pre checks

All doors, boot, bonnet, access to fuel cap, fuel, oil, coolant, and most important, it is a vehicle of the type you are authorised to test (ie weight of vans/commercials, number of seats in a mini bus, etc).

I think that should be established at the time that the keys are handed from presenter to vts staff

I do the walk round door-bonnet-boot-filler cap check, look for obvious dangerous reasons to refuse to test, dip the oil, check visible fluid levels, check that plates match, write down last 6 of VIN, and configure the seats and belts into a testable arrangement.

I also always print a refusal, It's no good waiting for the customer to ask for one if I'm logged onto the next test.