Lansing Community College
Procedure Details

Procedure Title: Personal Vehicle Maintenance
Procedure #: TC.001
Revision #: 000

Unit Responsible: Technical Careers Division
Individual Responsible: Director, Transportation Maintenance Technology Programs

Effective Date: 08/01/2025
Initial Approval Date: 08/01/2025
Last Review/Update Date: 08/01/2025
Next Review Date: 08/01/2028

*Does this procedure support a Board Policy? Yes
If yes, identify: 3.130 - Ethics and Standards of Conduct for Students; 4.070 - Ethics and Standards of Conduct for Employees

Board policies can be found at: LCC Board of Trustees Policy Page

*Does this procedure support HLC criteria and/or Assumed Practices? Yes
If yes, identify: 2A

HLC Criteria can be found at: HLC Accreditation Criteria
HCL Assumed Practices can be found at: HLC Assumed Practices

*Does this procedure support a State or Federal Regulation? No
If yes, identify: N/A

*Note: Standard Operating Procedures should be in furtherance of some LCC policy and/or accreditation criteria, even if the relationship is not direct. Assistance in determining this information can be obtained from the Academic Procedure Advisory Committee (APAC) and/or the Accreditation Liaison Officer.

Personal Vehicle Maintenance, BP 3.130, BP 4.070

1. Purpose

To safely execute the operation of performing live-work on personal vehicles in the Automotive Technologies Program, taking into account industry standards, risk management, uniformity, and efficiency. 


2. Scope

Applies to currently enrolled Lansing Community College (LCC) Automotive Technologies Program students and current Automotive Technologies Program faculty carrying-out repairs on their privately owned and registered vehicles.


3. Prerequisites

Materials 

  1. LCC Automotive Technologies Program may supply expendable items as they are paid for by normal course fees, examples include, but are not limited to: 
    1. Small quantities of Petroleum, Oils and Lubricants (POL) products 
    2. Rags 
    3. Trash Bags 
    4. Gloves 
    5. Spray Bottles 
    6. Soap 
    7. Common bench stock hardware 
  2. All non-expendable parts and supplies will be purchased and procured by the student or faculty who is the owner of the live-work vehicle. LCC is not responsible for the condition, applicability, warranty (expressed or implied) of any materials purchased by students or faculty for live-work. 
  3. The responsible party of the vehicle will dispose of replaced or unserviceable parts. 

Equipment 

  1. All tools and equipment used in the repair procedures of the vehicle will be the property of LCC. 
  2. Outside tools or equipment are not authorized for use on LCC property. 
  3. All tools and equipment will be cleaned and returned in a serviceable condition to the item’s respective proper location upon completion of tasks. 
    1. If tool(s) or equipment become unserviceable during operation, proper procedures will be adhered to in the disposition of the unserviceable tool or piece of equipment. 
  4. Work bay will be returned to original status condition after completion of task.

Quality Control 

To ensure instructional integrity and compliance with college and industry standards:

  1. Work Orders 
    •  All completed work orders must be scanned and archived weekly in accordance with LCC’s records retention schedule. 
    • Work orders must be complete, legible, and signed by both the student and supervising faculty. 
  2. Safety Audits 
    • Random, no-notice safety spot checks will be conducted by program faculty. 
    • The Program Director and/or LCC Occupational & Environmental Safety staff may conduct inspections at any time. 
  3. Continuous Improvement 
    • Weekly faculty meetings will be used to discuss process improvements and review recent live-work activities. 
    • The Automotive Technologies Program Advisory Board will review live-work protocols on a bi-annual basis and recommend changes as appropriate. 
  4. Policy Violations 
    • Any individual found in violation of this Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) or its appendices may be subject to disciplinary action, including the revocation of live-work privileges. 
  5. All of the same rules apply for the Automotive Technologies Program Faculty approved for professional development operations.  Safety is paramount.  There will not be an approved situation where the faculty member is alone in the lab while working on their vehicle.

 

4. Responsibilities

  • Transportation Maintenance Department Director – Responsible for interpreting this Procedure and modifying it in writing as deemed necessary.
  • Faculty, Lab Instructors, and Lab assistants – Responsible for implementing this procedure and will ensure that the work performed on the vehicles is properly documented and completed to industry standards.  Live-work operations are to be conducted only with the written documented approval of, and in the presence of, an LCC Automotive Technologies Program faculty, lab instructor, or lab assistant. Instructors reserve the right to deny live-work.
  • All participants in live-work activities must adhere strictly to the safety guidelines outlined in Appendix A. Additionally, all participants are responsible for complying with all requirements related to hazardous material handling and waste disposal. Violation of safety protocols may result in immediate termination of the privilege to participate in live-work projects.

 

5. Procedure

  1. Pre-Approval and Safety Authorization
    1. At the start of each semester, all students participating in live-work must: 
      • Receive a mandatory safety briefing from faculty. 
      • Review equipment operation protocols. 
      • Sign and submit the Live-Work Participation Agreement (Appendix A). 
      • For minors, obtain parent/guardian signatures on Appendix A. 
    2. Prior to any live-work lab activities, the faculty must: 
      • Conduct a classroom-based review of hazard identification, risk mitigation, and the probability vs. severity matrix. 
      • Confirm all students understand the required documentation and approval process, including Appendix B (Work Order).
  2. Vehicle Intake and Estimation (Minimum 2 Weeks Prior to Scheduled Lab) 

    1. Faculty will solicit and document interest from students to use their vehicles for approved maintenance tasks. 

    2. Students wishing to participate must schedule an appointment to bring in their vehicle for a preliminary assessment (“estimate”).

    3. Faculty and student will jointly:

      • Identify the specific maintenance task.

      • Conduct a visual inspection to ensure no unrelated or critical safety issues exist in the work area.

      • Complete a preliminary work order (Appendix B) detailing required parts and labor expectations.

    4. If the vehicle is deemed unsafe:

      • Mark the work order “UNSAFE” (Appendix D).

      • Secure the keys (if student is a minor) or require immediate removal of the vehicle (if the student is an adult).

      • Close the current work order and instruct the student to remedy the issue or identify an alternative vehicle.

      • A new work order must be initiated to continue participation.

    5. Students are responsible for procuring and delivering all necessary parts prior to the scheduled lab.

  3. Scheduled Lab Day Procedures

    1. Student opens a new work order with the supervising instructor.

    2. Student must:

      • Present all parts and materials for inventory.

      • Undergo a second vehicle inspection to verify conditions have not changed since the estimate.

    3. If no new risks or defects are found, the student may proceed with disassembly and service.

    4. Work must be performed under continuous supervision of authorized faculty or lab staff.

    5. Any additional parts discovered during service must be obtained by the student before proceeding.

    6. Upon completion of the service:

      • The student finalizes and signs the work order.

      • The instructor performs a quality control inspection and signs the work order upon satisfactory completion.

    7. If any defect or safety concern remains unresolved:

      • The vehicle is not released until corrections are made and re-inspected.

    8. Following completion:

      • The student or vehicle owner removes all unserviceable parts from LCC property.

      • The service bay is cleaned and all tools/equipment are returned to their designated location.

    9. Final work orders are scanned and saved to the shared server in compliance with the institutional record retention policy.

6. Reference

This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and its appendices serve as the controlling documents for all live-work operations in the Automotive Technologies Program. 

  • Additional reference materials may include: 
  • Lansing Community College Board Policies 
  • LCC Administrative and Departmental Policies 
  • Manufacturer repair procedures and service manuals 
  • Industry-recognized safety and instructional standards (e.g., ASE, OSHA) 
  • LCC’s Occupational & Environmental Safety guidance documents 

Appendices 

  1. Live-Work Participation Agreement
  2. Work Order-Blank
  3. Automotive Work Order-Completed
  4. UNSAFE Automotive Work Order-Completed

.


7. Definitions

Live-work is defined as repairing automobiles owned and registered by students enrolled in the Automotive Technologies program; e.g., privately owned, not vehicles owned by Lansing Community College (LCC).  These vehicles are further defined in the Scope.