GovWire

What is DVSA earned recognition

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) earned recognition scheme is a way to prove you meet driver and vehicle standards.

This means that youre:

• continuously monitoring your own compliance
• using monitoring systems
• compliant with vehicle and road safety standards

Its a voluntary scheme thats designed to work for operators of all sizes.

How it works

You need to have a DVSA-validated IT system for vehicle maintenance and drivers hours. This will monitor whether youre meeting a set of key performance indicators (KPIs).

Every 4 weeks, your system will tell DVSA if youve missed any of the KPIs by a set amount. If this happens, DVSA will work with you to fix any problems.

Monitoring systems you can use from 1 April 2022

From 1 April 2022, you can use one of these options for your vehicle maintenance monitoring systems:

• fully digital electronic reporting systems for maintenance and vehicle KPIs, approved by DVSA
• a mixture of manual maintenance and vehicle systems or a mixture of digital maintenance systems (both internal systems and external programmes), alongside digital reporting, all validated by DVSA
• manually send maintenance and vehicle reporting information to DVSA

What are the benefits

As a DVSA earned recognition operator youll:

• be an exemplary operator, and be able to prove this when you bid for contracts
• be less likely to have your vehicles stopped at the roadside for inspections
• be less likely to have DVSA enforcement staff visit your premises
• be able to use the DVSA earned recognition logo on your website and other publicity materials (but not on your vehicles)
• be recognised as a DVSA-accredited operator on GOV.UK
• have direct access to a dedicated earned recognition team in DVSA

Eligibility

Before you apply you need to make sure that you meet the following criteria:

• youve had a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) or public service vehicle (PSV) operator licence for at least 2 years
• the Traffic Commissioner hasnt taken any 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 management systems for drivers hours, which you can use to track the KPIs and report if theyre missed
• you meet the earned recognition audit standards

If you have multiple operator licences

The application can only be made for the whole business - not individual licences. You must report the data for all your operator licences.

If your organisation contains multiple legal entities operating under one group - using the same management systems - you can make a single group application.

The audit standards and key performance indicators would apply and be measured over the group as a whole.

An individual legal entity cannot be removed from the group accreditation unless it changes ownership or no longer exists.

Extra modules

You can apply for accreditation for extra modules that show you meet the requirements to work on certain projects. These are optional and require you to meet additional audit standards or to provide extra information to DVSA.

An application for any of the extra modules can be for the whole entity or at least one operators licence with all its operating centres.

You might have to share information related to the extra module such as KPIs with a third party.

HGV operators can apply for extra modules on:

• High Speed 2 (HS2)
• London Power Tunnels (LPT2)
• TfL Contractual Requirements

PSV operators can apply for extra modules on:

• TfL Contractual Requirements
• The Guild of British Coach Operators

How much it costs

Theres no application fee to join the scheme.

Audits

Your systems and processes must be audited by a DVSA-authorised audit provider:

• once your application has been reviewed
• every 2 years after youve joined the scheme

You might need to pay for this, depending on the provider you choose. The providers set their own fees.

You need to tell your audit provider if youre applying for extra modules.

IT systems

You may need to pay to update your IT systems if they cannot measure and report on the KPIs.

The system suppliers set their own fees.

Earned recognition terms and conditions

As an operator, you need to meet and agree the DVSA earned recognition terms and conditions.

DVSA earned recognition: terms and conditions (PDF, 1.63 MB, 11 pages)

Apply to join the scheme

1. Read the self-assessment checklist (PDF, 67.8 KB, 1 page).

2. Check if your IT system provider (if you are using one) and 