DVSA Earned Recognition: What Is It and Should Operators Consider It?

What is DVSA Earned Recognition?

The join the scheme (opens in a new tab) page describes earned recognition as continuous monitoring of your own compliance, using monitoring systems, against vehicle and road-safety standards. It is voluntary, and it is designed to work for operators of all sizes.

You need a DVSA-validated IT system for vehicle maintenance and drivers’ hours. That system monitors a set of key performance indicators. Every 4 weeks it tells DVSA if you have missed any KPI by more than the published tolerance. DVSA then works with you to fix the problem. DVSA does not have direct access to your data or systems.

From 1 April 2022, maintenance monitoring can be a fully digital system approved by DVSA, a mixture of manual and digital systems with digital reporting that DVSA has validated, or a manual report you send to DVSA. Drivers’ hours still need a digital management system that can track the KPIs and report when they are missed.

Who can apply?

Before you apply, the join page asks for four things. You have held an HGV or PSV operator licence for at least 2 years. The traffic commissioner has not taken regulatory action, other than a formal warning, on any of your operator licences in the last 2 years. You have management systems for vehicle maintenance, and digital systems for drivers’ hours, that can track the KPIs and report a miss. You meet the earned recognition audit standards.

The application is for the whole business, not for one licence. You report the data for every operator licence you hold. A group of legal entities that use the same management systems can make one group application. The standards and the KPIs are then measured across the group. An entity cannot leave that group accreditation unless it changes ownership or it no longer exists.

There is no application fee. An audit provider may charge, and the provider sets the fee. A system supplier may also charge if your systems cannot measure and report the KPIs. This page does not state those fees.

The join page sets the order. Read the self-assessment. Check that your IT provider, if you use one, and your audit provider are registered with DVSA. If they are not, the page says to tell them to email dvsaer@dvsa.gov.uk for the documents they need. Then fill in the application if you meet the tests. DVSA reviews it and replies. The audit can be completed up to 3 months before DVSA receives the application, or up to 3 months after. After the audit you sign the report. The auditor sends you the result and sends a copy to DVSA. If issues can be put right within a month, you are given that chance. If they are not, DVSA can reject the application and give the reasons. You can appeal an application or audit outcome by emailing corporatereputation@dvsa.gov.uk within 14 days of the decision, with the reasons and any documents. A refusal or removal is put on hold once the appeal is received.

HGV and PSV operators

Either an HGV licence or a PSV licence can be the basis of an application. If you hold both, you are audited against both standards. The HGV audit standards (opens in a new tab) and the PSV operator standards (opens in a new tab) are separate documents. Both say the auditor’s check includes a minimum of one month’s operator analysis and the actions that followed. This page does not use a different sample for one licence type.

Extra modules are optional. They show you meet extra requirements for certain work, and you may have to share module information, such as KPIs, with a third party. An extra module can cover the whole entity, or at least one operator licence with all of its operating centres. Those modules are audited every year, which is shorter than the two-year audit for the main scheme.

HGV operators can apply for modules on High Speed 2, London Power Tunnels, TfL Contractual Requirements, and concrete operations. PSV operators can apply for TfL Contractual Requirements and PSV private hire. Each module needs its own application form, naming the licences it covers. This guide does not set out what those contracts require.

What are the KPIs?

There are two sets: maintenance, and driving activity. Every KPI is measured over a 4-week period that starts on a Monday and ends on a Sunday. The result is measured at the end of that period and sent to DVSA 4 weeks later, by the system or on the form DVSA sends once you are a member. The join page’s example is a period from Monday 8 October 2018 to Sunday 4 November 2018, measured on Monday 5 November 2018 and reported on Monday 3 December 2018. That is an illustration of the lag, not a date you have to use.

DVSA says the KPIs should be achievable whatever the fleet size. The tolerances below are the ones on the join page.

A band is an infringement recorded on the tachograph analysis that would attract that fixed-penalty band under current legislation. This page does not turn those bands into pound amounts. If you report fewer than 25 tachograph days in a measurement period, the KPI is no more than one offence in that period.

A miss that is not large enough to trigger a report to DVSA should still alert you, so you can stop it repeating. Grey alerts are reported to DVSA at the end of the measurement period. DVSA is also alerted if, over 3 rolling periods, any one KPI is missed 3 times by less than 1 percentage point, or twice by 1 percentage point or more. A miss of 2 percentage points or more in any single period is reported. So is any KPI exceeded more than 4 times across 13 rolling periods, and a driver who infringes in 3 consecutive periods.

What data must be monitored?

The data is whatever those KPIs measure. For maintenance, that is a complete safety-inspection file, a record that is signed off as roadworthy, an inspection inside the frequency you stated, a driver defect report that is actioned after a road-safety-related incident, and the initial annual-test result. For driving, it is tachograph days, the banded infringements, the overall infringement count, and working-time infringements.

What the inspection contains is in HGV PMI inspections. The daily defect report is in HGV daily walkaround checks. The driving limits are in HGV drivers’ hours rules. What a tachograph infringement is, and how it is followed up, is in tachograph infringements explained. This page does not restate those rules.

Initial audit

A DVSA-authorised audit provider audits your systems and processes once the application has been reviewed, and then every 2 years. You tell the provider if you are applying for extra modules. The join page lists the audit areas as operator licences, the transport manager or responsible person, vehicle standards, drivers’ hours, operation management, security requirements, driver management, training, additional policies, and, for HGV, dangerous goods or, for PSV, services provided. The detail of each area is in the standards for that licence. This guide does not copy those tables.

The outcome is standards fully met, standards part met, or standards not met. Fully met, once DVSA agrees, means you remain in the scheme. Part met means an action plan: the auditor discusses the findings and sends a proposed improvement plan and recommendations to DVSA. Not met means you have not met the standards and DVSA agrees. What DVSA does next depends on how far short the audit was.

Ongoing requirements

After you join, the business is audited every 2 years by a DVSA-authorised provider, unless performance issues lead DVSA to ask for one sooner. You have to keep the audit inside the window: no more than 3 months before the second anniversary of entry, and no later than 2 years after that anniversary. The join page’s example is accreditation on 15 September 2018, so the earliest audit is 15 June 2020 and the latest is 15 September 2020.

Between audits the KPIs keep running on the 4-week clock. The system notifies DVSA when a miss is larger than the tolerance. If a KPI alert is triggered, if other compliance issues are found, or if a periodic audit is not met, DVSA discusses the issues and can use discretion. In most cases you get a chance to put them right. The steps the page lists are a desk-based assessment, a discussion you start, a discussion DVSA starts, an improvement plan that may include a further audit, or removal from the scheme.

You can be removed if you miss the periodic audit, do not give access to maintenance systems and data, cannot achieve the KPIs, or stay non-compliant and do not improve. DVSA gives 28 days’ notice and the reasons. You can also leave on your own, with at least 7 days’ notice. Leaving takes you off the published list and ends the benefits. DVSA can refuse entry or remove membership if it thinks the scheme’s credibility could be damaged by the operator or by someone working for them.

Potential benefits

The join page lists the benefits in its own words. As an earned recognition operator you can show that standard when you bid for contracts. You will be less likely to have vehicles stopped at the roadside for inspections, and less likely to have DVSA enforcement staff visit your premises. You can use the earned recognition logo on your website and other publicity, but not on your vehicles. You are listed on GOV.UK as a DVSA-accredited operator, and you have access to a dedicated earned recognition team.

“Less likely” is the page’s phrase. It is not a guarantee that a vehicle will not be stopped, and it is not a guarantee that staff will not visit. A triggered KPI, a failed audit, or another compliance issue can still lead to questions, an improvement plan, or removal. How a maintenance investigation works, when one happens, is in how to prepare for a DVSA visit.

Is earned recognition right for every operator?

The scheme is voluntary. Whether it fits is a question about the files you can already produce, not a recommendation to join. The inspection KPIs are 100%. The MOT figure is 95%, with a different small-fleet rule. Reporting covers every operator licence, not the tidy depot. Drivers’ hours need a digital system. The auditor you choose can charge. If the KPIs are not sustained, membership can be removed.

An operator who cannot open the inspection sheet, the defect and its repair, and the tachograph file should put that right before applying. Those periods are set out in what records a transport manager should keep. Earned recognition does not replace a maintenance investigation, and this page does not say that most operators should join.

Can fleet software help?

The published list of IT systems that work with the scheme (opens in a new tab) is the list DVSA maintains. FleetPro is not on that list. It is not a validated earned recognition supplier. Opening the screen does not make an operator an earned recognition member. An operator still has to use a system from that list, or the manual maintenance route the join page allows, and still has to pass the audit.

Nothing is emailed to DVSA unless reporting is armed for that organisation, a system provider ID and an operator accreditation ID are present, and the stream has been marked ready. Saving an anniversary does not send a return. Until then the screen can say preview only. What each package includes is on pricing.

Preparation checklist

Questions operators ask

What is DVSA Earned Recognition?

A voluntary scheme in which an HGV or PSV operator monitors published KPIs and is audited by a DVSA-authorised provider. DVSA is told when a KPI is missed by more than the tolerance. It is not a condition of the operator licence.

Is earned recognition compulsory?

No. You can apply if you meet the tests, and you can leave with at least 7 days’ notice. Leaving removes the published listing and the benefits.

Do HGV and PSV operators follow the same standard?

Each has its own audit standard. An operator with both licence types is audited against both. The KPI percentages on the join page are the ones in the tables above. Extra modules, where you apply for them, are audited every year.

What happens if a KPI is missed?

A small miss should alert you so you can correct it. A grey alert, or one of the rolling-period triggers, is reported to DVSA. DVSA discusses the issue and, in most cases, gives you a chance to put it right. Continued failure can lead to removal, with 28 days’ notice.

Does FleetPro include earned recognition membership?

No. FleetPro is not a validated supplier, and the screen does not make an operator a member of the scheme. The screen stays off until it is turned on for that organisation. A live return is not sent unless reporting has been armed. You can look at the wider product on a trial, without that membership. Start at organisation setup. Package differences are on pricing.

Official sources

The rules on this page are taken from these GOV.UK guides.

Join the scheme (opens in a new tab). HGV audit standards (opens in a new tab). PSV operator standards (opens in a new tab). IT systems that work with the scheme (opens in a new tab).