Driver's and passenger's doors

I was given the keys to a Alfa 147 the other day and nothing else was said except to mot test it. I walked out to the parking bay and depressed the key remote to unlock the doors. I took hold of the outer driver's door handle and pulled it to open the door. The door handle detached from the door completely so I had to gain entry into the car from the front passenger's door to open the drivers' door from the inside "relevant control".

The term "Relevant Control" was introduced by DVSA some time back, which is where I picked it up from. 

Because I could open the driver's door I took that to mean that I could test the car because I had gained access to all test areas.

At the point of entering the test results I searched the major criteria's for a listed defect that would allow me to fail the driver's door for the door not being able to be opened from the outside "relevant control". 

What I found was defects referring to the "Catch", but nothing to support me in the decision to issue a major because the door could not be opened. 

Now if it is so that we should refuse to test a vehicle that will not permit all doors to open at the time of pre-checks, then why would DVSA introduce a MINOR defect that says;

Driver's door catch deteriorated so the door cannot be readily opened or closed. [6.2.3(c)(i)]  

DVSA in the introduction to the manual still maintain this;


g. A proper examination cannot be carried out because any door, tailgate, boot, engine cover, fuel cap or other device designed to be easily opened cannot be easily opened.

The testers manual also says;

Driver and passenger doors must open from the outside using the relevant control.



Driver and front passenger doors must also open from the inside using the relevant control.

A listed defect in the testers manual says;

(a) A door will not open using the relevant control or close properly Major


When I searched the listed defects in the MTS system I could not find that defect which is listed in the testers manual. 

I did issue a Major but had to use the catch criteria which I understood was the wrong criteria in my mind. 

Edited to add;

Some time back I experienced a problem like the above and did contact DVSA at that time where they pointed out that the computer browser being used could affect the results of the data on the computer. I've no idea if that is the case for me now as we are using the latest Chrome browser and latest DVSA web server as far as I understand.