Drivers · 3 min read · Updated 22 Aug 2026
Driver licence checks - how often, what to check, and the consent you need first
The practical guide to checking vocational licences: DVLA check codes, Access to Driver Data, the D906-style mandate, penalty-point risk banding and what to record.
Letting someone drive without the right entitlement is a strict-liability offence for the operator and a classic finding at public inquiry. The fix is routine: check every driver on a documented cycle and keep the evidence.
What to check
- Licence status (valid, provisional, disqualified, revoked, expired) and type
- Entitlements for the vehicles driven - C, C+E, C1, D, D1 - with their expiry dates and restriction codes
- Penalty points and endorsement codes; any disqualification
- Photocard expiry (10 years; vocational entitlements need a medical renewal at 45 then every 5 years, annually from 65)
- Driver CPC (DQC) expiry and tachograph card expiry (see Driver CPC explained)
How to check
1. GOV.UK check code (free). The driver logs in to View your driving licence (licence number, NI number, postcode), generates a one-use code valid for 21 days and gives you the code plus the last eight characters of the licence. You view the record at Check someone's driving licence information and save it as a PDF. Shows entitlements, points and disqualifications - not CPC or tachograph card. Fine for small fleets; laborious at scale.
2. DVLA Access to Driver Data (ADD). An API for employers and licence-checking intermediaries: £0.60 per successful enquiry, returns entitlements, endorsements, status, CPC and tachograph card details. Requires a DVLA contract, audits, and a signed fair-processing declaration from each driver, valid for up to three years (the D906-style mandate). OperatorCompliance's consent form is written to that standard so you are ready when your ADD agreement (or a licence-check bureau) is in place.
3. Inspection of the photocard. Still worth doing at induction - it catches the wrong person, foreign licences and obvious expiry - but it cannot show points or current status. OperatorCompliance can read the card photo to pre-fill the record; it does not replace a DVLA check.
Never log in as the driver on View your driving licence: the service is for the licence holder only and using their NI number breaches its terms and data-protection rules.
How often
There is no single statutory interval; the Traffic Commissioners expect a risk-based cycle and evidence it is followed. A widely used scheme, and the default in OperatorCompliance:
| Penalty points | Re-check |
|---|---|
| 0–3 | every 12 months |
| 4–8 | every 6 months |
| 9 or more, or any disqualification / revocation | every 3 months |
Plus: at induction before the first shift; when a driver tells you about a conviction (they should be contractually required to); and when a vehicle category changes.
Consent and data protection
DVLA and UK GDPR require a lawful basis and a signed declaration before you obtain licence data from DVLA on a driver's behalf. The declaration must name the operator, explain what is checked and why, last no more than three years, and be kept for seven. Drivers must be able to withdraw. OperatorCompliance emails each driver the declaration in their language, records the e-signature with IP and timestamp, stores the PDF against the driver and warns you 60 days before it lapses.
What to record
Date, method, who checked, status, points, entitlements, expiry dates, evidence (the saved GOV.UK PDF or ADD response), and the next due date - all of which sits on the driver's licence-check history in OperatorCompliance.