A common grading
- Dangerous: a direct and immediate risk to safety. Do not drive the vehicle. Examples: exposed tyre cord, failed brakes, a loose wheel.
- Major: may affect safety or the environment. Fix at once or before the next journey, depending on the case.
- Minor: little effect on safety. Fix at the next service or soon after.
- Advisory: worth watching.
These are similar to the terms used in the MOT. Adapt them to your own policy and write it down.
Decide in advance
Write who can authorise a vehicle to run with a given defect. Drivers should never be left to make that decision alone.
Severity in Kovi
When a driver reports a defect in Kovi they choose a severity, such as Major (fix soon), and add a note and photo. The office sees it with that severity and can assign it and close it.
General information for Great Britain, not legal advice. Rules change, so check GOV.UK and DVSA for the latest. Northern Ireland has its own rules.
Related
Driver defect reporting guideWhat to write when you find a defect, who to tell, when to stop the vehicle and how operators should record and close it off.Defect reporting with photosDrivers report a defect with a note and a photo. The office is emailed straight away, assigns a fix and closes it off. Full history kept for every vehicle.