The Maintenance Facility Certification Program is designed to ensure that all State-owned Maintenance Facilities are operated in accordance with the Motor Vehicle Management Act. Each shop must be certified every year. The Program Manual can be found here.

Below are commonly asked questions and answers about shop certification. If you need more information contact Elease Portee at (803) 737-1605.

How often will my shop be certified?

Annually. SFM shall conduct an on-site review of each facility not later than three years from the date of the last on-site review. During those years when an on-site review is not conducted SFM will monitor compliance through a written questionnaire.

Is our shop required to undergo a new Certification Review when the Shop Supervisor changes?

Yes. When the Shop Supervisor changes, SFM will conduct another review to ensure the new Shop Supervisor is aware of the requirements and is on the right track. This eliminates the problems encountered when some initial mistakes are not found for two to three years.

What areas are inspected during the Certification Review?

• Purchasing of supplies and parts
• Inventory control
• Uniform work order and record-keeping assigning actual maintenance cost to each vehicle
• Preventive maintenance program for each class of vehicle
• Cost-effective facility operations
• Safety

What do we need to do to get an Outstanding on the Certification Review?

For a facility to receive an overall rating of outstanding (exceeds requirements), it must have received an on-site review with no prominent violations. The facility must have detailed maintenance records with excellent audit trails and a clean and safe working environment, and the personnel must show a sense of pride in the performance of their mission.

What are the most common problems found during Shop Certification Reviews?

Work orders and record-keeping

• Vehicle mileage was not recorded on numerous work orders
• The work orders were not being promptly recorded on the Work Order Register.
• The Supply Specialist was filling out a “dummy” Work Request Form in advance (a month) on vehicles scheduled for PM services during the listing and ordering the parts that were going to be placed on the vehicle during the PM service. The parts were not posted to the inventory.
• The Technician Worksheets were not being filled out by the technicians.

Inventory control

• Error rates in the sampled inventory over twenty percent (20%).
• Whiteout correction fluid was being used on Stock Record Cards.
• The parts storage area was crowded and disorganized making parts hard to locate.
• A random sample of Supply Depot invoices revealed that parts received from the depot were not always posted as received to the parts inventory.
• The issue of parts from inventory was not always recorded on the Stock Record Cards once the part was removed from the inventory.

Purchasing of parts and supplies

• Maintenance facility personnel not using the State Contract for Miscellaneous Vehicle/Automotive Replacement Parts or personnel not verifying prices to ensure the State was receiving the correct discounts.
• A procedure was not being used to indicate where a part (purchased or rebuilt) was placed when received.
• One agency allowed vehicle operators to purchase parts for their vehicles and replace them or in some cases take them to a state facility for replacement where the only charge was for labor. The parts were not charged to the vehicles and audit trails were lost.

Preventive Maintenance

• Preventive maintenance or lubrication services not performed within the agency’s or manufacturer’s guidelines (over 15% error rate is cause for failure in this area).

Cost-effective Facility Operations

• The charges on work orders were not covering the agency cost of operating the facility. In many cases the labor hours charged to work orders would not justify a technician, and in others cases the labor rate charged per hour was so low that only a portion of agencies costs were shown.

Safety

• Unkempt and very disorganized facility.
• Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) could not be located for chemicals being used in the facility.
• There was no load limit sign posted in the appropriate location.
• Instead of a ladder or stepstool, a homemade bench was being used in the parts room for climbing. The bench was likely to tip over.