Md. Code Regs. 11.14.08.14 - Quality Assurance and Maintenance

A. The Contractor shall develop, maintain, and modify as required by the Administration and the Department a comprehensive quality assurance and maintenance plan for vehicle emissions inspection stations complying with the provisions of this chapter, and shall implement the quality assurance plan after approval of the plan by the Administration and the Department.

B. The contractor shall include the following information in the quality assurance plan:

(1) Test assurance procedures to be conducted by the contractor for each test;

(2) Periodic quality assurance check procedures and precision check procedures to be conducted by the contractor on the test equipment;

(3) For each test assurance procedure, periodic quality assurance check, and precision check conducted by the contractor, the:

(a) Primary standard to which each instrument, device, or material used for a check is traceable,

(b) Acceptable tolerance for each check,

(c) Corrective action to be taken for a check result outside of the acceptable tolerance, and

(d) Recheck procedure to follow corrective action;

(4) Maintenance procedures to be conducted by the contractor on the test equipment, which follow the equipment manufacturers' specifications at a minimum; and

(5) Record-keeping practices to be conducted by the contractor.

C. If a test assurance procedure is failed, the contractor shall record the event and void the test.

D. If a periodic quality assurance check or precision check is failed, the contractor shall record the event, automatically prevent official testing, and take immediate corrective action.

E. Maintenance Log.

(1) The contractor shall keep a maintenance log for each test system, in a form which has been approved by the Administration and the Department, and shall record each maintenance event in the log.

(2) Failure of the contractor to properly maintain equipment or to properly keep a maintenance log may be cause for the Administration or the Department to suspend official testing until the contractor takes corrective action which has been approved by the Administration or the Department.

(3) The contractor shall keep each maintenance log for the duration of the vehicle emissions inspection program unless otherwise directed by the Department.

F. The contractor shall allow access to inspection equipment, personnel, and records for Administration or Department personnel to perform quality assurance audits. Failure of a quality assurance audit may be cause for the Administration or the Department to suspend official testing until the contractor takes corrective action which has been approved by the Administration or the Department.

Notes

Md. Code Regs. 11.14.08.14

Regulations .14 amended effective September 26, 1983 (10:19 Md. R. 1691)
Regulations .14 repealed effective June 26, 1989 (16:10 Md. R. 1110)
Regulations .14 adopted effective June 26, 1989 (16:10 Md. R. 1110)
Regulations .14 adopted effective January 2, 1995 (21:26 Md. R. 2189); amended and recodified from .13 effective 50:1 Md. R. 8, eff. 1/23/2023