WOF inspection practice
WOF inspection practiceGuide
Common audit misses and non-compliance — and how to avoid them
The non-compliances NZTA reviews actually find at WOF inspection sites — record-keeping gaps, recheck slips, calibration lapses — and the systems that prevent them.
Mike Reece · Updated 2026-06-12
WOF inspection practice
Vehicle identification errors: the audit finding hiding inside a perfect checksheet
A technically correct inspection can still fail an audit if the vehicle record doesn't match the vehicle inspected. What causes VIN, plate and odometer errors, and how to close them off.
Mike Reece · Updated 2026-09-27
WOF inspection practice
eWOF explained: what an electronic WOF checksheet actually is
What an electronic WOF checksheet (eWOF) actually is, why NZTA has to approve one before a site can use it, what changes at the bench — and the questions to ask a provider before you adopt one.
Mike Reece · Updated 2026-07-27
WOF inspection practice
The 28-day recheck rule: where WOF sites quietly go non-compliant
How the 28-day recheck window actually works under the VIRM, the recheck mistakes that show up at NZTA reviews, and how to keep every recheck connected to its original inspection.
Mike Reece · Updated 2026-06-13
WOF inspection practice
Checksheet record-keeping failures: the most common audit finding at WOF sites
Why checksheet records are the first thing an NZTA reviewer tests, the specific ways they fail — blanks, vague rejection reasons, missing signatures — and how to make them fail-proof.
Mike Reece · Updated 2026-06-13
WOF inspection practice
Document control slips at WOF sites: superseded forms, lost records, weak storage
The document-control failures NZTA reviews keep finding — outdated checksheet versions, records that can't be produced, storage that allows alteration — and what compliant record-keeping looks like.
Mike Reece · Updated 2026-06-13
WOF inspection practice
Equipment and calibration lapses: the audit finding with a date on it
What the VIRM requires of WOF inspection equipment — 12-month brake tester calibration, manufacturer requirements, the decelerometer phase-out — and why calibration findings are always system failures.
Mike Reece · Updated 2026-06-13
WOF inspection practice
Operating outside authority or scope: the non-compliance nobody intends
How WOF sites end up with inspections done outside an inspector's appointment — lapsed authorities, wrong vehicle classes, unauthorised sites — and the register discipline that prevents it.
Mike Reece · Updated 2026-06-13
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