Heavy vehicle maintenance records: what the NHVR expects

The short answer: there is no single government template for a heavy vehicle maintenance record. Keeping vehicles safe and maintained is part of the primary duty every party in the chain of responsibility carries, and good records are how an operator shows it met that duty. What a good record contains is well defined, though, and the law changed on 1 August 2026.

What changed in 2026

The NHVR states that “The amended HVNL commenced on 1 August 2026.” Alongside it, the National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme (NHVAS) is being replaced by the Heavy Vehicle Accreditation (HVA) scheme:

• No new NHVAS accreditation is being granted. Existing NHVAS operators can keep operating under it until their accreditation expires.
• Maintenance accreditation under the new scheme is General Safety Accreditation with a Maintenance Assurance Program (GSA-MAP), which requires General Safety Accreditation first.
• In Queensland and New South Wales, operators with GSA-MAP can be exempt from annual inspections.

Where the law applies

The Heavy Vehicle National Law covers heavy vehicles over 4.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass. It operates in the ACT, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. It has not commenced in Western Australia or the Northern Territory, but it applies to vehicles from those places when they cross into a state where it does.

Who is responsible for maintenance

Section 26C of the law says each party in the chain of responsibility “must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of the party’s transport activities relating to the vehicle.” The NHVR explains that ensuring vehicles are safe and well maintained is part of that primary duty.

The parties named in the law include the employer, prime contractor, operator, scheduler, consignor, consignee, packer, loading manager, loader and unloader. An independent repairer is not on that list. But the law’s definition of transport activities includes contracting someone to maintain or repair a vehicle, and a duty cannot be transferred to another person. So an operator who outsources servicing still owns the duty, and the contractor’s job sheets and invoices are the operator’s evidence.

Separately, section 60 makes it an offence to use, or permit the use of, a heavy vehicle on a road that does not meet the heavy vehicle standards that apply to it.

What a good maintenance record shows

The current Safety Management System Standard (May 2026) does not prescribe document types or formats. It asks for evidence, such as work orders or invoices, that “clearly demonstrates that identified faults and regulatory notices have been addressed and resolved”, kept in a form that lets maintenance history be reconstructed for audit and review.

The 2026 Master Code, a registered industry code, is more practical. It suggests you “create a service, inspection and maintenance schedule for each heavy vehicle and its auxiliary equipment”, and implement a system so that maintenance issues, defects and defect notices are recorded and actioned, with vehicles that pose an imminent safety risk removed from service. The Code does not create new legal obligations, but courts can use it to judge what was reasonably practicable.

A practical checklist, from the NHVAS standards

The outgoing NHVAS Maintenance Management module set out eight standards: daily check; fault recording and reporting; fault repair; maintenance schedules and methods; records and documentation; responsibilities; internal review; and training and education. Even if you are not accredited, they make a thorough checklist for what a record should capture.

• A vehicle register: owner, registration and state, manufacturer, VIN, unit type, build date, and mass ratings.
• Daily checks for each vehicle in use, covering at least wheels and tyres, lights and reflectors, windows, mirrors and wipers, structure and bodywork, brakes and couplings.
• Faults found on the road, recorded in a way that stays with the vehicle and covers both the prime mover and trailers.
• Repairs: if a repair is deferred, who made that decision; when it is done, that the fault was fixed and tested.
• Scheduled maintenance at defined intervals of time, distance or hours of use, with a description of the tasks.
• Defect notices: the vehicle’s rego and VIN, when and where the notice was issued, the defect, the repair-by date, who repaired it and when, and who cleared the notice.
• Internal reviews of the system, which under NHVAS were quarterly and annual.

How long to keep records

Under NHVAS, all documents and records associated with accreditation must be kept for at least three years. The new Safety Management System Standard does not set a retention period. The maintenance invoices you issue and receive are also business records, and the ATO says to keep most of those for five years.

If you service other people’s trucks

Your client’s auditor will judge your paperwork. Make each job sheet stand on its own:

• Identify the vehicle by rego, VIN and the client’s unit or fleet number.
• Record odometer and engine hours at the time of service.
• List the tasks done against the client’s schedule, and any faults found.
• For each fault, say whether it was fixed and tested, or deferred and on whose instruction.
• Attach photos, parts used and the technician’s name and signature.
• Put the client’s work order or PO number on the job sheet and the invoice, so the two can be matched later.

Billing for that work? The tax invoice requirements guide covers what the invoice itself must show.