Catalog of defects – mandatory for §57a assessment bodies

Catalog of defects – mandatory for §57a assessment bodies

The Austrian business publisher is responsible for the production and distribution of the catalog of defects. Defect catalog subscribers receive interim updates free of charge. The catalog of defects has an interface to the §57a assessment programs and allows texts to be transferred directly from the catalog of defects into the vehicle report when the report is created.

Motor vehicle economy:  Mr. Federal Guild Master, the Federal Guild is the publisher of the catalog of defects for periodic vehicle inspections, which was recently approved by the Ministry of Transport. According to the decree, this must be available in all §57a assessment centers by August 31, 2019 at the latest. Why is that?

Joseph Puntinger: The legal basis for this is the Testing and Assessment Center Ordinance (PBStV), which states that the assessment must be carried out according to a catalog of defects approved by the Federal Minister. However, the assessment of the identified defects must be carried out in accordance with Appendix 6. The catalog of defects must also be updated to reflect the state of the art.

Isn’t Annex 6 alone enough?

If we look closely at Annex 1 to Directive 2014/45/EU, we will see that it corresponds to our Annex 6. But they also talk about testing methods - and that again corresponds to our catalog of defects. The catalog of defects is therefore mandatory in accordance with the current state of technology.

The PBSTV was amended in the summer of 2018, so why is the catalog of defects only now?

A lot has happened between the novella and Christmas alone. I would just like to remind you of the topic of OBD reading. The aforementioned term “must be supplemented by the state of the art” has more meaning today than ever before. With a 57a inspection, it is no longer enough to simply “drive in” with a screwdriver.

If the catalog of defects is to be “added to the state of the art”, what does that mean?

It is precisely for this reason that we decided, in agreement with the Ministry of Transport and the state governments, to design the catalog of defects digitally. For a print product, the lead time for editing, graphics, production and sales is so long that the product would already be old before it reached the workshop. With the digital catalog of defects, we finally have a tool that can be updated immediately. By the way, this is also consistent throughout the entire sequence - from the approval database, admission records, ZBD, educational passport database, assessment programs and now also the digital catalog of defects.

Will there be many changes?

The EU published Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/621 on April 17th, eleven months late. This describes the provision of necessary technical information by the vehicle manufacturer and, in turn, test methods for error detection. This is exactly the implementing act referred to in Annex 6, second sentence. We now have to incorporate this into the catalog of defects. But beyond that, there are always decrees, new UN-ECE guidelines or other information. We currently have at least one expansion per month.

What features does the digital catalog of defects have?

If we had put the print catalog online 1:1, it would have no added value other than being up-to-date. That's why we have also built in search functions there, there is a document database with all relevant legal amendments, the UN ECE guidelines and much more. Just as vehicles have evolved from a purely mechanical vehicle to a high-tech “transportation system,” we must also ensure that vehicle inspection continues to evolve.

When will the next edition appear?

Ongoing - and that's the pleasant thing for all of us. We can look at individual chapters, the Federal Ministry can approve them and the publisher can put them online straight away. The assessment bodies have it immediately and can use it immediately. Next, we planned to take a more intensive look at the topics of two-wheelers, historic vehicles, brakes, exhaust gases and tachographs.

How does this relate to the training material?

The training material is like a textbook in school. For example, I still have my old red school Altas at home. The situation is exactly the same with the training material. It is a very personal book that I get to better understand the method of vehicle inspection or rather the spirit of the subject.

Further information:

According to rumors, the training document could replace the catalog of defects and, due to the decree BMVIT-185.503/0021-IV/ST5/2019 of June 3, 2019, there is time until August 31, 2019 to switch to the new catalog of defects. The fact is:

• Der Erlass BMVIT-185.503/0021-IV/ST5/2019 bezieht sich auf die Revisionen der Landesregierungen, die angehalten sind, bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt den aktuellen Mängelkatalog nicht zu kontrollieren. Aber: Der Betrieb ist trotzdem verpflichtet die Überprüfungen §57a nach dem aktuellen Mängelkatalog zu bewerten – und damit nach dem Mängelkatalog Abo 2019.
• Der Erlass BMVIT-185.503/0021-IV/ST5/2019 weist darauf hin, dass es sich bei dem Mängelkatalog, der Teil der Schulungsunterlage ist, um den vom Ministerium approbierten Mängelkatalog handelt. Aber: Das bedeutet nicht automatisch, dass dieser Mängelkatalog aktuell und damit für die §57a Überprüfung ausreichend ist. Sowohl die Printversion als auch der Mängelkatalog als Teil der Schulungsunterlage können immer nur eine Momentaufnahme des digitalen Mängelkatalogs sein, der laufend upgedatet wird.
• Faktum ist: Nur das Mängelkatalog-Abo bietet Rechtssicherheit bei der §57a Überprüfung!