The consecration of the pickerl examiner

The consecration of the pickerl examiner

The annual “Pickerl” for the tin carriage is one of the basic needs of Austrians that must be met even in times of pandemic. After all, the majority of commuters rely on their own cars, while vans and trucks supply households with more or less essential goods. Against this background, vehicle repair shops are also among the service providers that maintain the system, and their employees are among the hard-working players who keep the system running. If a young person has completed their automotive technology apprenticeship and taken the final apprenticeship examination, they can also receive the higher orders of pickerl examiner after two years of professional experience in a company that is authorized to carry out inspections in accordance with Section 57a ​​Paragraph 4 KFG 1967. The prerequisite for this is the positive completion of a basic training course carried out by the State Guild of Automotive Technology together with the Automotive Industry Association, which is carried out, among other places, at the Automotive Academy in Vienna Liesing.

100 percent attendance

Both the duration of the course and the course content are set by law, which is why 100 percent attendance is required for basic training, even in times of pandemic. “Despite the current difficult conditions, we can ensure safe lessons for all participants,” says Stefan Böck, organizer of the Automotive Academy. The two meter distance required by the Covid regulation can be easily maintained thanks to the number of participants in the training rooms being limited to 15. “After holding over 20 online training courses last year, I am looking forward to the personal exchange with the course participants again,” says Helmut Neverla, education officer at the WKO and trainer at the Automotive Academy. “Experience shows that people ask many more questions in face-to-face lessons than in web seminars,” says Gerhard Ullrich, training officer for the Lower Austrian Motor Vehicle Guild. At the Automotive Academy he teaches the various methods of emissions testing such as tailpipe measurement and software-supported OBD measurement. “These processes can best be explained using a real vehicle,” says Ullrich and is pleased about the keen interest and active participation of his students. The basic training material is taught in a total of 36 hours, which are divided over four days. Trainer Ullrich notices that the correct classification of defects in particular always raises questions and is pleased to be able to clear up any ambiguities using a training vehicle. For Helmut Neverla, online seminars basically have one advantage over face-to-face teaching: “You save the journey and can stay sitting in front of your computer.”

The teaching content of the § 57a basic training:

• Allgemeine Bestimmungen und rechtliche Grundlagen der wiederkehrenden Begutachtung
• EBV – Elektronische Begutachtungsverwaltung
• Aufbau und Systematik des Mängelkataloges
• Einteilung der Mängelgruppen
• Ergänzende Erläuterungen
• Fahrzeugüberprüfung
• Prüfeinrichtungen
• Anwendungen in der Praxis
• Ergänzende Erläuterungen und praktische Übungen für Krafträder (Klasse L) und historische Kraftfahrzeuge

Further information: www.automotive-akademie.at