1.Operating basis
The Register is operated as an independent, not-for-profit record body for the benefit of vehicle owners, the motor trade and those who rely on service history when valuing, insuring or buying a vehicle.
The Register exercises no statutory function and is not a regulator. Its authority rests on published rules, applied consistently, with reasons given and a route of appeal.
2.Principles
No decision is taken under an unpublished rule. Every instrument carries a reference, version, status and effective date.
Every verification, amendment, restriction and enforcement decision records the criteria applied and the reasons for the outcome.
The person who reviews an appeal is never the person who took the original decision.
Records are never deleted. Corrections are made by amendment, leaving the superseded version inspectable.
Fee status, size and brand affiliation are irrelevant to any decision (NVSR-IND-001).
Enforcement escalates from advice to warning, restriction, suspension and termination, matched to the seriousness of the failure.
3.Index of instruments
| Reference | Instrument | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVSR-WVS-001 | Workshop Verification Standard | Admission of workshops and continuing conditions | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-WPA-001 | Workshop Participation Agreement | Binding terms between the Register and a participating workshop | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-WSC-001 | Workshop Standards, Compliance and Enforcement Policy | Conduct standards, investigation and sanctions | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-RIS-001 | Record Integrity and Tamper-Evidence Standard | Immutability, versioning, amendment and audit | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-CVP-001 | Certificate Verification Policy | Certificate identifiers and third-party verification | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-PRD-001 | Public Register Data Policy | What is public, what is restricted and why | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-GDPR-001 | Privacy and Data Protection Policy | Lawful bases, rights and processing of personal data | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-DRP-001 | Data Retention Policy | Retention periods and disposal by data category | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-SEC-001 | Data Security Policy | Technical and organisational security measures | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-CKP-001 | Cookie Policy | Storage and similar technologies used by the service | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-TOU-001 | Terms of Use | Conditions of access to the public register | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-CAP-001 | Complaints and Appeals Procedure | Challenging a decision or the conduct of the Register | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-IND-001 | Statement of Independence and Impartiality | Funding, conflicts of interest and impartiality | v1.0 · In force |
| NVSR-ACC-001 | Accessibility Statement | Conformance with WCAG 2.2 AA and remediation | v1.0 · In force |
Table 1 — Instruments in force at 1 August 2026.
4.Amendment of instruments
An instrument is amended by issuing a new version with a new effective date. Substantive changes affecting participating workshops are notified at least 30 days before they take effect, except where a change is required urgently for legal compliance or to protect the integrity of the Register.
A decision is assessed against the version of the instrument in force at the time of the conduct in question, not the version current at the time of review.
5.Accountability and reporting
Aggregate integrity statistics — verification decisions, amendments, restrictions, investigations and enforcement outcomes — are published so that the Register's own conduct can be scrutinised.
Any person may challenge a decision, or the conduct of the Register itself, through the contact form under the Complaints and Appeals Procedure (NVSR-CAP-001). Contact is by form only, so that every matter receives a case reference and is tracked to conclusion.
- Reference
- NVSR-GOV-001
- Version
- 1.0
- Classification
- Public
- Review
- Annually