Guidance

Identifying and recording the new defects on the MOT testing service

Updated 26 February 2019

This guidance was withdrawn on

This guidance was published to help MOT testers prepare for changes made to the MOT test on 20 May 2018.

The guidance is no longer current. It is not being updated.

Check the MOT inspection manual for cars and passenger vehicles or MOT inspection manual for motorcycles for the current testing standards.

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mot-changes-from-may-2018-guidance-for-mot-testers/identifying-and-recording-the-new-defects-on-the-mot-testing-service

Overview

The MOT testing service changed on 20 May 2018 to reflect the changes to the test.

The main changes are:

  • the new defect categories (dangerous, major and minor) are showing
  • references to the MOT inspection manual (for example, 4.3.1 - stop lamp presence, condition and operation) link directly to that section
  • you can search for defects without knowing the exact wording, for example, if you search for ‘rusty’, it brings up defects with the word ‘corrosion’ in them

1. Identify the defect category

Various defect categories may be available for each item. The category you give will depend on the type of problem and how serious it is.

Use the defect wording and your knowledge, experience and judgement to choose the right category.

Example

If a brake disc or drum is significantly and obviously worn, you’d give a ‘major’ defect.

If it’s insecure, fractured or otherwise likely to fail, you’d give a ‘dangerous’ defect.

2. Record the defect

You must record all dangerous, major and minor defects. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency can take disciplinary action against you if you don’t.

This video shows how the screens look since 20 May 2018.

Identifying and recording the new defects on the MOT testing service

How to find defects

You can either:

  • select defects from a component-based menu system
  • search for defects by name

Browse for defects

  1. Select the appropriate component from the main component list.

  2. Make further selections from the sub-menus.

  3. When you’ve selected the appropriate component, choose the appropriate defect from the list.

Search for defects by name

You can type the name of the defect you need to record into the search bar.

This is being improved so that you can find the right defect, even if you:

  • search for a word that isn’t in the official defect name, for example, searching for ‘rusty’ will return defects that include the word ‘corrosion’
  • make a spelling mistake, for example, if you mistype ‘reflectrs’ instead of ‘reflectors’

When you’ve found the appropriate component and defect, the available defect categories will appear for you to choose from.

Advisories

When an item hasn’t deteriorated enough to justify a failure, you might be able to select ‘advisory’.

Defects not relevant to the vehicle

Some defects listed in the inspection manual might not be available if they aren’t relevant due to the age or test class of the vehicle.

However, you can still select advisory items for these, if appropriate.

Dangerous non-testable items

If you think a defect on a non-testable item is dangerous, explain it to the customer.

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