Workshop Verification Standard

This Standard governs the admission of a workshop to the Register and the continuing conditions of participation. It applies to every business that publishes an entry, of any size or trading form.

Admission is granted only against the criteria in this Standard. Verification cannot be purchased, accelerated by payment, or granted on the basis of brand affiliation, as set out in the Statement of Independence and Impartiality (NVSR-IND-001).

The applicant must supply a current certificate evidencing motor trade or public liability cover appropriate to the work carried out, showing the insurer, policy reference, cover amount and period of cover.

Professional indemnity cover is additionally required where the applicant provides inspection, appraisal or engineering opinion services.

The certificate is uploaded to private storage and reviewed by the Register. Approval records the expiry date, and the record is monitored automatically thereafter.

Each technician who will be recorded against published work must have a qualification entry on file, stating the qualification, the issuing body, its reference and its expiry where applicable, supported by a copy of the certificate.

The Register reviews the qualification for relevance to the categories of work the workshop intends to record, and for currency.

Telephone, correspondence address and, where held, website are checked for consistency with the identity evidence supplied. A workshop that cannot be reliably contacted cannot be admitted.

The responsible person must accept the Workshop Participation Agreement (NVSR-WPA-001) and declare that the information supplied is true and complete. Acceptance is recorded with the identity of the accepting user and a timestamp.

Verification confirms identity, legal standing, insurance and declared competence. It is not an inspection of premises, equipment or process, and it is not supervision of day-to-day work.

Verification is not a warranty of workmanship on any individual job, and must not be represented as one by a participating workshop in its advertising or premises signage.

Insurance and qualification evidence carries an expiry date. Automated monitoring raises a reminder in advance of expiry and a risk event on expiry.

A workshop whose insurance has lapsed cannot publish verified entries until current evidence is on file. This is enforced by the platform, not merely requested.

A workshop must notify the Register of any material change — change of ownership or control, change of responsible person, cessation of trading, insolvency, loss of insurance, or a relevant conviction or trading standards action — within 5 working days.

Verification may be revoked, restricted or suspended under the Workshop Standards, Compliance and Enforcement Policy (NVSR-WSC-001). Entries already published remain on the Register, annotated with the workshop's status at the time of publication.

Any decision under this Standard may be appealed under the Complaints and Appeals Procedure (NVSR-CAP-001) within 20 working days.