SVA Test

[Born2Run]

Buddy of mine has built a Robin 7 and done an absolutely stunning job. It is virtually ready for the SVA test but he is really concerned about horror stories about pedantic surveyors failing minute sharp edges etc. Not having ever gone through this process it is not possible for me to pass any sensible advice on. Given that plenty of people on here have gone through it, have you any top tips?

 

This is a compliment, I suspect he is being builder pedantic and has achieved a standard over and above what is required in truth. Certainly it is visually impressive. I do wonder if the horror stories are actually due to poor builds being put in and surveyors having to pick up items that a good builder would have taken care of.

 

Thoughts welcomed.

[BigCol]

My experience and judging by comments elsewhere, it is partially the luck of the draw.

 

My 7 failed its first IVA earlier this year. My examiner was a nice chap and we chatted a lot whilst he went through what he had to go through. The regional supervisor who accompanied him was also friendly and a bit of a petrol head.

 

Whilst they were pragmatic on certain things (rear visibility, exhaust noise level), they did fail me on five (yes... 5!) things:

- dodgy brakes - rears locked ahead of the fronts (why Caterham missed that in the PBC I don't know but...)

- no bonnet catch covers (Caterham returned the car from its PBC shy of them, so that was not unexpected)

- misaligned headlights (yes, cue another comment re Caterham, PBC, WTF etc)

- sidescreens lacking an 'e' mark

- indicator visibility being not to standard

 

Having looked up the exact standards online, I was able to call to he test centre and leave a message for the examiner. He called me back promptly and I talked him through how I thought he'd misinterpreted the rules and that the indicators were OK. Graciously, he agreed. He also said it'd be fine to represent the car without the sidescreens (and hinges) and to adjust the headlights using their gear at the retest. He also said the brake issue wasn't just down to a lack of bedding-in but something more intrinsic in the design/set-up.

 

Meanwhile, Caterham got the catch covers and some more aggressive front pads to me in time for a retest a week later. The pads did the trick after a circuitous route to the retest to allow plenty of heavy braking to bed them in.

 

This story is not to worry your mate at the strictness, unpredictability and inconsistency of the process (which I am sure others will corroborate) but that the testers (well, the ones at Yeading I met were!) are approachable, very helpful and whilst they've rules to apply, they are on your side and want your car to pass.

 

Whilst I was grumpy with Dartford having not checked the car thoroughly, at having to take the time, spend another £90 and not be driving my 7 as soon as I wanted, I did come away being fully confident that the car was safe, legal, to standard etc. I would have worried if the VOSA chaps had given it a cursory look-over, even though I was confident I'd built it well.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Hi there

 

Post some pictures on locostbuilders, lot of helpful comments from others there.

 

If you do a search under the IVA section you'll see others that have done this as well.

 

Cheers

 

ian

[7 wonders of the world]

Take lots of trim bits and cable ties with you on the day, be very cheery and treat this as a hoop you need to jump through.

 

My experience involved checking 1 point with their technical help line - only to be failed on this very point on the day, the guy I spoke with was even present in the test centre and when quizzed said this was his opinion - but he wasn't doing the test so his colleague could and did fail it

 

They would not allow me correct the fault on the day insisting I retested in 2 weeks - so after seeing the young lady in the office I rebooked for the following morning much to the annoyance of the tester - who was no busy hovering his car 😔

 

I arrived 20mins before the retest time, tested arrive 30mins late - no apology, took less than a minute to check to failed item then went off for another 45mins to complete the paperwork, during which I could clearly see him sat chatting and having coffee - obviously wasn't aware of the transparent properties of glass!!

 

As I said a hoop you need to jump through but this just left a sour taste and proved what I'd already heard from others that they indeed are a pedantic bunch of inconsistent 🙆🏻's.

[Garry7]

Download the Caterham build manual from the downloads section of the CC website - there is a really good IVA section at the back.

 

(Big Col - mine had the same issue as yours ref the brakes, I too wondered about the PBC, but it passed once CC had changed discs and pads - and put double the mileage on the front set).

[myothercarsa2cv]

You'll find out which centres are good and which are not with a little searching too. I did mine at Norwich, and they were brilliant. The chap got wet when the washer hose popped off and squirted water in his lap, looked at me unimpressed, I dived under the dash to pop it back on, all fine 😬

 

Other than that, and some alignment issues with the lights which I said at the start I hadn't done so wondered if I could use their funky boxes, it was just lots of nervous waiting and a cracking drive back 😬

 

I did the PBC after the SVA.

[Born2Run]

Thank you chaps, all very helpful.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[John Cockburn]

Was 5 years ago now but mine was done at Gillingham and the German tester was a pain. I had taken the doors off and used the special screws provided to secure the mirrors to the windscreen , these were tightened using a 2.5mm Allen key, the tester sat in the car and tried to adjust the mirrors, the mirror moved slightly - FAILED. The whole test had been completed including weighing the vehicle, noise levels, brake efficiency he then decided the handbrake had insufficient travel when applied - FAILED, he would not let me adjust the handbrake nylon adjuster (would take about 30seconds) or tighten the Allen key, it had to be a retest the next week. Make sure he covers all sharp edges and exposed nuts/bolts. The Caterham build manual has a great section on this. Good luck

 

Cheers John

[John Vine]

Quoting Garry7: 

Download the Caterham build manual from the downloads section of the CC website - there is a really good IVA section at the back.

This is CC's new site. If you want to download anything, you now have to register first. (You may already have done that, of course.)

 

I've done two SVAs (Botley in 1999, and Avonmouth in 2008), but have no experience of IVA. I found the testers very thorough and professional, but friendly and obliging with it.

 

JV

[diggerman]

My test was in Leighton Buzzard. They were VERY thorough and quite friendly. They did say that they see a lot of disasterous builds (probably Westfields 😬) and naturally have to be quite strict in those cases. One item failed. The tester could not see the mirror testing sticks without moving his head. Caterham suppled some slightly convex mirrors and the problem was solved. The re-test cost 90 quid though.

 

Reading the comments above, i wonder if VOSA have issued an instruction to fail at least one item so that they can collect the £90 bonus.

 

Nice little earner!

 

Peter