Vehicle Testing

Maintaining your vehicle

You need to keep your vehicle and trailers in a roadworthy condition all the time and not just when you are preparing for an annual test.

Key steps to maintaining your vehicles If you follow these few simple steps, your goods vehicle, trailer and bus will always be reliable and roadworthy:

  • Give someone in your organisation overall responsibility for
    making sure your vehicles are roadworthy
  • Make sure your drivers always carry out daily walk-around
    checks
  • Fix defects in your yard before vehicles go on the road
  • Put in place an effective maintenance programme
  • Monitor all vehicle maintenance, defects and repairs
  • Make sure you have the facilities and expertise to maintain and
    repair your vehicles
  • Make sure all staff involved with the roadworthiness of vehicles
    are trained in their duties and know their responsibilities

If you are an operator you must know your legal obiligations and fulfil them. This includes making sure your vehicles and trailers are always roadworthy and safe.

Please read the Road Safety Authority's guide to keeping your commercial vehicle roadworthy(PDF). 

Watch the Road Safety Authority's HGV checks video.

Vehicle pre use daily checks

Vehicle pre use daily checks are a simple and effective way to spot potentially dangerous issues before vehicles are used. .

The Road Safety Authority in collaboration with the Health & Safety Authority and An Garda Siochána have developed a series of simple vehicle walk around posters and checklists to highlight the importance of regular driver vehicle checks and to assist drivers in carrying out the checks.

Sample Maintenance and Repair Records

Here are some sample maintenance and repair records. We advise you “tailor” these samples for your own use to ensure that all maintenance requirements are covered for your vehicles.

Record of Planned Maintenance

Planned maintenance can be defined as maintenance carried out at fixed intervals of time or mileage, for example according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Planned maintenance helps to ensure that your vehicles are always in a roadworthy condition when in use and will minimise vehicle breakdowns.

Sample Paper based System

Planned maintenance can be recorded on a simple wall chart such as the one provided by the RSA . The wall chart is A1 in size and allows you to view due dates for: Service, Commercial Vehicle Test and Tacho Check for each vehicle at a glance. View an image of the Wall Chart(PDF).

Order a free Wall Chart:

1. Email your name and address to: enforcement@rsa.ie or
2. Telephone 1890406040 8:00 -18:00 Mon - Fri Excluding Bank Holidays

Sample Computer based System

Our sample excel file could be modified for your own use. Link to sample excel planned maintenance record(XLS).

Record of Vehicle Maintenance and Repair

A record of vehicle maintenance and repair should record all the maintenance and repair details for each vehicle. This will allow you to analyse which vehicles cost more / less to maintain than other vehicles and also can highlight a recurring issue with a vehicle which may lead to a change in the maintenance schedule.

Suggested Paper based System

Open and maintain a file on each vehicle. Store the receipts on all repair and maintenance carried out on that vehicle in the file.

Sample Computer based System

Our sample excel file could be modified for your own use. The service and repair details on each vehicle are stored on a single sheet within the spreadsheet. Link to sample excel vehicle maintenance and repair record(XLS).

Defect notification System

A simple notification system should be in place so that the competent person is informed as soon as defects are detected by a driver when conducting a walk around check.

Here are some sample walk around check document. You can use this sample to develop your own walk around check document.

Van and LGV Driver Walk-Around Check Sheet(PDF)

HGV Driver Walk-Around Check Sheet(PDF)