOT. This means the result will be registered against the wrong vehicle, which is a problem.
While it might seem like a small thing, it defeats the object of all the hard work they do when results are entered for the wrong vehicle. It also means DVSA has to spend a lot of time sorting it out, rather than doing useful things to improve the service.
Changing vehicle registration screens
In the next few months, DVSA will be making some changes to the vehicle registration screens so the vehicle make, model and colour will be even clearer to help testers get the right match. They are also getting nearer to allowing plug-in to the vehicle diagnostic port. This will mean they will be able to get the vehicle VIN directly.
In the meantime, DVSA asks if you could all be extra vigilant when registering vehicles for test. Their research has also shown that you need to take the vehicle registration mark and vehicle identification number from the vehicle. You should not get them from a job card or online look-up service. This will make sure the MOT result is recorded against the right vehicle.
Emissions and MIL
The introduction of the MIL (malfunction indicator lamp) to the MOT test has caused confusion for some MOT testers. In several recent blog posts, DVSA has been asked if it's reasonable to fail a vehicle for the MIL even though the tailpipe emission test was okay.
“The answer is yes, it’s perfectly reasonable to fail a vehicle for having a lit MIL even if it passes the tailpipe emissions test”, DVSA’s blog reads.
“Emissions are controlled/measured by various sensors in the engine management system. If the system detects a fault or abnormal reading, then the engine MIL will illuminate. While the vehicle may pass the tailpipe test with the MIL on, emissions are not likely to be within limits during real world driving”.
Additionally, DVSA will soon be launching a new, improved messaging page into the MOT testing service. This will make it easier for testers to navigate and find the messages they need to read. They also be introducing a notifications system to tell testers about service outages and remind them about the annual assessment deadline.
Read the full blog post online at https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/mot-services-were-working-on-9-january-2019/
