HGV Preventative Maintenance Inspections (PMI): Complete UK Guide

What is an HGV PMI?

The Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness (opens in a new tab) is the starting point traffic commissioners use for whether maintenance arrangements are satisfactory. A safety inspection is one of the two essential inspections in that guide. The other is the driver’s daily walkaround, which does not use a pit or a brake roller. HGV daily walkaround checks covers that check. This page is the planned inspection.

The inspection applies to the vehicle and to the trailer. Where a trailer is swapped, each trailer still needs its own inspection history. A first-use inspection, for a vehicle you have hired, leased or borrowed, is not a daily walkaround and is not a substitute for the safety inspection that follows. Intermediate checks, where the operation needs them, are written onto the same maintenance file and labelled as intermediate checks, not as a full inspection.

Is a PMI the same as an MOT?

No. The annual test for a lorry or trailer is the statutory test described on MOT for lorries, buses and trailers (opens in a new tab). A PMI is the operator’s own inspection, repeated through the year at the interval declared on the vehicle operator licensing service. The inspection has to cover at least the items inspected at annual test. Passing the annual test does not replace the inspections in between.

The two events can share a brake test. Where an electronic brake-performance system is not used, the guide expects at least four laden brake tests spread across the year, and the annual test can be one of those four. That shared test is still one result on the maintenance file. It does not turn the PMI into the MOT, or the MOT into the PMI programme.

Who can complete a PMI?

The guide says staff carrying out safety inspections must be competent to assess the significance of defects. It does not name one qualification that every inspector must hold. Competence is the ability to decide whether a defect is minor, serious enough to repair before the next use, or dangerous enough that the vehicle must not move.

An operator who does the inspections in-house must have the equipment and facilities the fleet needs, including a way to measure brake efficiency. An operator who contracts the work out must have a written contract with the inspection provider or garage, and must keep that contract on file. The operator still views the inspection records and still has a way to monitor the quality of the work. Hiring the inspection does not hire away the responsibility.

The transport manager or responsible person must be able to see the completed sheet, or the electronic record, and review it before the vehicle returns to service. A sheet that only the workshop can open, on the day someone asks for it, has not been reviewed.

What should be inspected?

The scope is at least every item inspected at the annual test, using the methods in the inspection manual for that vehicle. That includes a laden roller brake test when it is appropriate for the vehicle. The form can be any layout, provided the items the guide treats as mandatory are on it. Extra items belong on the sheet when the work demands them: a tipper, a fridge, a tail lift, or a vehicle that works off road.

The inspection is not a copy of the driver’s walkaround. The walkaround is what can be seen in the yard without workshop equipment. The safety inspection is the planned mechanical examination. Repeating the walkaround list on a PMI sheet, and skipping the underside, the brakes and the annual-test items, is not the inspection the guide describes.

A FleetPro inspection template is a working list for the people who use that package. It is not the statute. If the operation needs an item the template does not show, the sheet still has to cover it.

How often should PMIs be completed?

There is no single week-count for every lorry. The operator sets the interval from the work the vehicle does: mileage, the type of operation, the roads, and how quickly defects appear. That interval is declared on the vehicle operator licensing service, and the inspections are carried out at the frequency declared. A shorter gap for a harsh operation, and a longer gap for a lighter one, are both allowed when they are justified and then kept.

The goods vehicle operator licensing guide (opens in a new tab) expects safety inspections, including brake tests, inside the ISO weeks you notified, and a maintenance planner set at least six months ahead, with the annual test and other calibration dates on it. Changing the inspection arrangements means updating the licensing service. A planner that says one interval, and sheets that show another, is the gap an investigation scores.

The statutory note is safety inspection records. How this file sits with the other retention periods is in what records a transport manager should keep. The monthly review of whether the sheets match the declared interval is in the transport manager monthly compliance checklist.

What happens when defects are found?

A defect found at the inspection is part of the vehicle’s maintenance record. The guide expects the vehicle identity, the date, the defect or the symptoms, who found it, the assessment of how serious it is, the rectification, who repaired it, and the date the work was finished. A list of faults with no assessment and no repair is not a closed inspection.

A safety-critical defect is repaired before the vehicle is used. The vehicle stays out of service until the repair is recorded and the person responsible is satisfied it can go back. A minor item can be deferred only when the assessment says it is safe to defer, and that decision is on the sheet. “We will look at it next time” with no assessment is not a deferral.

Faults from the daily walkaround, from this inspection, and from the roadside all belong on the same vehicle. The walkaround guide explains the driver’s report. This inspection explains the mechanical findings. The useful file shows the inspection, the defect, the repair and the return, in that order, on that asset.

Brake testing during the PMI programme

Every safety inspection includes a brake-performance assessment. The guide expects a roller brake test, a suitable electronic braking performance monitoring system, or a decelerometer with temperature readings. The operator has to be satisfied the method meets the construction-and-use duty to keep the braking system in good and efficient working order. A visual look at the pads, with no performance figure, is not that assessment.

A laden roller brake test can be carried out up to 14 days before the inspection date, so the vehicle can be tested while it is loaded in normal work. The report has to be with the person doing the safety inspection. A signed printout from the roller test, a plate tester or a decelerometer is attached to the inspection record. Where the equipment cannot print, the inspector writes the results on the inspection report, including temperature readings where they apply.

Where an electronic brake-performance system is not used, the guide expects at least four laden brake tests spread evenly across the year. The annual test can be one of the four. A decelerometer measures overall performance and may not show an individual brake. It cannot be used to test a trailer’s brakes. Temperature readings before and after the decelerometer test are part of showing that the brakes worked. Where a decelerometer is used, the risk assessment is kept with the vehicle maintenance documents for 15 months and produced if required.

An electronic system still needs a competent person to evaluate the report before every safety inspection, and to sign and date that evaluation with the performance data. If braking work has been done because performance was unsatisfactory, the confirming test is kept as evidence of repair with the maintenance documents. The shorter note is brake test records.

PMI documentation

Each safety inspection has a completed report for the vehicle and for the trailer. The report shows the date, the interval it belongs to, what was checked, who checked it, the defects, the assessment, the repair and the brake result. An electronic report can be the record. If it is stored electronically, the paper original does not also have to be kept.

The same file holds the written contract where a contractor does the inspections, the risk assessment where a decelerometer is used instead of a laden roller test, and the intermediate checks that are not full inspections. Vehicles you have sold or taken off the licence stay in that history for the retention period below. Changing owner does not end the original operator’s duty to produce the records.

How the defect, the brake report and the 15-month maintenance file fit together is in what records a transport manager should keep. The defect-and-repair note is defect and repair records.

How long should PMI records be kept?

At least 15 months. The guide says records of safety inspections must be kept for at least 15 months for all vehicles, including vehicles removed from the operator licence or sold or otherwise disposed of. Safety inspection and repair records, whether you do the work or a contractor does, are kept for that same minimum as part of the maintenance history. The operator licensing guide states the same 15-month minimum for vehicle maintenance records, and says you must produce a copy if a traffic commissioner asks.

That period includes the electronic record, the brake printout, and a decelerometer risk assessment. It is not the three-month nil-defect recommendation, and it is not the 12-month drivers’ hours file. How long to keep HGV maintenance records separates those clocks.

Paper vs digital PMI inspections

Paper can be a complete system. A numbered sheet, a brake printout stapled to it, a signature, and a file the transport manager can open will meet the guide. It fails when the sheet stays at the workshop, the defect is sent as a message, and the repair photograph never meets the vehicle.

Digital is acceptable. The guide’s general rule is that electronic records are acceptable when they contain the essential information and can be produced for examination. An electronic safety-inspection report means the paper copy does not also have to be kept. The system needs a date and time, a record of who checked the vehicle, and an audit trail that cannot quietly be rewritten later. Images and brake reports have to be findable by vehicle and date.

The operator remains responsible for the data when a software provider holds it. A login that only one person can open, or a workshop system the operator cannot read on the day of a visit, is not a record you can produce.

FleetPro Workshop and PMI

Core and the other fleet packages schedule PMI dates. They do not include Workshop. The inspections screen on those fleet packages, which is part of maintenance, can record a completed inspection as fit for service or not fit, repairs required. Inspection-sheet uploads, the year planner, the compliance hub and general document storage are on Compliance and Complete. They are not on Core, and they are not on Checks.

Workshop is its own package. It is not included in Core, Compliance or Complete. On Workshop, the digital PMI, the workshop planner, the technician job, the defect and the rectification, brake-test evidence, and document and photo storage sit on the job. The workshop report can also be marked fit for service or not fit, repairs required. That is the maintenance provider’s record of the inspection. It is not a copy of the operator’s vehicle that replaces the operator’s own file.

Example PMI workflow

1. 1PlannerThe next inspection is set against the interval you declared, at least six months ahead, with the annual test on the same plan.
2. 2InspectionA competent person inspects at least the annual-test items and records who did it and when.
3. 3DefectsEach fault is assessed. A safety-critical defect keeps the vehicle out of service.
4. 4RepairsThe rectification, the repairer and the finish date are written on the same vehicle as the defect.
5. 5Sign-offThe sheet is marked fit for service, or not fit until the repairs are done. The transport manager reviews it before the vehicle returns.
6. 6EvidenceThe brake report, and any risk assessment, stays with that inspection for at least 15 months.
7. 7Next inspectionThe following date follows the interval you declared, not a gap you invent after the sheet is late.

PMI compliance checklist

Questions operators ask

Is a PMI the same as an MOT?

No. The MOT is the statutory annual test. The PMI is the safety inspection you repeat at the interval you declared. It has to cover at least the annual-test items. A pass at annual test does not replace the inspections in between.

Who can carry out a PMI?

Someone competent to assess defects. The guide does not name a single qualification. In-house inspections need suitable facilities and brake-test equipment. Contracted inspections need a written contract kept on file. The transport manager still reviews the completed record before the vehicle returns to service.

How often is a PMI done?

As often as you declared. There is no single statutory gap for every lorry. You set the interval from the work, declare it, plan it at least six months ahead, and keep to it. A later article can compare intervals in more detail. This guide does not invent a six-week rule.

Does every inspection need a brake test?

Every safety inspection needs a brake-performance assessment: a roller test, a suitable electronic system, or a decelerometer with temperature readings. A laden roller test can be up to 14 days before the inspection if the inspector has the report. Without an electronic system, expect at least four laden tests across the year, which can include the annual test.

How long are PMI sheets kept?

At least 15 months, including vehicles you have sold or taken off the licence, and including electronic records. The brake report stays with that file. A nil-defect walkaround is a shorter, separate recommendation.

Do digital PMI records count?

Yes, if they show what was checked and by whom, carry a date and time, and can be produced. Once the electronic report is the record, the paper original does not also have to be kept. A photograph of a roller ticket that never meets the sheet does not count as the attached brake report.

You can open a trial and look at PMI dates on a fleet package, and at Workshop where that package is the one you open. No card is taken at the start. When the trial ends, features lock until you speak with us. Start at organisation setup. Package differences are on pricing.