A replacement van is not the vehicle that was approved

A contractor may arrive in a hired van because the usual vehicle has broken down. A delivery company may substitute a tractor unit overnight. A maintenance engineer may be driving a short-term courtesy vehicle. The organisation, driver and job can all be familiar while the registration, dimensions, load space and vehicle history are new. The gate therefore needs a procedure for continuity of the visit without pretending that the original vehicle approval automatically moved across.

Start by separating four questions: is this the expected company or person, is this the vehicle now in front of the guard, is the planned work or delivery still authorised, and is this vehicle suitable for the route and activity? A saved permit can support those checks, but it should not answer all four by itself. NPSA guidance on vehicle screening stresses rigorous control over which vehicles and occupants are authorised and identifies unexpected deliveries as something a site may turn away. The response should still follow the site's risk assessment: a warehouse receiving routine parcels is not a high-security facility, but neither should a familiar logo replace an agreed check.

Define what the permit attaches to before an exception occurs

Write down whether each permit attaches to a registration, a named supplier, a driver, a contract or work order, a site or gate, a time period, or a combination of these. A permit recorded against one registration should normally be treated as evidence about that registration, not a transferable badge for every vehicle the company may hire. If the site wants fleet-level permission, state that expressly and add the conditions that still have to be checked when the actual vehicle changes.

The operating procedure should identify which changes invalidate automatic admission. Useful triggers include a different registration, an unfamiliar driver, a different vehicle type, an expired work order, a load or delivery that does not match the booking, and a vehicle too large or heavy for the agreed route. HSE asks sites to consider a vehicle's width, length, height, weight, load, manoeuvrability and driver visibility when planning workplace routes. That means a substitute vehicle can require a fresh route decision even when the supplier remains approved.

Ask suppliers to notify replacements before arrival

Give regular contractors and carriers a simple pre-arrival route for changes. Ask for the replacement registration, vehicle type, expected arrival window, driver or booking reference, reason for substitution and the host or job it relates to. The person receiving that notice should update the expected-arrival information or tell the gate who will decide. Do not encourage suppliers to send identity documents or unrelated personal details by ordinary email merely because an exception has occurred.

HSE says visiting drivers may never have attended the site and should understand the layout, entry and exit points, safe pedestrian routes, parking and unloading arrangements. It also advises workplaces and visiting-driver employers to co-operate over safe access and suitable vehicles. Send the site rules and route information again when a materially different vehicle is substituted. A small hired van may fit the original route; a taller box van or articulated vehicle may not.

Use a controlled hold-and-check routine at the gate

When an unnotified replacement arrives, move it to the site's designated safe waiting position if one exists. Do not leave it blocking a public road, pedestrian route, emergency access or the gate lane while calls are made. The guard should capture or enter the registration accurately, compare the company and purpose with the expected visit, check the host or receiving contact, and identify any obvious mismatch in vehicle type or load. The physical traffic plan remains more important than completing a screen.

The guard should explain that the earlier permit is for a different vehicle and that admission is being checked, not accuse the driver of wrongdoing. A breakdown substitution is common; an unexplained change is still a control point. If the registration is read from a photograph, the guard should compare the result with the plate and correct it before saving. Priority Service's published workflow supports photographing the vehicle, reviewing or correcting the registration, viewing permit details and referring approval to a supervisor. It does not advertise automatic barrier operation, so the site's existing authority and gate procedure still decide whether the vehicle moves.

Make temporary approval narrow, named and time-limited

The supervisor should decide against written criteria, not simply repeat that the contractor is known. Confirm the expected job or delivery, the vehicle's suitability for the route, any client or site restrictions, and what must happen before unloading or work begins. If the evidence is incomplete, the decision may be to wait, use another entrance, escort the vehicle, restrict where it can go or refuse entry. Record the decision and the person responsible according to the site's procedure.

If a temporary vehicle is accepted, define its scope: which site, which gate, what purpose, and the start and end of permission. A one-day breakdown replacement should not silently become a permanent fleet permit. For a longer hire, set a review date and require the contractor to notify the site when the original vehicle returns. Priority Service advertises vehicle permits and supervisor approvals; during a demo, ask to see how your team will distinguish a temporary permission from the original vehicle's permit and how expired or superseded details are reviewed. Do not assume an automatic expiry or reminder unless it is demonstrated and agreed.

Keep road-status checks separate from site permission

Public vehicle information can help with a replacement, but it answers limited questions. The GOV.UK MOT service says it can show whether a vehicle has an MOT certificate and when it expires, using the registration. The vehicle-tax service shows current tax or SORN status and warns that an approved change can take up to two working days to appear. Neither result proves that this supplier, driver, visit or load is authorised for your premises.

Insurance, operator licensing, driver competence and roadworthiness sit with the responsible organisations and the site's agreed assurance process; a gate record should not be presented as a legal clearance. HSE's workplace-transport guidance says employers should ensure visiting and agency drivers are fit, competent, appropriately qualified and understand safe working on the site. If your contract requires evidence, decide who checks it and what the guard sees. Avoid collecting copies of documents by default when a verified confirmation or exception reference is sufficient.

Preserve history while correcting current details

Do not edit yesterday's movement to make it look as if the replacement vehicle made it. Historical records should continue to show the registration actually observed at the time. Create or use the appropriate current vehicle record for the substitute, and keep the operational relationship to the job or contractor clear through the information your procedure permits. When the original van returns, its old movement history remains history; its current permission should be reviewed separately.

The ICO accuracy principle says organisations should take reasonable steps to keep personal data from being incorrect or misleading, keep the source and status clear, and correct inaccurate data. It also explains that a historical fact can remain accurate after circumstances change. The ICO data-minimisation principle requires information to be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary. Together, those points support recording enough to explain the replacement decision while avoiding speculative notes, unnecessary document copies or unrelated facts about the driver.

Rehearse the replacement before accepting the workflow

Run a short exercise: an approved electrical contractor is due at 08:00, but at 07:50 the driver arrives in an unnotified hired van with a different registration and a greater height. The host confirms the job, but the normal service route has a height restriction. The successful outcome is not simply an IN record. The guard moves the van to the safe waiting point, confirms the purpose, refers the exception, receives a decision on the correct route or refusal, records the actual registration and preserves the original permit without pretending it covered the hire vehicle.

Use the exercise as a buying and training test. Ask who can create or amend vehicle permits, who approves an exception, what the guard sees after approval, how IN and OUT are linked to the actual registration, and how an administrator finds the event in visit history or a CSV report. Priority Service publishes these relevant capabilities: guard accounts, vehicle photographs and checked plate capture, permits, supervisor referrals, time-stamped IN and OUT records, searchable history and authorised CSV reporting. Review them on the features page at https://priorityservice.co.uk/#features, then request a live demonstration at https://priorityservice.co.uk/#demo using your replacement-vehicle scenario.

Sources & further reading

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