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NHOST Important Information
Sticker Process
Reminder The State Police has asked that the Inspection Stations be reminded that the clear sticker is to be issued ONLY to vehicles that pass safety and fail OBD emissions. THE CLEAR STICKER NUMBER MUST COINCIDE WITH THE MONTH THE INSPECTION TAKES PLACE. This is not necessarily the owners birth month. It should match the date of the test that prints on the VIR. The VIR is to be given to the motorist with each inspection. Thank you for your continued cooperation. Please direct any questions regarding this e-mail to the OBD Program at 603-271-8800.
Consumable
Reminder This email is a courtesy reminder that some of the items on the NHOST unit are consumable items such as; orange OBD cable, black OBD cable, ink cartridges. Inspection stations are responsible for keeping these consumable items on their NHOST unit in working order. These items are essential for proper operation of the inspection equipment, as both the vehicle OBD communication and VIR printout are required aspects of the inspection process. It should be noted that damaged cables could cause a situation where either the vehicle being inspected or the NHOST unit could be adversely affected. Any such damage will be the responsibility of the station as per items 4.3 and 4.9 in the Station Agreement which read; 4.3 "Customer shall be responsible for all costs of repair if product has been damaged by operation in a manner contrary to the instructions which accompany the product, improper or inadequate maintenance by the Customer, unauthorized modification or misuse, Customer supplied software, improper site preparation and maintenance, operation outside of the environmental specifications for the product, improper or insufficient ventilation, lightning or fluctuation in electrical power, or catastrophe or acts of God, acts of terror, or if any serial number has been removed or defaced or if any seals have been broken." 4.9 "The Customer shall indemnify and hold harmless GORDON-DARBY, its agents, servants, successors, and assigns from and against all losses, damages, injuries, claims, demands, and expenses, including legal expenses, of any nature arising out of the use, condition or operation of the NHOST Unit(s) by any person and defend any suit seeking such damages, even though the allegations of such suit are groundless, false, or fraudulent unless caused by GORDON-DARBY." It is always recommended that spares be kept on hand to avoid any "down time" while waiting for replacements.
Inspection
Sticker Fees Based on changes in House Bill 2, RSA 266:2 has changed. RSA 266:2 now reads: 266:2 Fees. The fee for inspection stickers shall be $3.25 for each sticker furnished an approved inspection station. The division shall transfer $.25 of each fee collected under this section to the motor vehicle air pollution abatement fund established by RSA 125-S:3 and $.25 of each fee collected under this section to the general fund. All unused stickers returned by the approved inspection station to the division shall be refundable at the rate of $3.25 each, except that unused stickers purchased from the division for a fee of $2.50 shall be refundable at the rate of $2.50 each. The Division of Motor Vehicles will begin charging these new fees effective July 27, 2009. A book of twenty-five (25) stickers will now cost $81.25 and a book of thirty (30) motorcycle stickers will now cost $97.50. If you have any questions regarding these new fees, please feel free to contact the Bureau of Registration, Inspection Desk at 603-271-2321. Thank you,
Windows XP Pro
License Stickers Every PC that is installed into the NHOST units placed in NH State Inspection stations has a Windows XP Pro license label attached to the outside cover. These licenses are associated with the Windows XP Pro operating system installed on that one PC and are not to be removed under any circumstances. Removal of the license label from any PC case will result in the replacement cost for Windows XP Pro licensing being invoiced to the station to which the PC was assigned.
Inspecting
Vehicles With Emergency Lights and Warning Lights PLEASE PRINT AND SHARE WITH ALL PERSONNEL The new law breaks the lights into two classes - emergency lights
and warning lights. Emergency lights are red or blue in color.
Warning lights are amber (yellow) in color. Blue is exclusively for
police department vehicles and police officers’ vehicles and no
other vehicles with blue lights should be allowed to pass
inspection. However, in addition to but not in place of blue lights,
police vehicles can also display red or amber on their light
bars. Red is for fire apparatus, firefighter's vehicles, forestry vehicles, licensed public or private ambulances, emergency medical response and rescue vehicles, airport authority emergency response vehicles, and government vehicles used in response to emergencies resulting from hazardous materials spills, and members of licensed emergency medical response and rescue crews such as EMT's and Paramedics. Hospital emergency personnel who are not members of ambulance or rescue squad crews, however, do require a permit from the Commissioner of Safety to display red lights on their personal vehicles. In addition to red lights, fire trucks can also display white and amber lights. Nobody other than those named above can equip vehicles with red emergency lights. The following vehicles can display amber warning lights: Vehicles owned by or leased to state, county or municipal DOT's and public works departments such as plow trucks, pickup trucks, snowplows, graders, loaders, sand trucks, sweepers, tar trucks, etc.; vehicles used by telephone, electrical and cable utilities and tree services for maintenance of utility, sewer and water lines; U.S. Postal Service delivery vehicles; wreckers and emergency highway service vehicles; vehicles used for escorting oversize loads; privately owned vehicles used for snow removal; refuse collection vehicles and compacters; vehicles owned by or leased to contractors and construction companies and used regularly to provide warning of road obstructions or hazards at road or utility sites; and vehicles owned by public or private security services (but not personal vehicles of security guards). No other vehicles should have amber warning lights. Snowplows can be equipped with amber or white wing lights to illuminate the wings when the plow is in operation. School buses, of course, can be equipped with the whole range of red stop lights, amber stop ahead lights, white overhead lights, etc., that are allowed by the NH School Bus regulations. Funeral escort and lead vehicles can be equipped with purple warning lights. Antique fire trucks used for parades can be equipped with red emergency lights. The Department of Safety can approve other uses of these lights but in those cases not covered by this directive there should be a written permit. Police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel
presenting their privately owned personal vehicles for inspection
should be asked to show you a letter on official stationery from
their department or an official ID card or badge issued by their
department.
OBD
Administration Rules The On Board Diagnostics (OBD) administrative rules have been revised and adopted as of June 20, 2008. A copy of the revised rules will be mailed to all inspection stations beginning today along with your station renewal application. The NHOST unit will have the rules updated during an upcoming software update. You will be notified when that has occurred. In the interim the rules can be accessed from a computer that has an internet connection, other than the NHOST unit. Please go to www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rules/saf-c3200.html to review and print the updated rules. All of the rules in the 3200 series of numbers are the Official Inspection Station Administrative Rules. The newly adopted OBD rules begin at section Saf-C 3222. Please read the new inspection rules thoroughly and familiarize yourself with them as there are many updates that all certified inspectors are expected to know and adhere to. If you have any questions regarding the rules or accessing them from another computer, please call the OBD program at 271-8800.
New Registration
Bar Code The new registration form that was phased into circulation on July 18, 2008 contains a 2-D Bar Code that cannot be read by the NHOST system at this time. The barcode on the vehicle, as well as the barcode from a previous VIR, can still be utilized by the bar code reader on the NHOST system.
Economic
Hardship Waivers and Electronic Administrative Certificate
Procedure Please Print and distribute to all Inspection Mechanics When a motorist is approved for an economic hardship waiver they receive a waiver that is signed and sealed by the Director of Motor Vehicles. The motorist is advised to go to their inspection station for an OBD re-inspection. When the mechanic performs the re-inspection of the vehicle, they will see a menu button on the NHOST unit that asks if they want to issue an 'Administrator’s Certificate'. You will select this option once you have verified that the waiver has been checked "approved" and there is a raised seal over the Director of Motor Vehicle’s signature. If these things are not present on the waiver, you will not select the "issue Administrator’s Certificate" option. Once you select the option for the Administrators Certificate, this will by-pass the OBD portion of the test and you will be able to enter the sticker number that you are issuing to the vehicle. Give the VIR to the motorist along with the Economic Hardship Waiver. If you have any questions regarding the economic hardship waiver or the issuance of an electronic administrative certificate, please contact the OBD program at 271-8800.
Electrical and
Phone Line Wiring Summer thunderstorms raise the issue of electrical and phone line wiring required in inspection stations for proper operation of the NHOST unit. Improper wiring can damage the NHOST unit, including PC and modem, particularly during a thunderstorm. It is important to understand that a lightning strike directly to your building or in very near vicinity will not be suppressed by any spike protector. It is best, when a lightning storm is forecast for your area to unplug both the power cord and the phone cord (if applicable). This is the only way to ensure complete protection for your NHOST unit. We would recommend, as well, that you follow the same precaution for the other high tech equipment you may be using in your shop. The following describes the specific wiring that is required for the station NHOST connection. Please note, as detailed in Section 4 of the Station Agreement, “Equipment Lease”, that damages (repair cost) caused to the NHOST unit related to incorrect station wiring or connection will be the responsibility of the station. Electrical Power Connection: The NHOST cart power cord must be plugged into a properly wired 115 volt AC grounded receptacle. Proper wiring consists of the house wire neutral going to the large receptacle plug hole, the positive wire connecting to the small receptacle plug hole and the house ground wire connecting to the round receptacle plug hole. This type of connection is referred to as a 115 volt a/c “polarized” and grounded circuit. If an extension cord is used, it must be a grounded type of good condition. Phone Line Connection: The NHOST unit must be connected to either a standard dial-up telephone line or high-speed Internet connection. It can be difficult to diagnose phone line wiring deficiencies without specialized equipment. Simple things like reversed wiring, can sometimes be identified on small uncomplicated systems by visually inspecting the wiring. In many cases a phone jack [receptacle] may appear to be wired correctly because the correct color wire is connected to the correct color terminal, but if that phone wire is connected to the wrong terminal someplace else in the building it compromises the entire system. If you suspect that someone other than a trained phone technician has performed wiring or connections on your in-house phone wiring system, you may want to contact a professional to perform some system wiring tests.
Pre 1949
Inspection Requirements
Effective January 1, 2008, House Bill 659 became law. It added a new section, RSA 266:62-a. This new statute exempts all antique motor vehicles (with
original Thank you,
Odometer
Reminder
Please be sure that you are entering the mileage into the NHOST unit in thousands of miles. If the vehicle you are inspecting has less than one thousand miles you need to enter a zero (0). For Example: Please print this out so that all mechanics that inspect vehicles have an opportunity to read it.
OBD
Testing It is extremely important to do the OBD test as part of the state inspection BEFORE performing any diagnostics with your own scan tools. The state of New Hampshire is required to test all 1996 and newer gasoline and 1997 and newer diesel cars and light duty trucks (8500 pounds GVWR or less) and report the results to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Please do not connect your own diagnostic tools before using the NHOST unit to perform the OBD test. Performing repairs before the test is performed can skew the test results and lead to customers being misinformed because the NHOST unit has not been utilized to determine the OBD inspection result based on current laws and rules. Additionally, by pre -diagnosing the results of the OBD inspection you are doing diagnostic work that you could otherwise be paid for separately from the inspection fee you charge. Please perform the test first and diagnose and repair second. Important Note: If the system prompts you to enter a sticker number, then the vehicle has passed both safety and OBD and can receive a full inspection sticker.
Important
Reminder To All Inspection Stations About Issuing
Stickers If, Safety Pass, OBD Pass: The vehicle receives a full inspection
sticker. The mechanic must sign the VIR and give it and any other
documents that print with the inspection report to the
motorist. If the vehicle has only the clear month portion of
the sticker on the windshield it will be imperative that the
motorist keep the VIR in the vehicle until it has had the completed
repairs and a full sticker has been issued.
Saf-C 3215 now makes a distinction between "Emergency Lights" and "Warning Lights". Emergency Lights are limited to Blue or Red in color. Warning Lights are Amber in color or Purple for funeral escort/lead vehicles. Saf-C 3215-03 sets forth the criteria regarding vehicles equipped with Warning Lights. All New Hampshire registered vehicles equipped with "Warning Lights" must now possess a Warning Light Permit which must be kept with the corresponding vehicle in order to successfully pass an official safety inspection and operate in the State of New Hampshire. In consideration of the vehicle owners and Official Inspection Stations alike, the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) wishes to extend an abbreviated grace-period during which all parties may become familiar with the new requirement and come into compliance. While servicing their customers, we would ask that inspection stations/mechanics draw attention to the requirement of a Warning Light Permit for those vehicles so equipped and how corresponding vehicle owners may apply for such a permit. Until January 1, 2009, a vehicle may be eligible to have an official safety inspection sticker affixed (if all other official inspection criteria is met) without the presence of the referenced permit provided that the inspecting safety mechanic explains the requirement of a warning light permit to the vehicle owner AND the inspecting safety mechanic creates a record of the explanation within the "Mechanic's Notes" section in the inspection station's OBD II computer. An Application for Warning Light Permit may be obtained at the
Stephen E. Merrill DMV Building, 23 Hazen Drive in Concord, at any
Motor Vehicle substation or at the DMV website: www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/dmv. Additionally: Please make note of the fact that Saf-C 3215.02 requires that a vehicle be rejected if, "The emergency lights are not the PROPER COLOR FOR THE TYPE OF VEHICLE..." Red lights and white or clear strobe lights are limited to those vehicles identified at Saf-C 3215.02(c) (1). Blue lights and white or clear strobe lights are limited to those vehicles identified at Saf-C 3215.02(c) (2). Amber or Purple lights are limited to those vehicles identified at Saf-C 3215.03. There are no provisions for any other combination of the above-described lights. Also, there are no provisions for white or clear strobe lights on vehicles equipped with "warning" lights other than those set forth at RSA 266:45-a. Go-Live
Notice Effective October 1, 2007, ALL 1996 & newer vehicles, (subject to OBD inspection), must PASS the emission inspection or they will be REJECTED. If the software in your NHOST unit has not been upgraded to the newest version, you will not be able to perform OBD inspections. Please contact the NHOST Helpline at 800-383-4124 with any questions or for assistance upgrading your software. Remember to check your NHOST mail frequently for news and updates. Thank you. Official Cover
Plates It has been brought to the attention of the Division of Motor Vehicles that a number of Official Inspection Stations are asking Members of the New Hampshire General Court, House of Representatives to remove their legislative plates when conducting an inspection. Saf-C 3210.03 does require mechanics to inspect registration plates which are to be ".securely mounted on the exterior of the vehicle in locations provided for by the manufacturer." However, the administrative rule does go on to mention, "Vehicles which display special number plates pursuant to RSA 261:91 shall be inspected even though the registration certificate reflects a different number." Please know that RSA 261:90 also provides for the issuance of legislative plates known as Official Cover Plates. Official Cover Plates may be attached only to vehicles registered in the name of the person issued the plates or the name of the spouse of a member of the General Court. Therefore, for the purpose of conducting an official safety inspection it is expected that a properly/currently registered vehicle as verified by the corresponding certificate of registration in the name of the member of the New Hampshire General Court or name of their spouse may be inspected while an Official Cover Plate is mounted on the exterior of the vehicle in locations provided for by the manufacturer. An inspecting mechanic should however ensure the certificate of registration corresponds with the registration number plates which may be located beneath the Official Cover Plates or readily accessible within the subject vehicle. If you have any questions, please contact the DMV at 271-3339. NHOST Notice to Inspection
Stations: Important Program Reminders 1) MOVING THE NHOST UNIT 2) KEEP INFORMATION CURRENT Inspection Station
Number Name of mechanic Mechanic certificate number Mechanic date of birth Mechanic driver's license number Ensure that the letter is signed by the station owner or manager and send it to: Department of Safety - Division
of Motor Vehicles
Inspection Desk 33 Hazen Drive Concord, NH 03305 3) PROPER USE OF THE NHOST UNIT 4) COLD WEATHER REMINDER |
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