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D1 Licensing

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Evidence required

Requirement

To verify that all drivers hold a valid licence for the category and type of vehicle they are tasked to drive and manage any risks associated with endorsements or restrictions.

Purpose

To ensure that drivers are licensed to operate vehicles on the public highway and any risks that have been identified are monitored and managed.

Demonstration

FORS Operators shall have a procedure to check and verify all driver licences, categories, expiry dates, endorsements and restrictions.

For drivers licensed in Great Britain, checks shall be conducted through a service that directly accesses current Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data.

For drivers who are not licensed in Great Britain, checks shall be conducted through the equivalent licensing authority where such a service is available.

Where a licensing check service is unavailable, driving licence checks shall be conducted by a person or agent with competence to interpret driving licence:

  • Entitlement categories
  • Category and photocard expiry dates
  • Endorsements, penalty points and their meaning
  • Restriction codes, their meaning and the conditions needed to be able to drive

Driving licence checks shall be conducted at least every six months. This frequency of checks shall be increased for higher risk drivers using an approved risk scale.

A typical approved risk scale is:

  • 0 – 5 penalty points on the driving licence – six monthly checks
  • 6 – 8 penalty points on the driving licence – quarterly checks
  • 9 or more penalty points on the driving licence – monthly checks.

For HGV and PCV drivers, licence checks should be conducted at least every three months.

Where relevant, the procedure shall include checks on the following:

  • Digital tachograph driver cards
  • Driver Qualification Cards (DQC) for Driver Certificate of Professional Competence

A procedure shall be in place for drivers to make an annual declaration of their responsibility to report any licence
endorsements, driving infringements and restrictions to the responsible person, whether incurred on or off duty.

The procedure, records and data relevant to driver licensing shall be:

Prepare the following evidence

Documented driver licensing procedure.

Records of all driving licence, DQC and driver tachograph card checks completed since the last audit and at least every six months directly accessing DVLA data (gov.uk) or using a service that directly accesses current DVLA data, such as:

  • PDF licence check records
  • Third-party licence checking system and records

Records demonstrating that higher-risk drivers have more frequent licence checks completed, such as:

  • PDF licence check records
  • Third-party licence checking system records
  • Reports identifying higher-risk drivers

Where no higher-risk drivers are employed, evidence of a documented risk-rating process and associated licence check frequencies, such as:

  • Risk category definitions
  • System settings demonstrating configured check frequencies

Signed declarations dated within the previous 12 months confirming that drivers understand their responsibility to report licence endorsements, driving infringements and restrictions, such as:

  • Signed driver declaration forms
  • Electronic system-generated records showing the driver identification and date/time of declaration being signed

For drivers licensed outside the UK, evidence must show that entitlement checks have been completed through an equivalent licensing authority, where such service is available.

For the first FORS audit, or where FORS accreditation has lapsed for 12 months or more, only the most recent licence, DQC and tachograph card check records are required.

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