What a walkaround check must record

The check keeps the vehicle safe. The record is what keeps your operator's licence safe. Here's what it has to show — including on the days you find nothing.

What the record must contain

Whether it's a paper defect book or an app, each driver defect report needs the same bones:

• Vehicle (and trailer) registration or identification mark — exactly which vehicle this is about.
• The date of the check.
• The name of the person who did the check and reported it.
• The odometer / mileage reading — good practice, and expected by most auditors.
• Details of any defect found — or a clear "nil defects" if there were none.
• The assessment and rectification — what was done about each defect, when, and by whom, plus a declaration that the vehicle was made roadworthy before use.

The point of all of it is a chain you can follow later: a defect was spotted, reported, put right, and signed off — before the wheels turned.

What the walkaround actually covers

DVSA's driver walkaround check is a set list of items — roughly twenty — grouped around what an examiner would stop you for. In broad strokes:

• See & be seen — lights, indicators, marker lights, reflectors, mirrors and glass, wipers and washers.
• Tyres & wheels — condition, tread, and the security of wheel fixings; spray suppression.
• Stopping & steering — brakes (including air build-up and any ABS/EBS warning lamps), steering, and the horn.
• The vehicle & load — security of the body and load, number plate, any dangerous-goods markings, and coupling security on trailers.
• Systems & leaks — fuel/oil leaks, AdBlue and emissions warning lamps, the tachograph and speed limiter, and electrical connections.

Why "nil defects" is not optional

The most common record-keeping mistake is only writing something down when there's a fault. But a blank book doesn't prove the vehicle was checked and clean — it looks exactly like a vehicle that was never checked at all. A dated "nil defects" entry is the evidence the walkaround happened. At a DVSA audit, or if the traffic commissioner ever looks at your operation, that consistent paper trail is one of the strongest things in your favour.

How long to keep them

Driver defect reports and daily check records should be kept for at least 15 months, in line with DVSA's guidance for maintenance and inspection records. Store them so you can actually produce them on request — a shoebox of loose sheets is a record right up until the day you need one and can't find it.