WOF recalls surpass 54,000 as the Transport Agency checks on vehicle checkers

Tuesday, 21 May 2019

Each year more than 4 million warrant of fitness inspections are carried out by 8000 inspectors. VINZ Christchurch site manager Billy Green explains a WOF check. (File video first published in 2019)

The NZ Transport agency clamp down on warrant of fitness standards shows no sign of abating with more than 54,000 vehicles now recalled.

Almost 30 inspectors have been suspended from issuing WOFs and certificates of fitness (COFs) for commercial vehicles since the agency began taking a tougher stance on quality late last year, but as of early May only 13,000 vehicles had passed free retests.

Motor Trade Association (MTA) chief executive Craig Pomare said the agency's change in approach had prompted some inspectors to quit, while others were doing refresher courses and generally being more careful.

'Where they might have previously passed [a vehicle], they're being extra cautious and possibly failing it for fear of being the one that gets it wrong.

Motorists whose vehicles are recalled for WOF retests receive a voucher from the Transport Agency to get the checks done free of charge. But as of early May only 14,255 out of the vehicles recalled had been retested.

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'Some are choosing to give up their inspection licences. They're saying it's too hard, I don't want to get caught out.'

Pomare said the MTA supported the agency getting 'ratbags' out of the industry as long as it applied the rules of natural justice to those it took action against.

The most recent recall notice was for 3100 vehicles tested by Chris Luo and his Mount Roskill-based inspecting organisation Auto Link, which trades under the name Kiwi Motor Services.

The agency said Luo, the site's sole inspector, was conducting an unusually high number of inspections and on four different occasions more than 15 inspections were recorded in a single day.

This suggested that not enough time was being allowed to properly inspect vehicles or that that testing was being done by unauthorised personnel.

Pomare said the average WOF inspection took about 40 to 45 minutes, so 15 a day was a lot for a solo operation.

Most of the testing sites and inspectors suspended since the crack down began late last year are smaller garages in Auckland, and to date only one of the large inspection chains has been caught up in the Transport Agency's new enforcement regime.

Vehicle inspector Warwick Shelley, who managed both VTNZ Thames and VTNZ Whitianga (Heavy Haulage and Contracting), was suspended from issuing WOFs and COFs last month after an investigation found he had been over-ruling his vehicle inspectors when they failed vehicles.

VINZ chief executive Gordon Shaw says competition for qualified inspectors can lead to conflicts of interest or perceptions of bias that need to be carefully managed.

He was also accused of attempting to delete failed inspections from the vehicle inspection database and failing to properly inspect critical vehicle safety systems, including brakes.

Pomare said the Transport Agency's efforts to double the number of inspectors it employed was affecting the wider automotive industry which was seriously lacking experienced mechanics.

'The people they'd like to poach would likely be senior people running a VINZ or VTNZ testing centre, an inspector with 10 to 15 years experience.

'In the inspection industry there's a lot of poaching simply because we're short of numbers.'

VINZ chief executive Gordon Shaw said the skills shortage was leading to issues, as in the case of a transport agency regional office that had employed two ex-VINZ branch managers.

Shaw said VINZ did not mind its work being reviewed but perceptions of possible bias or conflicts of interest needed to be carefully managed, and VINZ had raised the situation with the agency.

'Surely you would make sure that the lead staff member [heading an investigation] was not an ex-staff member of the organisation they are having to investigate?

A transport agency spokesman said the specialised nature of vehicle inspection in New Zealand meant people frequently moved between and the public and private sectors, but the agency ensured decisions were objective and based on 'evidence and safety outcomes.'

If an audit or an investigation resulted in an adverse finding, this was reported back to a separate agency decision-making group whose work was peer-reviewed.

When moves were made to revoke or suspend inspection or transport licences, affected parties had the opportunity to make submissions.