Skip to main content
Guidance

How DVSA makes sure businesses make or sell safe vehicles or parts

Understanding DVSA’s Vehicle Market Surveillance Unit aims and how it can fine or take you court for making or selling unsafe vehicles or parts.

Updates to this page

From:
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
Published:
7 October 2021
Last updated:
23 April 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated 'Vehicle Market Surveillance Unit: offences and fines' to remove offences that are not currently in UK law.

  2. Updated 'Vehicle Market Surveillance Unit: offences and fines' to ad information about offences for breaches of type approval regulation for non-road mobile machinery and road vehicles.

  3. Vehicle Market Surveillance Unit: offences and fines - updated link to The Motor Vehicle Tyres (Labelling) (Enforcement) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

  4. Updated Vehicle Market Surveillance Unit: offences and fines. Added information about offences for breaches of type approval regulation for: - Agricultural and forestry vehicles - Motorcycles

  5. First published.

Documents

Vehicle Market Surveillance Unit: enforcement policy

HTML

Vehicle Market Surveillance Unit: offences and fines

HTML

Details

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) Vehicle Market Surveillance Unit inspects vehicles, trailers and equipment to make sure they meet safety and environmental standards.

The policy sets out what action DVSA will take when dealing with most offences that they find when they carry out an investigation.

It sets out:

  • the Vehicle Market Surveillance Unit’s objectives and principles
  • how DVSA conducts investigations
  • what DVSA can do when it finds unsafe vehicles or components

Sign up for emails or print this page

Related content