The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is calling on fleet repairers and private workshops to register as Vehicle Examination Facilities (VEFs).

The new scheme lets third-party sites host Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) and Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval (MSVA) tests. A DVSA Specialist Vehicle Standards Assessor visits the private site to conduct the actual examination.

A VED is a privately run testing facility which runs very similarly to an Authorised Testing Facility (ATF), which are set up to provide test facilities for heavy vehicles in addition to the network of DVSA test stations. In the case of VEFs, vehicles needing IVA and MSVA tests will be able to be tested at already established premises.

These could be at operator premises which already carry out various tests such as MOT or heavy goods vehicle annual tests, or those that already request a high volume of IVA/MSVA tests to be carried out by DVSA. Similarly, smaller businesses with appropriate testing facilities could also carry out these tests.

A VEF can test a vehicle that has not been type-approved to European standards, has been radically altered and is built from a mixture of parts from previously registered vehicles.

VEFs will make accessing IVA/MSVA testing easier as testing will take place closer to where a vehicle is built or modified.

Businesses that could benefit from becoming a VEF include already established private testing facilities as well as businesses carrying out small or large-scale builds could also be eligible to have testing carried out on their vehicles at their own premises. This would limit the amount of travel needed to gain vehicle approval.

The scheme is also open to a business which already owns a garage or workshop, they could be approved to test vehicles – and keep control of their own bookings.

The new initiative could benefit smaller operators who need IVAs to make their fleets road-legal. For example, if a small fleet decides to retrofit a towbar onto just one or two vehicles after factory delivery, it would normally trigger a mandatory IVA test. This initiative could significantly cut costs by allowing fleets to modify only the specific vehicles they need. Instead of ordering an entire fleet with unnecessary, expensive specifications just to avoid type-approval complications, operators can customise on demand.

The scheme aligns with work by the DVSA to build a broader network of ways to approve vehicles with wider accessibility and more efficiency across the country.

Becoming a VEF could save some businesses thousands of pounds a year in customer travel costs and will cut needless mileage accessing the currently approved DVSA testing facilities.

The rollout follows a successful pilot and is being implemented in various phases. As the network grows, such facilities are likely to be available in the nearer vicinity to businesses needing IVA/MSVA testing to be carried out on their vehicles.

Matthew Williscroft, DVSA’s head of approvals transformation initiative, said: “Following the approval of the first Vehicle Examination Facility (VEF), DVSA is moving IVA and MSVA testing closer to where vehicles are built or modified, reducing customer travel and creating new business opportunities for sites.

“We expect continuing interest in demand for establishing VEFs and encourage any business which is interested in joining the network to contact us at the earliest opportunity.”

Further details are in the DVSA blog post and more information is available on the gov.uk website.