Correct as at 29th March 2024. It may be superseded at any time.

Extract taken from: Vehicle Inspection Portal > Applications > Inspecting organisation applications (WoF & CoF)

Inspecting organisation applications (WoF & CoF)

Note: Any applications made after 1 January 2021 for appointment as a new inspecting organisation (IO) will be subject to a defined appointment term of up to five years. This decision brings warrant of fitness (WoF) and certificate of fitness (CoF) appointments for inspecting organisations in line with other IO authorities Waka Kotahi appoint, particularly within the following sectors: heavy vehicle specialist IOs, border IO and used light entry inspection and certification IOs.

Are you applying for a new inspecting organisation appointment (WOFIO, COFIO forms) and/ or additional inspecting organisation sites (IOADD form)?

If you are submitting a WOFIO, COFIO or IOADD form, the following applies to the processing of your application.

Application submitted to Waka Kotahi

You will receive an acknowledgement of your application.

Fit and proper person assessment
  • Waka Kotahi is now completing fit and proper person assessments for all directors/partners associated to an application (and shareholders on a case-by-case basis).
  • We are in the process of updating our application form to include an additional consent form to complete.
  • In the meantime, once your application is received we will send you a fit and proper person check and disclosure consent form that all directors/partners must complete and send back to us for your application to be accepted.
  • If these forms are not returned to us within a reasonable timeframe the application will be considered incomplete and will be returned to you.
  • You can also download the Fit and proper person guidelines.
Application timeframe
  • Applications are processed in the order they are received and confirmed as complete.
  • The processing timeframe for your application will begin once your complete application form and all applicable fit and proper person check consent and disclosure forms have been received.
  • There are many factors that can impact on the time taken to assess an application, such as the need to seek additional information or evidence.
  • To minimise potential delays, submit all evidence of qualifications, skills, experience and references with your application.
  • Further information about current application timeframes will be sent to you once your application is received.
  • All application timeframes are estimates only.
Note: Expect longer timeframes for IO applications to be processed than usual and factor this into your business planning.
Your application will be assessed

Important: All applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis and on the circumstances presented in your application. If any changes occur while your application is being considered, you must advise Waka Kotahi immediately. Significant changes to an application may require a new application. Changes you must advise us of include (but are not limited to):

  • Changing the legal entity you are applying for appointment as (sole trader, partnership or company)
  • Adding/removing partners (in a partnership) or directors (in a company)
  • Changing your IO representative
  • Changing your site representative
  • Adding/removing vehicle inspectors
  • Changing your site address

Failure to notify us of changes may result in significant delays.

Internal assessment

  • Waka Kotahi undertakes a rigorous assessment of your application which includes (but is not limited to)
    • Fit and proper person assessment of the IO representative and directors/partners (and shareholders on a case-by-case basis).
    • Conflict of interest and financial interest checks.
    • Assessment of the ability and competence of the organisation, including the directors/partners (as applicable), IO representative, site representative, vehicle inspectors and any other person likely to be involved in the inspection business.
    • Verification of qualifications and references.
    • Reviewing the performance history associated to any person involved in the applying organisation.
  • We may also need to interview you and/or others in the organisation at this stage of the process. If this is required we will contact you to request this (we may also for efficiency undertake a site assessment at the same time, but this does not indicate your application has been approved – the results of the visit will be referred to Vehicle Inspections for final consideration).
  • If your application is assessed as not meeting the requirements of the Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Standards Compliance 2002 you will be notified in writing with the reasons for this, and you will have the opportunity to make submissions.
  • Alternatively, your application may progress to the next stage of the application process as follows.

External assessment (site visit)

  • If the assessment of your application determines that your application can progress to the next stage of the process, a certification officer will contact you to arrange this.
    • This stage of the process may include (but is not limited to) some or all of the following:
      • Visiting your site
      • Checking your site meets minimum equipment requirements
      • Discussing the Notice of appointment and Quality Management System with you
      • Conducting a vehicle inspector assessment
    • Having a site that meets minimum inspection requirements does not mean your application will be approved
    • The outcome of the external assessment will be referred back to the Vehicle Inspections team for consideration
    • If any concerns or changes are identified at this stage of the process, they must be considered, which could significantly delay the processing timeframe for your application and affect the outcome. Concerns or changes to an application may relate to:
      • Changes to staff (IO representative, site representative, vehicle inspectors)
      • Your understanding of the responsibility you would hold as an IO, including your understanding of the VIRM, Notice of appointment and Quality Management System
      • Site requirements
Site requirements - other information
  • Your site does not need to meet all requirements when you submit your application.
  • You can wait for the outcome of the internal assessment stage of the process assessment before ensuring your site meets requirements. Please let us know if you want to take this option.
  • Your site must meet all requirements by the agreed date of the external visit.
  • Having a site that meets minimum inspection requirements does not mean your application will be approved.
  • Our certification officer will refer the findings of the site visit to the Vehicle Inspections team, who will consider all other aspects of your application and determine whether the organisation can be appointed as an IO.

Application information (WoF and CoF)

Your responsibilities as an inspecting organisation

If we appoint you as an inspecting organisation you’ll be responsible for:

  • putting safe vehicles on New Zealand’s roads
  • following all relevant legislation, rules and guidelines (including your Notice of appointment and the Vehicle inspection requirements manual (VIRM))
  • making sure all vehicle inspectors (VIs) at your site perform to a high standard and have the tools and equipment they need to complete inspections.

We also expect you to:

  • support New Zealand’s road safety strategy, Road to Zero
  • be a champion and role model for:
    • driving safely
    • driving to the conditions of your driver licence
    • keeping your vehicles compliant, for example having a current inspection and vehicle licence (rego)
  • create a culture in your organisation that enhances the industry’s reputation
  • work with us in a constructive and cooperative way.

Sample Notice of appointment

Vehicle inspection requirements manual (VIRM)

Road to Zero (Waka Kotahi website)

Driving safely (Waka Kotahi website)

How the application process works

  1. You’ll send us a complete application form with all relevant supporting documents.
  2. We’ll assess your application and let you know if you meet our requirements to move on to a site assessment.
  3. If you meet our requirements, a certification officer will visit you at your site and complete the site assessment. At the site assessment, be prepared to talk to them about your:
    • quality management system
    • conflicts of interest
    • responsibilities under a Notice of appointment.

    You’ll also need to have your insurance policies available for them to check.

  4. If your site assessment is successful, we’ll appoint you as an inspecting organisation.

Submitting or updating your application

Submitting your application

Make sure you've completed all sections of the form, and supplied all supporting documents (if your application is incomplete, we'll send it back to you).

Email it to vehicleinspections@nzta.govt.nz or post it to:

Provider Licensing
Waka Kotahi
Private Bag 11777
Palmerston North 4442

Updating your application

If anything changes while we’re assessing your application, email vehicleinspections@nzta.govt.nz to let us know as soon as possible. If you don’t, it could delay your application.

Changes include (but aren’t limited to):

  • changing the legal entity you’re applying as
  • adding or removing partners in a partnership
  • adding or removing directors or major shareholders in a company
  • adding or removing vehicle inspectors
  • changing your site address
  • changing your trading as name
  • becoming an MTA member or ending your MTA membership
  • using a consultant or ending your contract with a consultant.

General application requirements

Requirement Details

Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Standards Compliance 2002

We assess inspecting organisation applications under section 2.5 of the Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Standards Compliance 2002.

Insurance

All inspecting organisations must have:

  • public liability insurance to cover accidental injury to other people or damage to their property, and
  • professional indemnity insurance to cover the risk of making a professional mistake.

You don’t need to have insurance in place when you apply. If your application moves on to a site assessment, you must have insurance documents available to show a certification officer.

The amount of cover you need depends on the type of appointment you have:

  • Warrant of fitness (WoF) inspecting organisations must make sure their insurance allows for enough cover for the inspection activities.
  • Certificate of fitness (CoF) inspecting organisations must have at least 1 million dollars of cover for each policy.

We recommend you speak to an insurance expert about your business to work out the level of cover you need.

Legal entity (business structures)

We appoint legal entities (such as companies, partnerships, or sole traders) as inspecting organisations.

If we appoint you and you change your legal entity, you can’t transfer the appointment to the new entity, even if it’s just your business structure that changes.

For example, if you’re appointed as a sole trader and change your business structure to a company in the future, you can’t keep using your appointment as a sole trader. You’ll need to apply for a new appointment as a company.

It’s important to think about the best business structure for your inspecting organisation before you apply, so you can future-proof your appointment.

Business structure overview (business.govt.nz)

CoF A application requirements

To apply for CoF A you must already be appointed as a WoF or CoF B inspecting organisation.

When we assess a CoF A application we consider your organisation’s review history over a number of reviews. We want to appoint organisations that have a consistently high level of performance as an inspecting organisation over a good amount of time.

If you’re not already a WoF or CoF B IO, you won’t have a review history for us to consider yet.

Notice of appointment and conditions of appointment

Appointment details What it means for you
Notice of appointment

A Notice of appointment explains your roles and responsibilities if we appoint you as an inspecting organisation. It describes what you can expect of us and what we expect of you.

Before you apply:

  • Read the Notice of appointment for inspecting organisations.
  • Make sure you understand what you’ll be responsible for.

You’ll need to discuss the notice of appointment with a certification officer during a site assessment.

Sample Notice of appointment

Length of appointment

From 1 January 2021, all new IOs are appointed for 5 years. Your appointment term will be in your Notice of appointment.

Your appointment remains current until:

  • The end of that 5 year term.
  • Your appointment is suspended.
  • Your appointment is revoked.
  • The legal entity we’ve appointed doesn’t exist anymore (for example, if you were appointed as a company and your company is removed from the companies office register).

You can also surrender your authority if you don’t want to be an IO anymore.

Conditions of appointment

We might add extra conditions to your Notice of appointment. This could include things like:

  • keeping a specific VI (or someone with similar experience) employed at your site
  • continuing to work with a consultant
  • telling us about any criminal convictions you receive.

We add extra conditions to help lower any risk – we’ll tell you about them before we appoint you.

Assessing your application

What we assess Details
Fit and proper person check

We complete fit and proper person checks on:

  • the IO representative for your application
  • key people in your legal entity
    • Company: all directors and major shareholders (generally 25% shareholding or more)
    • Partnership: all partners
    • Sole trader: you, as a sole trader.

We also reserve the right to complete fit and proper person checks on other people in your business that has control of making decisions that could influence how inspection activities are carried out.

We’ll let you know who we need to complete fit and proper person checks for.

Fit and proper person guidelines

Vehicle inspectors named in your application

Vehicle inspectors are an important part of an inspecting organisation. The inspections they complete make sure safe vehicles are on our roads.

When we assess your vehicle inspectors, we’ll consider:

  • how long they’ve been a vehicle inspector
  • their performance at announced and unannounced reviews
  • any concerning history as a VI or IO, including:
    • complaints
    • suspensions
    • investigations
    • revocations.

We’ll generally consider their history over the last 5 years.  If we find risks, we’ll consider their whole history and anything else we think is relevant.

If you don’t have a vehicle inspector yet

We must assess your vehicle inspectors as part of your application. However, we understand there may be times when you want to find out if you meet other requirements first (like our fit and proper person checks), before you get vehicle inspectors.

If you don’t have a vehicle inspector yet:

  • fill in the section of the form where you can tell us about the type of inspector you intend to employ
  • include information about:
    • the qualifications you’d expect them to have
    • how much experience you’d want them to have as a mechanic
    • how much experience you’d want them to have as a VI
    • any other qualities you’d look for.

We’ll assess as much of your application as we can and will let you know if you meet our requirements.

If you meet our requirements you must give us the name of at least one vehicle inspector as soon as possible for us to finish assessing your application.

If your vehicle inspector needs to apply for their VI appointment at the same time as your IO appointment

Send us your vehicle inspector and inspecting organisation applications together.

We’ll assess them at the same time. If they both meet our requirements, we’ll complete the inspecting organisation site assessment and vehicle inspector theory and practical tests at the same time.

Vehicle inspector applications

Your performance as an inspecting organisation

If you’re already appointed as an inspecting organisation, or if you have been appointed before, we may consider your organisation’s:

  • performance at announced and unannounced reviews
  • complaints
  • suspensions
  • investigations
  • revocations.

This includes situations where you are, or have been, appointed under a different legal entity.

We’ll generally consider your organisation’s history over the last 5 years.  If we find risks, we’ll consider your whole history and anything else we think is relevant.

Your external support

If you have, or will have, external support at your organisation, let us know. External support includes (but isn’t limited to):

  • being a Motor Trade Association (MTA) member
  • using MTA courses
  • having an ongoing contract with a consultant (often known as WoF consultants)
  • completing one-off courses, training, or assessments with a consultant or other training provider
  • having a formal or informal mentoring arrangement with someone in the inspection industry or with experience in the inspection industry.

You don’t need to have external support for us to appoint you as an inspecting organisation. However, having support, particularly in the early stages of your appointment, could help you to:

  • understand our requirements
  • make sure you’re meeting standards
  • identify areas for improvement before they become bigger issues.

There may be situations where we think having external support is an important part of your application. If so, we might put a condition on your appointment to keep that support for a certain amount of time.

Your quality management system (QMS)

A QMS is a tool that measures the activities of your inspecting organisation and vehicle inspectors. It also makes sure you have appropriate processes in place to make sure all of your inspection work complies with our requirements.

You must use a QMS that meets our requirements. This could be:

  • our model QMS
  • a QMS that meets the international standard ISO17020
  • another QMS that meets our requirements.

When you apply you need to tell us which QMS you’ll use.

If your application moves on to a site assessment, you’ll need to:

  • talk to a certification officer about your QMS
  • show your understanding of the system
  • tell us how you’ll use it at your site
  • show us the records you’ve already completed (for example, staff, equipment calibration, conflict of interest and delegation records).

If we appoint you as an inspecting organisation, we’ll assess your QMS at regular performance reviews.

More information on our QMS requirements

Conflicts of interest and financial interest

When you apply you need to tell us if you have, or may have, conflicts of interest or financial interest. Conflicts of interest or financial interest could make it seem like sometimes you can’t be fair and impartial.

If you move on to a site assessment, you’ll need to:

  • talk to a certification officer about conflicts of interest and financial interest
  • show us that you understand how to identify them
  • tell us how your site will manage conflicts of interest and financial interest
  • show us your completed conflict of interest register (part of your quality management system).

If we appoint you as an inspecting organisation we’ll review your conflict of interest register and plan at regular performance reviews.

Conflicts of interest

The terms of your Notice of appointment require you to avoid situations that may lead to conflicts of interest. However, there may be situations where you can’t avoid it. In these situations, you must:

  • have a plan to manage the conflict, and
  • document all conflicts of interest in your quality management system.

The key to managing conflicts of interest is:

  • understanding what situations could call into question whether you’ve made a fair and impartial decision
  • having a documented plan for how you’ll manage these situations
  • identifying what you can do to remove or lower the level of the conflict of interest, as part of your plan
  • making sure all of your staff know what’s expected of them
  • being prepared for unexpected situations and having a plan to deal with them.
  • being as transparent as possible in all situations about the conflict, and documenting it in your quality management system.

For example, a common situation could be inspecting your own vehicle or a friend or family members’ vehicle. The best way to avoid the conflict would be to have a rule that you and your staff won’t inspect your own vehicles or friends or family members’ vehicles. Or, if there’s more than one vehicle inspector at the site, you could reduce the conflict of interest by getting the vehicle inspector who doesn’t own the vehicle or isn’t related to the friend/family member to inspect the vehicle.

You must document all conflicts of interest each time they happen in your conflict of interest register within your quality management system.

Financial interest

A financial conflict of interest is any situation where you could gain or lose financially from a decision you make.

For example, if you own a trucking fleet, you have a financial interest in keeping your trucks on the road, as any time off the road impacts your commercial interests in that business.

Under the terms of your Notice of appointment, you’re not allowed to inspect any vehicles you have a financial interest in.

Examples

To help you understand your obligations around conflict of interest, we’ve put together some guiding principles and some examples of situations you may find yourself in, together with some high-level guidance about what you need to do to in these situations.

You should not treat these examples as definitive – each situation will depend on its own circumstances. If in doubt, contact Waka Kotahi for guidance.

In your application you must demonstrate your understanding of conflict of interest and specify how you’ll manage actual and/or potential conflict of interest at your organisation.

Conflict of interest scenarios

Site assessments

If we think your application meets our requirements, the next step is for a certification officer to visit your site. We’ll call you to arrange a date and time for the visit.

During the visit, the certification officer will:

  • assess your understanding of our quality management system requirements (including your understanding of conflicts of interest)
  • make sure your quality management system is in place, and you’ve completed the relevant records
  • talk to you about an inspecting organisation’s Notice of appointment
  • make sure your site and equipment meets our requirements
  • check your insurance is in place (or will be by the date you’re appointed).

The certification officer will send your site assessment result to our Vehicle Inspections team. They’ll consider the result along with the rest of your application (for example, fit and proper person checks and vehicle inspector checks).

We may assess your vehicle inspectors as well

We may need to assess your vehicle inspectors’ performance at the site assessment. For example, they might be due for a regular performance review. Or, we might need more information about their current performance level so we can make a decision on your application.

If we need your vehicle inspectors to be on site with you at the site assessment, we’ll let you know.

Preparing for a site assessment

Before we visit, you must:

  • make sure your site (building and grounds) meets our requirements
  • have all of your equipment on-site*
  • have all of your equipment calibrated.

*The only exception to this is the label printer for CoF A applications. We give our printer suppliers the authority to sell you a label printer if all other parts of your application are successful and we’re going to appoint you as an inspecting organisation. This means you won’t be able to have a label printer on-site for the site assessment.

If your site and equipment don’t meet our requirements your application may be declined.

Inspection premises and equipment requirements

If you're appointed as an inspecting organisation

RequirementDetails
Order stationery through Blue Star

Inspecting organisations order inspection stationery like WoF/CoF labels and checksheets through Blue Star. Blue Star will email you to let you know what you need to do to finalise your account, after we’ve set it up.

You can pay by direct debit, direct credit, or credit card (including debit VISA and Mastercard). Check with your bank for any extra fees they may charge for any of these payment methods.

Direct debit

You pre-authorise your bank to transfer money to Blue Star each time you buy, for the amount you spend at the time. It’s a simple way to pay, doesn’t need your organisation to share financial information with your staff.

There’s no surcharge.

To set up a direct debit with Blue Star:

  • complete Blue Star’s Direct debit authority form
  • get proof of your bank account number (for example, deposit slip or a screenshot showing your bank details)
  • email nzta.inspections@bluestargroup.co.nz and attach scans of your form and proof.

Please allow 10 working days for setting up the direct debit. If you need to order stationery sooner, you may need to use one of the other payment options first.

Important: you won’t be able to set up a direct debit with Blue Star until we’ve authorised them to set up an account for you.

Blue Star’s direct debit authority form

Direct credit (POLi)

You transfer money from your bank account to Blue Star through a secure third-party app called POLi, at the time you buy.

There’s a 1% surcharge capped at $3.00 plus GST.

Credit card

You pay for your orders with a credit card, at the time you buy. Blue Star accepts Visa, Visa Debit, Mastercard, Mastercard Debit and American Express.

There’s a surcharge (Visa/Mastercard: 2.75%, American Express 3.25%).

IT system requirements

To connect to our computer systems, you must operate one of these systems:

  • Windows 8.1 or
  • Windows 10
  • Windows 11.

You must also use one of these approved browsers:

  • Edge v96.0.1054.x or greater
  • Chrome v96.0.4664.x or greater
  • Firefox 91.0.x or greater.
Printers for CoF inspecting organisations

Dot matrix printer for CoF B inspecting organisations

CoF B inspecting organisations will need a continuous form dot matrix printer for pre-printing checksheets from LANDATA.

This printer needs to be able to print on a form that’s 240mm wide and 297mm deep, and be able to print 70 lines per page.

You can buy these printers from most stationery suppliers.

It’s your responsibility to make sure your printer will work with Waka Kotahi systems. Please work with your printer provider to correctly install and set up the printer.

Certificate of loading label printer

You may need a label printer to re-print Certificate of loading labels.

If your application is successful we’ll let our printer suppliers know you’re authorised to buy one. You can negotiate the best deal directly with the suppliers.

A label printer costs approximately $2000.

Use WoF Online to enter WoF inspections

WoF Online is the system you’ll use to enter WoF inspection results. The only people who are allowed to access WoF Online are the staff you’ve approved to use it, who are trained to use it.

You must enter all inspection results at the time you complete the inspection and before the vehicle leaves your site.

If your application is successful we’ll:

  • create your login details for WoF Online
  • set up your organisation with login details to a virtual private network (VPN) that can access WoF Online
  • email your login details and instructions to access the VPN and WoF Online.

Getting started with WoF Online (poster)

Use LANDATA to enter CoF inspections

LANDATA is the computer system that lets you access the Motor Vehicle Register. The only people who are allowed to access LANDATA are the staff you’ve delegated to use it, who are trained to use it.

Staff must enter all inspection results at the time they complete the inspection and before the vehicle leaves your site.

If your application is successful we’ll:

  • ask you to complete a user access form for each person trained and delegated to use LANDATA
  • create a unique username and password for each person
  • set up your organisation with login details to a VPN that can access LANDATA
  • send you instructions to access the VPN and LANDATA.
Keep our systems secure

You must not share login details for the VPN or WoF Online with anyone who isn’t delegated and trained to use those systems.

If you use LANDATA, we’ll give you a personal username and password. You must not share this with anyone else.

If any unauthorised person accesses our system, this could impact your appointment as an inspecting organisation.

If you think someone else has your login details:

Keep our information confidential

You must make sure you keep the information in our system confidential.

This means you must treat any information held on, or provided to you by the system, as confidential information. You may only use it for inspection and certification activities.

For example, you can access WoF Online or LANDATA to enter inspection results for a vehicle you’ve just inspected. You can’t access either system to look up a car you or your friend wants to buy to find out the result of the last inspection.

Use the Vehicle inspector (VI) code of conduct

The Vehicle inspector code of conduct sets out the minimum ethical and behavioural standards we expect of all VIs.

You must make sure all of your VIs that their VIs understand and abide by this code of conduct.

Vehicle inspector code of conduct

Performance monitoring and review

We’ll review you and your VIs regularly.

Reviews may be announced (we’ll tell you we’re coming) or unannounced (we’ll just show up).

The performance monitoring and review process:

  • targets our resources at IOs and VIs that are identified as higher risk
  • encompasses quality management, inspection processes and technical requirements
  • ensures regular assessments of all IOs and VIs
  • involves more targeted output inspections of vehicles by certification officers.

If your application isn't successful

We’ll propose to decline your application

If your application doesn’t meet our requirements, we’ll send you a notice proposing to decline your application. In that notice, we’ll let you know our concerns and what we’ve considered when assessing your application.

This step isn’t a final decision to decline your application. You’ll have the opportunity to make submissions (give more information) to us, which we’ll consider before we make a final decision.

We may still decline your application

If you don’t make any submissions to us, or the submissions you do make still don’t meet our requirements, we may send you a final decision declining your application.

If that happens, you have the right to appeal our decision to a district court under section 106 of the Land Transport Act 1998. Section 111 of the act and part 20, subpart 2 of the District Court Rules 2014 explain how to appeal.

Forms

Note: Expect longer timeframes for IO applications to be processed than usual and factor this into your business planning.

Use this form when applying for a Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency warrant of fitness (WoF) issuing authority.

COFIO CoF Inspecting organisation application form (PDF)

Version: October 2023

Use this form when applying for a Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency certificate of fitness (CoF) issuing authority. You can apply using the online form or the PDF form.

IOADD: Additional site application (PDF)

Version: October 2023

This form replaced the WOFADD and COFADD forms.

Inspecting organisations should use this form to apply for an additional site to be approved for inspections.

IOCH: Application to change inspection groups (PDF)

Version: October 2023

This form replaced the WOFCH and COFCH forms.

Use this form if you're an appointed WoF and/or CoF inspecting organisation applying to add vehicle inspection types within your current WoF and/or CoF appointment.

This form cannot be used to add a new vehicle inspection appointment.

IO relocate: Site relocation application (PDF)

Version: October 2023

This form replaced the WoF/AF relocation application and CoF relocation application forms.

Appointed inspecting organisation can use this form to apply to relocate an inspecting site. An IO RELOCATE form must be completed for each additional site.

Other resources