Mobile detailing compliance checklist: van and driveway

What to take away

This mobile detailing compliance checklist covers the van and the driveway: the papers carried, the wash water, the chemicals, the vehicle and the site.
Every line asks the same three questionsis it done, what document proves it, and which office inspects it.
Items marked as address-specific cannot be completed from a web page. They need a call to the named office: the city or county licensing desk, the state environmental agency, or the wastewater authority that serves your address.
Run the walk-around before the first job, then quarterly, then after any change to territory, services, vehicle or staffing.
Keeping the evidence is what turns a complaint into a short conversation instead of a long one.

Set up the walk-around sheet

Copy the items into a document with four columns: item, evidence held, issuing body, next review. Fill the evidence column with a document name and a date, not with the word yes, and write the office out in full.

Audit columns to fill

Itemthe requirement being audited
Evidence helddocument name and date
Issuing bodyoffice that owns it
Next reviewscheduled re-check date

An item with no evidence is not complete, whatever anyone remembers. A technician who is asked a question on site can answer from the sheet instead of guessing. Three sample rows show the level of detail:

Item	Evidence held	Issuing body	Next review
Wash water answer	Dated note naming the office and the person who answered	City stormwater program, state environmental agency or local treatment works	Quarterly
Safety data sheets	One sheet per product, kept in the van	OSHA, where you employ anyone	Quarterly
Loaded weight	Recorded figures set against the payload rating	State motor vehicle agency	When the vehicle changes

The papers that ride with the van

These are the existence papers. They prove the business is the business it says it is, and each one needs a document name and a date on the sheet.

Business registration in force with the state, usually through the secretary of state, with the certificate and number on file.
Trade name filing, if you operate under a name other than the registered one, filed with the same state office or the county clerk.
Tax identification obtained from the IRS, with the confirmation letter filed.
Bank account separate from personal accounts, opened in the business name.
Determination on whether detailing services are taxable in your state, in writing, from the state department of revenue, with the date and the source.

Proving the business exists

Business registration certificate and number on file
Trade name filing if operating under another name
Tax identification confirmation letter filed
Business bank account separate from personal
Written taxability determination with date and source

Evidence for the last item is the one people skip. Record who told you and when, because the answer occasionally changes.

Add one local paper: the written boundary rule you were given by the city or county licensing office, so a technician can answer a question about working in a neighboring municipality. The full list of licences is in the licences guide.

Wash water at the driveway

This section has the sharpest teeth in this trade.

Wash water carries hydrocarbons, brake dust and metals, and the EPA's fact sheet on best practices for vehicle maintenance and washing explains why municipalities treat it as a pollutant source. The discharge itself is regulated under the Clean Water Act.

Check these items against the van:

Written answer from the stormwater or wastewater office covering wash water at residential addresses. Two desert cities are worked through in the guide to wash water rules.
The name of the office that answered, written downyour city's stormwater program, the state environmental agency, or the publicly owned treatment works that runs the local sewers.
Containment equipment matched to that answer, inspected and functional.
A recovery and disposal method you can describe in one sentence.
Measured water use per vehicle, recorded, so you know your own consumption.
A written instruction to technicians about what never goes down a drain.

Wastewater that reaches the sewer is the subject of Part 403, the General Pretreatment Regulations for existing and new sources of pollution. That is why the binding answer to a wash-water question comes from a state environmental agency or from the local treatment plant, not from Washington.

Reducing use is the cheapest form of compliance. The EPA's WaterSense breakdown by wash stage shows where the volume actually goes. What that means for the van build is covered in the equipment and setup guide.

Chemicals in the van

Chemicals are the one area with a federal inspector attached. Where you employ anyone, OSHA is the agency that examines these lines, and its Hazard Communication Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1200, is the rule it measures them against.

OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard says the employer shall maintain copies of the required safety data sheets in the workplace and ensure they are readily accessible during each work shift to employees in their work areas. For a mobile business the work area is the van, so the sheets ride with it.
All containers labeled, including anything decanted into secondary bottles, with product identifier, signal word, hazard statements, pictograms, precautionary statements, and the manufacturer's name, address and telephone number.
Storage arrangement confirmed against the quantity thresholds in the fire code your city or county has adopted, checked with the fire marshal.
Spill response written down and the materials to execute it carried.
Incompatible products separated in storage.

The vehicle and what it covers

Commercial registration or classification confirmed with the state motor vehicle agency for the loaded weight.
Insurance in force with business use disclosed in writing.
Loaded weight checked against the payload rating, with the figures recorded.
Securing of heavy equipment inspected.
Maintenance schedule with dates, since a breakdown is both a lost day and a safety matter.

Insurance follows the van. General liability should be in force, and the difference between that and garage keepers cover is set out in the guide to garage keepers and general liability. Confirm cover for damage to a customer vehicle in your care by name rather than assuming it.

Tools and equipment cover should extend to work away from premises. Workers compensation applies where required, and certificates should be available in a form commercial customers can be sent.

The customer's vehicle and property

Condition photographs taken before every job, stored and retrievable, are the cheapest evidence you can hold. Pair them with written terms covering scope, exclusions and the worse-than-described rule.

Written permission from any managed property, association or business park you work in regularly.
Note of any restriction on washing, water use or generator noise at each site.
Contact for the property manager, held where a technician on site can reach it.
Complaint procedure written down, with a named person responsible.

Technicians need to know these rules before they arrive. If you employ anyone, the training checklist is where the induction record lives.

When to walk it again

Each trigger sends you back to a different part of the sheet.

Trigger / What to re-audit

Before the first job: Everything
Quarterly: Water, chemicals, vehicle and customers
New municipality: Local permission and water
New service added: Water, chemicals, insurance and customers
First employee: Insurance and the induction record
New vehicle: The vehicle, and the payload figures
Annually: Everything, because ordinances change quietly

The offices behind the walk-around, and the calendar for renewing what they issue, are mapped in the licensing and compliance guide.

Common questions

How long does the first full pass take?

Most of the calendar time is waiting for offices to reply. The work itself is a few days, spread over a week or two, and it is far cheaper done before the first job than after a complaint.

What if an office gives me a vague answer?

Ask for it in writing, or write down the date and the name of the person you spoke to. A dated note of a vague answer is still evidence that you asked.

Do I need all of this as a sole operator?

Everything except the employee items applies from the first paid job, though the depth varies with the services you sell.

What is the single most commonly missed item?

The written answer about wash water. It is skipped because it takes a phone call rather than a form, and it is the item most likely to bring an official to a job site.