The annual assessment ..strange question

Yeah I think that's about it, are you ready to take the next one in a couple of weeks?

I have seen the tools on tool vans in packaging that states they are MOT approved . Kinda like a screwdriver but with a hook on the end with two notches in it . I had a tiny bit of doubt because I had watched the video on brake pipe assessment and read the training stuff .

In hindsight I suppose I should have realised that the items on the tool board are not all 'approved' . The wire brush is just there for decoration . 16ft Tape measure don't see much action . Tyre pressure gauge will never leave it's home .

At least I beat my 90% score from last year .

Having spoken to several local testers and heard their opinions of their experiences with the assessment I think the general feeling is that they wouldn't mind the questions being a little bit harder to answer if they were more relevant to the classes they test . Questions on C7 and C5 testing is not fair to C4 only testers . Change options in headlamp aim questions from numbers to blue/red lines . Does anyone actually read the numbers on those lines or do they just look at the colour of the lines ? I know where the lights should aim , but needed to consult the manual to get the answer to a couple of questions .

This tool has been on my MOT tools shadow board for 10 years and it is used frequently to assess brake pipes that are difficult to reach with the CAT tool or where corrosion is on the far side of the pipe and too close to the vehicle structure to use the CAT tool.
My question now is have I been incorrectly using a non approved tool for the past 10 years .
The tool I have been using is pictured below although there are different types available.
In the draft manual going live on May 20th this year it says "To correctly assess the condition of corroded metal brake pipes, surface dirt may have to be removed. In these circumstances, it is permissible to lightly scrape the pipe with a specialist brake pipe corrosion tool or the Corrosion Assessment Tool ‘spade end' so does this mean that it is now approved whereas before it wasnt ?

When I completed the 2017 training and assessment there was no mention of that tool, and yes I have one, had it a few years. I found it aggressive to be honest so I stopped using it. The question however did pop up in the annual assessment asking about that tool, having never seen that tool recommended in the manual/guides or special notices I decided to say NO, it's not an approved tool in the exam. I must have been correct as I achieved 100% pass rate.  

Congratulations Dynamo on your pass result, i do not find the tool aggressive , I think that part is down to muscle memory to be honest and on how you grip your tool.
I find it strange though that it is supplied on most MOT tool shadow boards if it is not an approved item.

My VE told me that he was quite happy for me to use the tool pictured (which I accept isn't the same as being an approved tool) as long as I didn't cause any damage.
But as there is (or at least was, I can't be bothered to look for it now) something about using a screwdriver for careful scraping of areas that you couldn't reach with the cat tool then surely we can use any hand tool we need to, short of a hammer and chisel!

I got one with a sorta rotary head on it hanging on my mot board,never felt the need to use it,if I cant tell a fooked brake pipe by now theres no hope and if it aint visible anyway then crack on.

I think it must be considered a CAT tool in its own right, I think perhaps we are mistaken in considering that the plastic and aluminium hammer as the only tool we have that is acceptable by DVSA in this category.
The only handheld tool that is listed as approved would be a tyre depth gauge , even the plastic aluminium hammer isn't on the list of approved equipment.
The list is here www.gov.uk/government/publications/mot-centre-approved-testing-equipment
We could use a magnet if it exposes corrosion or a dodgy repair , The fact is that it would be deemed an acceptable method of detection just not full on approved
Another tool that we use to do the MOT is the ramp and I think nearly all of our ramps are acceptable but they are not approved if you get my drift.
The key words are acceptable and approved ?

Read below...

Many years ago I used to run my own VTS, back in those days my VTS tested classes I, II, III and IV. Class III presented many problems in those days and I was learning from VI all the time, however it got to the point that I realised that VI had so many staff at different levels that in some cases each department thought they were the top people and made the final decision?

I was testing a class III trike and I failed it for having no front number plate fitted, the Trike was built by a guy who was an engineer but not our trade, he did a really good job at the building of the trike, leaving two areas I had concern about, one being the front number plate not fitted, and two being the park brake cables that he had "cut in two" and overlaid them to fit.

The guy took the trike to another VTS and they passed it without the number plate fitted, and no mention of the overlaid park brake cables. Obviously I was upset at the time because like the professionals on here I wanted to do the do to the best of my ability, so I made inquiries about the areas of concern I had, which were;

1 / The front number plate not fitted, and

2 / The park brake cables being cut and overlaid.

I asked VI at Bristol back in the day and the Senior Management who was well known through the Matters of Testing magazine in the day came back to me and said I was correct to fail the number plate, he said he was the senior decision maker and nobody could go over his head?

A senior engineer from Bristol then wrote to me at my VTS and told me;

Because of a Trike's construction, in other words a class III rear and a class II front combined there was no position that a front number plate could be fitted, hence the SE said that a class III Trike presented for mot test does not require a front number plate. 

I was also advised about the brake cables being cut and overlaid, he said; with regards the way the cables have been overlaid and secured together using "Wire Rope Grips", (These look like an exhaust clamp but are much smaller) they were considered acceptable. My concern at that time was that through continued use the clamp bolts would become insecure and that the "Trike when parked on an hill" could roll and have consequences. 

The MOT as we know is only concerned with the "time of test" in the test bay, so, as long as the park brake cables performed their function at the time of test, VI would accept that. From those days I learned that in the mot test almost anything of that nature will pass the test because it is such a very low minimum standard to be applied.

I can be quite honest in saying that I have never had training for such low standards to be applied, training and learning has always been about making things better, not learning to put rubbish on the roads!