FORS Accreditation Consultant for Bronze, Silver and Gold

What FORS accreditation means for your business

The Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) is a voluntary accreditation scheme for fleet operators. It has run since 2008 and FORS reports over 4,700 accredited companies. For many operators it stops being voluntary the moment a client puts it in a contract. Construction logistics, local authority work and Tier 1 supply chains routinely ask for FORS Bronze as a minimum, and construction sites working to the CLOCS Standard expect the Silver benchmark.

FORS has three levels. Bronze proves the basics are in place and working. Silver adds performance data, road risk management and extra vehicle safety equipment. Gold shows you are improving year on year and influencing your supply chain. You must hold Bronze to apply for Silver, and Silver to apply for Gold.

We are a FORS accreditation consultant team made up of former transport managers and FORS practitioners, with around 20 years in transport between us. We prepare operators for the audit, sit alongside them on the day and keep them accredited afterwards. Every client we have taken to audit has passed first time.

FORS Standard v7.2: what applies from 1 September 2026

The current version is FORS Standard v7.2. It applies to every organisation with an audit date on or after 1 September 2026. Version 7.1 was introduced in late 2024 (the FORS summary of changes is dated November 2024). If your documents still refer to v6 or v7, they need updating before your next audit.

What changed in v7.2

• O2 fuel and AdBlue data. FORS now stresses that fuel usage must be collected and monitored by VRM, including AdBlue where relevant, and that you calculate the diesel-to-AdBlue ratio. If no ratio has been calculated, the auditor records a minor action point. A single fuel card total for the whole fleet no longer does the job.
• S5 professional development for Category B drivers. Annex 1.1 now allows drivers whose role needs only a Category B licence to meet the Silver professional development requirement through a FORS Professional or FORS Approved road risk Panoramic Interactive Video Training course.
• Reapproval transition. FORS has a small number of transitional provisions for reapproval audits moving from v7.1 to v7.2. We check which apply to your audit date during the gap analysis.

What v7.1 brought in, and is still catching operators out

The v7.1 changes are now well bedded in, but we still find gaps in them at gap analysis: road traffic collision reporting, a fleet transition policy, safety recall checks, alignment with the DVSA Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness, height indicators on vans over 3 metres, tyre management, environmental awareness training, the FORS Emissions Calculator, the diesel-to-AdBlue ratio, an engine idling policy, and two new Gold requirements (G3 Decarbonisation strategy and G7 Managing fleet transition).

FORS Bronze requirements: the four sections

A Bronze audit tests 31 requirements across Management, Vehicles, Drivers and Operations. These are the codes and titles as FORS publishes them for v7.2. Consultants and templates that quote codes such as M14 or V8 are working from something other than the current standard.

The Bronze points we see most often

• D1 Licensing. Licence checks must use a service with direct access to DVLA data, at a frequency set by risk: at least six-monthly for 0–5 points, quarterly for 6–8 points and monthly for 9 or more. FORS states that HGV and PCV drivers should be checked at least every three months.
• D4 Professional development. Drivers need approved work-related road risk training within 12 months and counter-terrorism awareness training within 24 months.
• D6 Health and eyesight. A drugs and alcohol procedure, eyesight checks every six months and an annual health declaration.
• D7 Working time and drivers' hours. Evidence that you monitor drivers' hours under assimilated Regulation (EC) 561/2006 and working time under the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005, and act on infringements.
• V1 Serviceability and roadworthiness. The auditor looks at a 15-month maintenance history. Where vehicles have tail lifts, that history includes the thorough examination reports required by the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER). This 15-month window is a FORS evidence period. The legal LOLER rule is to keep each report until the next one, or for two years, whichever is later.
• O2 Emissions. Fuel and AdBlue by vehicle registration, with the ratio calculated, as described above.

FORS Silver and Gold requirements

Silver builds on Bronze with ten requirements: S1 FORS Bronze; S2 Performance data; S3 Environmental impact; S4 Road risk; S5 Professional development; S6 Vehicle safety equipment; S7 Noise pollution; S8 Internal communications; S9 Sub-contracted services; S10 Fleet transition. The work is in S2: you need reliable performance data, such as fuel use, collisions and infringements, and you need to show what you are doing with it.

Gold has eight: G1 FORS Silver; G2 Recruitment and retention; G3 Decarbonisation strategy; G4 Staff travel; G5 Professional development; G6 Contracted services; G7 Managing fleet transition; G8 Environmental impact engagement. Gold moves the focus to your people, decarbonisation and the operators and contractors you work with.

Vehicle safety equipment: Bronze V6 against Silver S6

This is where operators most often overspend or under-prepare. Cameras and sensors are not Bronze requirements. They come in at Silver.

If Silver is on your plan within the next year or two, specify vehicles and retrofits to S6 now. Fitting twice costs more than fitting once.

FORS, the Direct Vision Standard and CLOCS

Direct Vision Standard and the HGV Safety Permit

HGVs over 12 tonnes entering or operating in Greater London need a TfL HGV Safety Permit. Since 28 October 2024 a vehicle needs a DVS rating of 3 stars or better, or the Progressive Safe System, to get one. Vehicles with a grace period had until 4 May 2025. TfL can issue a penalty charge notice of up to £550 for operating without a permit. TfL has said it will review the scheme again in 2028, with any further changes introduced from October 2030. The Progressive Safe System is one of the accepted routes to FORS Silver S6, so London operators can plan both together. Our London page covers the wider picture, including the Low Emission Zone.

CLOCS

The CLOCS Standard (Version 5, November 2024) requires fleet operators to make sure construction logistics HGV operations meet the standards described as Silver in the FORS Standard. FORS Silver is the usual way to show that, although CLOCS also accepts equivalent schemes or management systems. In practice most clients and site teams ask for the FORS Silver certificate because it is quick to check.

What FORS costs

FORS charges an annual subscription banded by fleet size, plus an audit fee. These are FORS's own published fees (page updated 28 May 2026), all plus VAT:

The Bronze audit fee is £468 + VAT (£437 for fleets of 3 or fewer vehicles, £208 at the Owner Van Driver rate), paid to FORS. Silver and Gold evidencing each cost £245 + VAT. Our consultancy fee is separate. We quote it in writing after the free consultation, once we know your fleet and starting point.

Where operators go wrong

• Preparing against an old version of the standard, or a template with invented requirement codes.
• Buying cameras and sensors for Bronze, then finding the mirrors or sideguards on an older vehicle are what the auditor checks.
• Checking HGV driver licences every six months when FORS expects three-monthly checks for HGV and PCV drivers.
• Recording fuel at fleet level with no AdBlue figures, which now earns a minor action point under O2.
• Keeping LOLER reports in a separate drawer from the vehicle file, so the 15-month V1 history is incomplete.
• Policies that describe an operation the auditor cannot see on the ground. The auditor interviews people and samples records. Paper alone does not pass.

What J&JL delivers

We start with a gap analysis against every v7.2 requirement for the level you are targeting. You get a written action plan that says what is missing, who needs to do it and by when. We then write the documents around your operation, not a generic template: policies, procedures, driver and vehicle records, the FORS documentation the auditor asks for under M1 and the training records for D4.

Before the real audit we run a full mock audit at your premises, interview your responsible person under M3 and test your records the way the auditor will. On audit day we support you on site or remotely. Afterwards we help you keep accredited, prepare the annual reapproval and plan the step to Silver or Gold.

For records, some clients use Roadworthy, our fleet compliance software. Its QR-code walkaround checks, defect tracking, inspection calendar and DVLA licence checks produce the V1, V2 and D1 evidence auditors ask for. It is optional. We work with whatever system you already run.

Most operators reach Bronze within eight to twelve weeks of the gap analysis. In one of our case studies, a 24-vehicle construction logistics operator with no FORS history achieved Bronze in week 9 and Silver in week 15, both first time.