A calibration visit nobody booked
The emissions analyser flashes a warning at the start of the day. It is due for calibration. Nobody booked the engineer, because the date was in the old diary, and the old diary was replaced. The bay can still test some vehicles, but not all, and the day's bookings are reshuffled while someone rings the equipment company.
Later that week the site manager is asked for the last calibration certificate for the brake tester. It is in a folder, somewhere. Or it was emailed to the previous manager.
Several pieces of equipment, several schedules
Each item of test equipment has its own calibration and service interval, set by the manufacturer and the requirements that apply to MOT testing. Some are serviced by the supplier, some by a separate calibration company. Some intervals are months, some are years. Each visit produces a certificate or a report.
Nothing ties them together. The dates live in diaries, in the supplier's system, or on stickers on the equipment itself. The certificates arrive by email, by post, or are left on the desk by the engineer.
Equipment also gets replaced and moved. A new brake tester arrives, the old one goes, and the diary entry for the old serial number carries on. A centre with more than one bay, or more than one site, can easily end up with a calibration date recorded for equipment that is no longer there and none for the item that replaced it.
What missed dates cost
| Gap | What it causes |
|---|---|
| Calibration date missed | Equipment unusable, tests cancelled or moved |
| Certificates not filed | Evidence hard to show when asked |
| Fault history not recorded | Recurring problems not noticed |
| Several suppliers, no single view | Visits not booked or booked twice |
| Manager changes | Knowledge of dates leaves with them |
What your centre must keep and show about its equipment is set by the requirements that apply to it and by your own advisers. This is about having the dates and the paperwork in one place.
The hidden cost is short-notice disruption. When an engineer has to be called urgently, the visit happens when they are free rather than when you are quiet, and a full diary of tests has to be rearranged around it, with customers rung and apologised to.
How we build an equipment log
- Every item of test equipment is listed with its make, model, serial number, bay and supplier.
- For each, you record the calibration and service intervals that apply, and the last visit date.
- Due dates are shown on one screen and flagged in advance, with enough time to book the engineer. Reminders go to the manager by email.
- When a visit happens, the certificate or report is uploaded, photographed or forwarded to a dedicated address, and filed against the item.
- Faults and breakdowns are logged against the item with the date, the effect on testing and the fix, so repeat problems show up.
- A summary shows each bay's equipment status, so the manager can see which bays are fully available.
Where a supplier offers its own portal with visit history, we can pull from it rather than asking you to re-enter visits.
The warning light that never comes
The emissions analyser's calibration date appears in amber well before it is due. The manager books the engineer for a quiet morning, and the bay's bookings for that morning are adjusted in advance. The certificate is filed the same afternoon.
When anyone asks for evidence, every certificate for every item is one click away. When the brake tester develops a recurring fault, the log shows the pattern and the manager raises it with the supplier.
- Every item of test equipment in one list
- Calibration and service dates flagged in advance
- Certificates filed against each item
- Fault history that shows patterns
Could calibration dates catch you out?
- Calibration dates live in a diary or on equipment stickers.
- Certificates are spread across folders and inboxes.
- A piece of equipment has been out of date before you noticed.
- Faults are fixed but not recorded.
- Different suppliers look after different equipment.