Competence Assessment for Vehicle Inspection Bodies

4.1 Organization

4.1.1 Vehicle inspection bodies shall comply with the requirements of 4.1 in RB/T214. Vehicle inspection bodies and their leaders are responsible for the authenticity and accuracy of inspection data.

4.1.2 Vehicle inspection bodies shall prominently display a legally binding commitment signed by their legal representative or highest manager in the client activity area.

4.1.3 The confidentiality content of vehicle inspection bodies shall at least include:

a) Documents and materials submitted by the client;

b) Information related to the client in inspection records and inspection reports;

c) Information obtained by inspectors during on-site inspections, including conclusions of inspections;

d) Information about the client obtained from sources other than the client (such as regulatory authorities, complainants).

4.2 Personnel

4.2.1 Vehicle inspection bodies shall comply with the requirements of 4.2 in RB/T214.

4.2.2 The technical leaders and authorized signatories of vehicle inspection bodies must possess intermediate or higher professional technical titles, or equivalent capabilities, or be technicians or above in vehicle-related specialties, or have a college degree or above in vehicle-related specialties with at least 3 years of vehicle inspection work experience.

Note 1: Equivalent capability means: PhD graduates with over 1 year of related inspection activities; Master graduates with over 3 years of related inspection activities; Bachelor’s degree graduates with over 5 years of related inspection activities; Associate degree graduates with over 8 years of related inspection activities.

Note 2: The 3 years or more of vehicle inspection work experience includes experience in inspection work in automotive manufacturing enterprises, automotive repair enterprises, or work experience in vehicle safety technical inspection, vehicle emission inspection, or automotive comprehensive performance inspection.

4.2.3 The qualifications of the technical leaders and authorized signatories of automotive comprehensive performance inspection bodies should also meet the standards and specifications set by the Ministry of Transport of the State Council.

4.2.4 Inspectors who drive vehicles for inspection must hold valid driver’s licenses corresponding to the inspected vehicle types and be familiar with the operation of the inspected vehicles before inspection.

4.3 Environmental Conditions

4.3.1 Vehicle inspection bodies shall comply with the requirements of 4.3 in RB/T214.

4.3.2 Vehicle inspection bodies must have fixed workplaces necessary for conducting vehicle inspection activities that can be independently allocated and used, and the working environment should ensure the authenticity and accuracy of inspection results.

4.3.3 Vehicle inspection bodies should have safety guarantees and emergency plans, with clear pedestrian and vehicle pathways in the site area to ensure personnel safety.

4.3.4 The environmental conditions of vehicle emission inspection bodies should also meet the standards and specifications set by environmental protection authorities.

4.4 Equipment and Facilities

4.4.1 Vehicle inspection bodies shall comply with the requirements of 4.4 in RB/T 214

4.4.2 The site and facilities of vehicle inspection bodies should meet the needs of conducting inspection items and ensure safety. There must be facilities such as inspection workshops, parking lots, site roads, business halls, and office areas, with reasonable layout. For checking vehicle chassis components, there should be inspection pits or lifting devices. Site roads should have good visibility, remain unobstructed, and the turning radius and length should meet the needs of vehicles being inspected. Sufficient traffic signs, traffic markings, guidance signs, and safety signs should be provided. The road for vehicle testing should have cement or asphalt surfaces, and the parking brake test should have a parking ramp or compliant road testing equipment, with correct marking and safety precautions.

4.4.3 The inspection and testing equipment used by vehicle inspection bodies should also meet the following requirements:

a) The inspection and testing equipment for vehicle safety technical inspection should meet GB21861 requirements. Major inspection items should use fixed inspection instruments to conduct inspections on motor vehicles, and mobile inspection instruments can be used for motorcycle inspections. Vehicle safety technical inspection bodies should have ownership of all motor vehicle safety technical inspection equipment used;

b) The inspection and testing equipment for vehicle emission inspection should meet the requirements of GB18285 and GB3347 for relevant vehicle types;

c) The inspection and testing equipment for automotive comprehensive performance inspection should meet GB18565 requirements.

4.4.4 Vehicle inspection bodies must ensure that the software used for inspection and testing that affects results complies with relevant laws, regulations, and standards, and is confirmed with unique identification. Vehicle inspection bodies must ensure the uniqueness and integrity of the software used for inspection and testing and must not modify the software without authorization. Unconfirmed software must not be used for inspection and testing work. The inspection and testing software and its records must be managed by designated personnel and undergo regular confirmation after changes or upgrades.

4.4.5 Comparisons between devices can be viewed as a method of periodic verification.

4.4.6 The standard substances of vehicle inspection bodies should establish archives or ledgers, managed by designated personnel and regularly verified to ensure traceability. Vehicle inspection bodies should use certified standard gases, and storage conditions should meet technical requirements and ensure safety, prohibiting the use of uncertified standard gases or expired standard gases.

4.5 Management System

4.5.1 Vehicle inspection bodies shall comply with the requirements of 4.5 in RB/T214, except for clauses 4.5.5 on subcontracting and 4.5.17 on sampling.

4.5.2 Vehicle inspections must not be subcontracted.

4.5.3 Vehicle inspections do not involve sampling.

4.5.4 Vehicle inspection bodies should clearly state their licensing qualifications, inspection items, inspection standards, charging standards, vehicle inspection flowcharts, inspection station layout diagrams, and complaint supervision columns, etc.

Note: Mobile motorcycle inspections do not require vehicle inspection flowcharts or inspection station layout diagrams.

4.5.5 Vehicle safety technical inspection bodies must have inspection capabilities for all types of vehicles listed in GB 21861, including vehicle registration inspection or inspection for used vehicles. Automotive comprehensive performance inspection bodies must have all inspection capabilities for vehicle types listed in GB18565.

4.5.6 Fixed inspection instruments for vehicle inspections must have data communication interfaces, be capable of network control and computer networking, and meet the data transmission interface requirements of the competent authority. The testing principles, resolution, effective digits of measurement result data, and inspection result data must not be altered. Additionally, the following conditions must be met:

a) The fixed inspection equipment used for vehicle safety technical inspection should use digital data processing secondary instruments. The computer network inspection control system for vehicle safety technical inspections should meet GB/T26765 requirements.

Note: Digital data processing secondary instruments include: industrial control computers, microcontrollers, single-board computers, digital signal processing systems (DSPs), etc.

b) The emission inspection control systems used for vehicle emission inspections must meet the inspection specifications set by environmental protection authorities, and vehicle emission inspection bodies must comply with networking specifications set by environmental protection authorities to achieve real-time sharing of inspection data.

c) The fixed inspection equipment used for automotive comprehensive performance inspections should use digital data processing secondary instruments. Automotive comprehensive performance inspections should meet the relevant requirements of JT/T478 for computer networking control inspection systems.

4.5.7 The sample identification for vehicle inspections can directly use unique vehicle identification codes (VIN) and license plates, or chassis numbers.

4.5.8 Vehicle inspection bodies should have procedures to protect and back up electronically stored records and prevent unauthorized intrusion or modification.

4.5.9 Vehicle inspection records also include re-inspection records and road test records, including electronically stored records. Inspection records should trace back to all inspection items in the inspection report, and the numbering of inspection reports and records should have uniqueness, and should not be replaced by vehicle identification codes (VIN) and license plates or chassis numbers.

Note: Attention should be paid to issues related to manual inspections, road test inspections, and records of non-networked inspection projects, such as inspector identity identification, to ensure the traceability of records.

4.5.11 No modifications or additions should be made to issued inspection reports. If it is necessary to modify or add content to an inspection report, the report must be recalled, voided, and a new report issued.

4.5.12 Under the premise of ensuring safety, integrity, and traceability, electronically stored records and reports can replace paper documents for archiving.

4.5.13 Under the premise of complying with relevant laws, regulations, and standards, vehicle inspection bodies may merge similar inspection items in vehicle safety technical inspections, vehicle emission inspections, and automotive comprehensive performance inspections, sharing inspection equipment to improve inspection efficiency and service quality, and reduce the costs of inspection bodies. For example: unique vehicle inspections, partial vehicle manual inspection items, automotive lighting inspections, etc.