See what the examiner would flag. Before they turn up.
Most public inquiries start with a maintenance investigation. PSVault keeps your coach and bus maintenance records and asks them the same questions the examiner would, every morning. It tells you what would be marked down and what to put right.
Drivers, the workshop and the office feed it as they work, so the answer is never months out of date.
If DVSA visited today
Maintenance investigation questions, PSV
Mostly satisfactory
Sections
14
Flagged
2
Actions open
3
Ref
Question
Code
Action
4b
Records completed
U
Add brake test, YN19 HTA
Workshop · due Thu
5a
Walkaround checks
U
Refresher for K. Morgan
Office · due Mon
4d
Forward planning
S
Planned 7 months ahead
8
Wheels and tyres
S
Every re-torque on record
OCRS roadworthiness, running score
8.4GreenDVSA’s last report 9.1
DVSA’s own questions
The examiner’s question set and codes, printed in the report’s own layout.
Nothing gets deleted
Mistakes are voided with a reason and a name. The original stays on file.
Kept up to date
Each check names the DVSA edition it follows. When DVSA changes one, we hear about it.
Read-only logins
Your transport consultant can look through everything without a folder in the post.
What examiners mark you down for. Caught first.
None of this needs someone to remember to look. PSVault spots it as the records come in, against the question numbers on the examiner’s report.
Maintenance investigation self-check, PSV
Checked every morning
Question
What would be flagged
What PSVault does
4c 4e
Inspections done late, with no VOR record to explain it
Warns before the due date, and asks for a VOR record when a vehicle misses one because it was off the road.
4b
Inspection sheets that are not fully completed
Stops at sign-off and lists what is missing: the brake test, a tyre reading, the rectification, a signature.
5a
Defects the drivers should have reported
Shows who marked the item OK in the days before, and puts it on that driver’s record so training goes where it is needed.
5a
Hundreds of walkarounds, hardly any defects
Compares what drivers report with what inspections find, so a nil-defect culture shows up before an examiner points it out.
4b
Faults that keep coming back
Flags a repeat on the sheet so the cause gets looked at, not just the part.
8
Old steer tyres and wheels with no re-torque
Caught on the inspection sheet before it can be signed.
4d
A planner that does not look far enough ahead
Checks the forward planner covers the six months the guidance asks for.
10
Prohibitions with no investigation behind them
Opens the investigation, links the evidence it already holds and shows what is still missing.
MOT, tacho calibration or lift inspection run out
Held against each vehicle with the certificates, and flagged well before the date.
Question numbers follow DVSA’s maintenance investigation report (PSV). PSVault follows DVSA’s published guidance, including the Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness. It is not approved or endorsed by DVSA.
Workshop
An inspection sheet that checks itself before it is signed.
When the technician taps Sign, PSVault goes over the sheet for the things an examiner would pick up on. A missing brake test. A steer tyre that is too old. A wheel that came off with no re-torque booked. A fault that was fixed last time and is back again.
It costs the technician a few seconds. It saves the conversation where someone asks why nobody noticed.
Before you sign
Safety inspection · YN19 HTA · 6 week interval
5 to look at
No brake test result recorded
Add the figures or attach the printout.
Offside steer tyre is over ten years old
Date code 1914. Not allowed on a front steered axle.
Nearside front wheel removed
No re-torque check booked yet.
Wiper fault found on the last inspection too
Repeat fault. Worth a look at the cause.
Inspection is 9 days late
There is no VOR record covering the gap.
Back to the sheet
Walkaround check
YN19 HTA
53 seat coach
Look at this first
Nearside rear outer tyre
2.1 mm at the last inspection. What is it like now?
Still OK
Defect
Exterior
Lights and indicators
OK
Wipers and washers
Defect
Offside wiper blade split. Photo added.
Wheel nut indicators
OK
Wheelchair lift
Not fitted
Mirrors
To check
Drivers
Walkarounds that point drivers at the right things.
PSVault tells the driver what it already knows about the vehicle. A tyre close to the limit at the last inspection, a defect still waiting for a part, something a gate check found yesterday. Each one needs its own answer, not a quick OK.
A check finished too quickly is flagged. The office sees every driver’s checks, how long they take and what they have missed, so training goes to the right people before DVSA asks about it.
Day to day, it is just how you record the work.
There is no extra compliance job. Everything above comes from records your people are already making, on one history per vehicle.
Drivers
Scan the QR tag on the vehicle and work through the walkaround on their own phone. No app to install. It carries on with no signal and sends when it can.
Workshop
Safety inspections on a tablet, item by item, with brake figures or the printout, tyres, wheel torque and the re-check. Driver defects arrive as jobs.
Office
One board for the fleet: off the road, inspections due, open defects and actions. Sign off inspection sheets, keep VOR records, run the quarterly self-check.
Everything in PSVault
45 features, grouped by the team that uses them. Pick a team to see theirs.
On the driver’s own phone, at the start of the shift.
Walkaround checks by vehicle type
Each vehicle type gets its own list of items, with a line of guidance under each one.
Directed checks on known issues
The check opens with what PSVault already knows: a worn tyre, an open defect, something a gate check found.
Defect notes and photos
A defect needs a note and can take a photo. Each one becomes its own defect record.
Not fitted lists
No wheelchair lift or no toilet on that vehicle? Those items are left off its check.
Minimum check time
Timed by the server from the start. A check finished too quickly is flagged.
Works with no signal
The check saves on the phone and sends later, with the time it was really done.
No app to install
Drivers scan the QR tag with the phone camera and the check opens in the browser.
On a tablet in the bay, while the vehicle is over the pit.
Safety inspections, item by item
PSV inspection items on a tablet, with not fitted lists and a remember not applicable option.
Brake tests and printouts
Brake figures with pass and fail guidance, or the roller brake tester printout attached.
Smoke tests
Pass or fail, with the readings if you take them.
Tyre treads, pressures and register
Readings by wheel position over time, pressures recorded before inflation, date codes checked.
Wheel torque and re-torque
A wheel diagram, the torque figures and the re-torque check, signed in stages.
Checks before signing
PSVault reads the sheet the way an examiner would and lists what is missing before anyone can sign.
Repeat fault warnings
An item faulted on consecutive inspections is flagged, so the cause gets looked at.
Jobs, repairs and breakdowns
Driver defects arrive as jobs and stay open until they are put right and signed off.
Saved signatures
Technicians save a signature once. Supervisors sign off on top.
On one board, for the transport manager and the office.
Fleet board
Vehicles off the road, inspections due, open defects and open actions, on one screen.
Forward planner and calendar
An inspection interval set for each vehicle, planned well ahead.
Office sign-off and second signature
Inspection sheets signed off in the office, with an optional second signatory.
Inspection sheet scrutiny
A checklist for reviewing each sheet before it goes on file.
VOR records
Off road dates and reasons, so a missed inspection comes with its explanation.
MOT, tax, tacho and LOLER dates
Each due date held against the vehicle and flagged well before it runs out.
Vehicle documents
Certificates, LOLER reports and tachograph calibration certificates kept per vehicle.
Fuel cards, fuel and AdBlue
Fills by vehicle and card, with AdBlue compared to diesel so odd ratios stand out.
Registration changes
A vehicle’s history stays joined up when the plate changes.
Garage wall screen
A big screen in the workshop showing what is in, what is due and what is waiting.
Outlook and Google calendar feed
Inspections and due dates in the calendar you already use.
The examiner’s questions, asked of your own records.
Maintenance investigation self-check
DVSA’s own question set, filled in from your records, with a suggested answer and the reason.
Actions with owners and due dates
Anything that would be marked down gets an owner, a date and a status.
OCRS score and forecast
A running score between DVSA’s reports, and how many clean checks bring it down.
SIPCAT analysis
Run the way DVSA’s spreadsheet does it, so you see the patterns an examiner looks for.
Roadside encounters and PG35EC
Entered on the day from the PG35EC, defect by defect.
PG9 prohibition records
Each prohibition held against the vehicle, with its clearance.
Prohibition and MOT fail investigations
Links the evidence already on file and shows what is missing.
DVSA defect categories
Defects sorted using DVSA’s own categorisation of defects.
Gate checks with planted tags
Supervisors plant tags on a vehicle to see which drivers find them.
Missed defect tracking
When an inspection finds something a walkaround passed, the driver who marked it OK is recorded.
Driver check quality
Check times, defect rates and misses per driver, so training goes where it is needed.
Kept the way an examiner will ask to see them.
Full audit trail
Every compliance change recorded, with who made it and when.
Void, never delete
A mistake is voided with a reason and a name. The original stays on file.
PDFs in DVSA-style layouts
Inspection sheets, self-checks and investigations print in the layouts examiners know.
Read-only auditor logins
Your transport consultant can look and print, but not change anything.
Roles for every job
Driver, technician, supervisor and office logins, each seeing what their job needs.
DVSA guidance editions tracked
Each feature names the DVSA edition it follows, and a weekly check flags updates.
Download everything
Export all of your records whenever you like.
Guides for transport managers
Plain explanations of the rules examiners work to, with the GOV.UK sources linked. Useful whether or not you ever use PSVault.
8 min read
How DVSA scores a PSV licence, the band thresholds and how to bring a score down.
Read the guide
8 min read
Immediate and delayed prohibitions, the S mark, clearance and how to investigate the cause.
Read the guide
7 min read
What happens on the visit, the questions, the four outcomes and how to prepare your records.
Read the guide
9 min read
How operators end up before the Traffic Commissioner, and the evidence that helps your case.
Read the guide
Photo to shoot: the technician doing a safety inspection with the tablet, in the operator’s own workshop
Built in a working coach yard.
PSVault started with one coach operator working through a real maintenance investigation report, line by line, and a technician trying every screen on real inspections.
Most of what is in it now is there because one of them asked for it. That is why the self-check follows the examiner’s report question by question, and why the inspection sheet works the way a technician actually fills one in.
Priced on the number of vehicles you run.
Billed monthly. Prices are plus VAT.
Not sure which band you fall in? Call 01594 733452 and we’ll work it out with you.
Questions operators ask us
Something else? Call 01594 733452 or email info@thewebalchemist.co.uk.
Will PSVault keep us out of a public inquiry?
Nobody can promise that. What it does is show you the problems an examiner would find while there is still time to fix them, and leave a clear record that you did. That is what a Traffic Commissioner looks for.
We have already been called to a PI. Can it help?
Yes. Run the self-check against the examiner’s findings, set an action for each one and show the progress over the following months. Assurances you gave at a previous inquiry can be tracked the same way.
Is PSVault approved by DVSA?
No. It follows DVSA’s published guidance and keeps records in the form examiners ask for, but DVSA has not approved or endorsed it.
Do drivers need to download an app?
No. They scan the QR tag with the phone camera and the check opens in the browser. If there is no signal in the yard, it is saved on the phone and sent as soon as there is.
What happens if someone records something wrong?
It gets voided, with the reason and the name of whoever did it. The original is never deleted, so the history an examiner sees is complete.
See it on a sample fleet.
Look round a read-only sample fleet of ten coaches yourself, straight away. A guided tour takes you through each part, and you can start a free trial whenever you are ready.