A restricted Operator Licence is sometimes described as the “light” licence. It does not need a Transport Manager with a CPC, and it is cheaper to hold than a standard licence. But it is a regulated licence all the same. The Traffic Commissioner granted it on the basis of what you told them, and expects you to keep to it for as long as you hold it.
This guide sets out what a restricted licence allows, what you effectively promised when you applied, and the places where holders most often get caught out. Our Restricted Operator Licence support page explains how we can help you stay on the right side of it.
What a restricted licence allows
A restricted licence usually allows you to carry your own goods within the UK and the EU. It suits an operator whose goods are, or become and then remain, the operator’s own property, carried on its own account. A builder moving its own materials, a manufacturer moving its own products or a retailer moving its own stock are typical examples.
The guidance asks you to consider the purpose of the operation. If you answer yes to any of the following, a standard licence is likely to be needed instead:
- Is transporting the goods a predominant part of the service you provide?
- Do you rely on an insurance policy that covers carrying goods for reward?
- Does the carrying result in payment, direct or indirect, that benefits the owner or user of the vehicle?
Our article on restricted and standard licences goes into the difference in more detail.
What you promised when you applied
Whether it is restricted or standard, a licence is granted on conditions and undertakings. In practice, you told the Traffic Commissioner that you would:
- Be fit to hold a licence. That includes your convictions and the ability to obey all the rules, including the undertakings and conditions on your licence.
- Have enough money to keep vehicles safe. A restricted licence has a financial resources requirement. The guide gives it as £3,100 for the first vehicle and £1,700 for each additional vehicle. It is not a fee. It is money that must be available throughout the life of the licence. Check the current figures before relying on them.
- Keep vehicles fit and serviceable, with satisfactory facilities and arrangements for maintenance, such as your own workshop or a contract with a garage.
- Have systems to obey the rules: drivers’ hours, overloading, and drivers having the right licence and training.
- Use a suitable operating centre with enough room for your heavy goods vehicles.
You do not have to nominate a Transport Manager. However, the guide is clear that the licence holder must have the knowledge to ensure compliance with all the relevant legislation, particularly the safe operation of vehicles. In a restricted operation, that responsibility sits with you.
Where restricted licence holders get caught out
1. No maintenance system, only a garage contract
A contract with a garage is not a maintenance system. You need a planned programme of safety inspections at the intervals stated on your licence, brake performance assessments, a maintenance planner set well ahead, and a way of making sure defects are repaired before the vehicle goes back on the road. Maintenance records are expected to be kept for at least 15 months. See our guide to what DVSA expects from a maintenance system and, for brake testing, EBPMS and roller brake testing.
2. Drivers not reporting defects
If drivers do not complete daily walkaround checks and defect reports, or reports are filled in but never acted on, the system has a gap that DVSA looks for first.
3. Weak drivers’ hours and driver checks
Drivers’ hours records, tachograph downloads where they apply, driving licence checks and Driver CPC checks are all part of the promise to obey the rules. The guide says driving licences are usually checked every three months. Drivers’ hours records are kept for at least 12 months and working time records for at least 24 months.
4. Not telling the Traffic Commissioner within 28 days
You must tell the Traffic Commissioner about relevant changes within 28 days. They include a change of company name, directors or shareholding, a partnership change, bankruptcy or liquidation, a new correspondence address or operating centre address, and relevant convictions or accepted fixed penalties of you, your officers, employees or agents. Failing to notify can lead to regulatory action. A licence is not transferable, so if the business changes legal entity, a new licence is needed before you operate.
5. Vehicles not specified, or no margin
Vehicles must be recorded on the licence. If you have no margin, record a new vehicle immediately. If you have a margin, do it within one month of the vehicle coming into your possession. If you tow trailers, they need authority under the licence whether you own them or not. Operating more vehicles than you are authorised for is a breach.
6. Drifting into other people’s goods
This is the most common reason that a restricted licence stops being the right licence. A new contract, a favour for a customer, or a sideline carrying goods you do not own can take you outside its scope. Regularly ask whether the work still fits.
7. Convictions and fixed penalties not declared
Relevant offences must be declared, including some committed by your employees or agents, such as maintenance, overloading, speed, driver licensing and drivers’ hours offences. Not disclosing a conviction can itself lead to action against the licence.
8. Finances slipping below the requirement
The financial resources have to be available throughout the licence. If the business is under strain, check the position, especially when you add vehicles. Each one raises the figure.
9. Overloading and load security
Vehicles must not be overloaded and loads must be secure. Both are routine DVSA checks at the roadside and on site.
10. Missing the five-year continuation
Every five years the licence must be continued by paying a fee and confirming your details. If you miss it, the licence ends.
What the Traffic Commissioner can do
If a restricted licence holder breaks a condition or undertaking, has not maintained its vehicles safely, has ignored the drivers’ hours rules or has made a false statement, the Traffic Commissioner can:
- refuse a variation to the licence, for example an increase in vehicles;
- attach conditions or reduce the number of vehicles authorised;
- suspend or revoke the licence; and
- disqualify an individual or a company from holding a licence.
Evidence usually comes from DVSA visits and roadside checks, and serious concerns can lead to a public inquiry. Action against one licence can affect future applications.
A practical checklist for restricted licence holders
- Check your licence. Read the conditions and undertakings, and note the inspection interval and the authorised number of vehicles and trailers.
- Write down your maintenance system. Who plans inspections, who checks them, and who signs defects off.
- Set up a planner showing inspection, brake test and MOT dates for every vehicle, at least six months ahead.
- Keep the records and be able to produce them at short notice.
- Brief your drivers on daily checks, defect reporting, hours and load safety, and keep a record that you did.
- Check driver licences and CPC cards regularly, with a dated record.
- Keep a notification diary for changes that must be reported in 28 days.
- Review the work you do. Make sure it is still your own goods.
- Review your finances against the requirement each time you add a vehicle.
- Diary the five-year continuation.
If you have outgrown the restricted licence
If your work has changed so that a standard licence is now needed, you can apply to upgrade. A change from restricted to standard national is a variation with no application fee, but you need to show professional competence through a Transport Manager, good repute and the higher financial standing. Allow at least nine weeks, because the application is published for objections and the change does not take effect until the licence is varied. Our Operator Licence application support and External Transport Manager service help with both.
How HGV Consult can help
If you hold a restricted licence and want to be sure your systems would stand up to a DVSA visit, we can help you:
- review your maintenance, driver and records systems and set out what to fix first, with our Restricted Operator Licence support;
- get an independent view through a remote compliance audit, and prepare for it with our guide to preparing for a remote compliance audit; and
- keep everything in order afterwards with our transport compliance support.
Tell us about your operation and we will help you find the most practical next step. Request a call back.
This article is general information, not legal advice. The rules are set out in the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995 and the Traffic Commissioners’ guidance, so check the current position, and the goods vehicle operator licensing guide ↗, before you rely on it.