Why inspections matter
Operators commit to keeping their vehicles roadworthy when they hold an operator licence, and the inspection intervals are part of that commitment. Missed or poor inspections show up in DVSA roadside checks, in annual test failures and in your OCRS score, and a pattern of them can put the licence itself at risk.
A safety inspection is your chance to find the problems before anyone else does. Our PMI safety inspection checklist explains what DVSA looks for in more detail.
What a PMI covers
We inspect vehicles against the standards DVSA publishes, including its Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness and the HGV inspection manual. A typical inspection covers:
- brakes and the air system, including a check of brake performance
- steering and suspension (see steering and suspension checks before a DVSA inspection)
- tyres, wheels and wheel fixings
- lights, reflectors and electrical systems (see lights and visibility before winter)
- the chassis, body, coupling gear and load security
- the cab, mirrors, seat belts and the driver's view
- emissions and anything leaking
Defects are recorded, repaired and rechecked before the vehicle is signed off, so the paperwork reflects the vehicle as it leaves the workshop.
MOT preparation
Annual test failures cost a retest, a lost day and a mark on your record. Preparing for the test means the vehicle goes to the test centre ready to pass rather than to find out what is wrong. We work through the items that commonly cause failures, fix them and give you a vehicle that has already been looked at with the tester's eyes. Our guide to MOT preparation for HGVs lists the usual culprits.
Brake testing as part of the inspection
DVSA expects brake performance to be assessed at every safety inspection. We check brakes as part of every PMI, and our brake testing and repairs page explains how we approach it.
Keeping it on schedule
The easiest way to stay compliant is to stop relying on memory. Operators on a fleet maintenance contract have their inspections planned at the right intervals, combined with servicing where it makes sense, so vehicles come off the road once rather than twice.
Common defects found at inspections
The same items turn up again and again, which is exactly why regular inspections work. The ones we find most often include:
- lamps, reflectors and wiring
- air leaks, damaged pipework and couplings
- brake wear and adjustment
- tyres worn, damaged or under-inflated, and loose wheel fixings
- steering and suspension wear, including bushes, joints and springs
- oil and fluid leaks
- damaged mirrors, wipers and washers
- bodywork, curtains and load security fittings
Most of these are quick to fix in the workshop and expensive to discover at a roadside check.
Walkaround checks and inspections work together
Drivers' daily walkaround checks and your safety inspections are two halves of the same system. Walkaround checks catch what has gone wrong since yesterday; inspections catch the wear that builds up over weeks. If walkaround reports keep showing the same defects, the inspection interval or the maintenance plan may need looking at, and we will tell you when we see it.
If a vehicle fails its annual test
A failure means repairs, a retest and lost days. If one of your vehicles fails, we can work through the failure items, fix them and get it ready to go back for the retest. And we will look at why it failed, because a failure on an item a recent inspection should have caught is a sign the system needs tightening.
Booking an inspection
Ring 01332 916028 or use the form below with the vehicle, its registration and when the inspection is due. The workshop is at Melbourne, near Derby, and open for planned work Monday to Friday, 07:30 to 17:00.
