Driver walkaround checks on any phone. Walkarounds you can prove.

Most operators have a walkaround system. Fewer can show it works. A tick sheet in the cab proves somebody signed for a check. It does not show the driver looked at the tyres, how long they spent outside the vehicle, or why the rear tyre found worn at the next safety inspection was ticked OK every morning that week.

What an examiner looks for

Driver defect reporting is question 5 in DVSA’s maintenance investigation questions. The examiner wants to see three things: that effective walkaround checks are carried out, that a suitable defect reporting system is in use, and that reported defects are assessed and repaired. The part that catches operators out is the comparison. Defects found at safety inspections and at the fleet check are set against what drivers reported. If inspections keep finding things a driver should have spotted, with no driver report behind them, that points towards an unsatisfactory mark. Clear evidence that checks are not being done, or that records have been falsified, is grounds for reporting the operator to the Traffic Commissioner.

For electronic systems, the same question expects reliable date and time stamps on every report, nil reports included, and photos that can be found easily by date and vehicle.

The baseline comes from DVSA’s Guide to maintaining roadworthiness. A walkaround is done before the vehicle is used on the road, and at least once in every 24-hour period it is in service. The driver stays legally responsible for the vehicle even when someone else does the check. A defect report should record the registration, the date, the defect, who reported it, who it was reported to, how it was assessed, what was done to put it right and when. Defect reports and repair records are kept for at least 15 months. Nil reports, where the driver found nothing, are described as good practice and should be kept for at least 3 months. The guide also expects operators to allow enough time for checks and to monitor them, and it mentions looking at how long walkarounds take.

For the items themselves, DVSA’s daily walkaround check guidance for bus and coach drivers works from the driver’s seat, through the saloon, then round the outside. It runs from mirrors and the height marker to doors, exits, wheel fixings and AdBlue, and asks drivers to record nil when they find nothing. Our guide to PSV walkaround checks goes through it in more detail.

How a walkaround works in PSVault

Every vehicle carries a QR tag. The driver scans it with the phone camera and the check opens in the browser. There is no app to install.

Items are set per vehicle type, so a double deck service bus and a midi coach can have different lists. Each vehicle also has its own not fitted list, for example no wheelchair lift or no toilet, so drivers are not asked about kit the vehicle does not have. Every item is answered OK, Defect or not applicable, with a short line of guidance underneath so a newer driver knows what they are looking at.

Defects with notes and photos

Marking an item as a defect needs a note. The driver can add a photo for that item. Each defect becomes its own defect record carrying that note, and it arrives in the workshop as a job. From there it moves through its statuses to rectification and sign-off before the vehicle goes back out. Defects can be categorised using DVSA’s categorisation of defects.

Minimum check time

Each walkaround has a minimum check time. The server times the check from the moment it starts, so the figure does not depend on the phone. A check finished too quickly is flagged for the office. Spot photos and the GPS position of the check can be recorded as well.

Working without signal

The check is saved on the phone and sent when there is a connection, carrying the time the check was actually done rather than the time it uploaded.

Nil defect reports

A check where everything is OK is recorded like any other, with the driver, the vehicle and the time. That is your nil defect report, and your evidence the check happened.

Directed checks

A paper sheet asks the same questions every day. PSVault tells the driver what it already knows about that vehicle and asks for a clear answer on each point:

• tyres recorded at or below the fleet’s warning tread at the last inspection or tyre reading, with the wheel position
• items the technician asked to be monitored at the last safety inspection
• open defects that have not yet been put right
• anything a recent gate check found

The fleet can choose to ask for a tread reading or a photo on those points. If a driver marks OK on something PSVault knows is below the legal limit, it says so plainly and asks them to look again. The items to monitor come straight from the safety inspection sheet, and the tyre warnings come from the tyre register.

When a driver misses something

When a safety inspection, a gate check, a roadside encounter or the office finds a defect on an item a driver should spot, PSVault looks back at the walkarounds on that vehicle since the item was last confirmed sound, within a window the fleet sets. Each walkaround that marked it OK is recorded as missed, against that driver. The defect shows it, with names and dates, and so does the driver’s record. It is the examiner’s question 5 comparison, done on your own records first. The per-driver view and gate checks are covered on the gate checks and driver quality page.

How it feeds the self-check

The maintenance investigation self-check runs DVSA’s own question set against your records. For driver defect reporting it fills in walkaround coverage including nil defect reports, defects found by drivers compared with defects found at inspection, and what gate checks turned up. It suggests an answer with the reason, and the office confirms or changes it and signs. If the answer is weaker than you want, the actions to fix it get an owner and a due date, and the next self-check looks back at them. The DVSA maintenance investigation guide explains what happens on the day.