STK in Czechia and Slovakia: what the test covers

STK stands for stanice technické kontroly, in Slovak stanica technickej kontroly — the testing station. In everyday use, both countries also call the test itself that. For a car it has two parts: the technical inspection and the emissions check.

In Czechia the emissions measurement, the měření emisí, takes place at a separate measuring station that is often in the same building as the STK but sometimes somewhere else. The measurement comes first: without a valid result the technical inspection does not go ahead, and the result forms part of the STK's records.

In Slovakia the technical inspection, the technická kontrola, and the emissions inspection, the emisná kontrola, are two separate tests with separate reports, often at different sites. The car needs both. So a listing that says “freshly tested” may not mean both; ask for both reports.

How often a car is tested depends in both countries on its type and age. Each transport ministry publishes the periods in force: in Czechia the Ministerstvo dopravy, in Slovakia the Ministerstvo dopravy Slovenskej republiky.

In both countries the scope follows the EU directive 2014/45/EU. The emissions check measures pollutants on a petrol car and smoke opacity on a diesel; on newer cars, data from the diagnostic port are read as well. A lit engine warning lamp is therefore a problem before the measurement, not only after it.

The technical inspection starts with identification and then works through the assemblies:

Both countries sort faults into three levels, marked with letters. Where a retest becomes due, its deadline and what is allowed until then are on the report and published by the transport ministries. Miss the deadline and the whole test has to be done again.

The most serious level decides whether the car is roadworthy:

Alongside the periodic test, both countries have a check that is not about technical condition but about whether the car is what its papers say it is. It is not a repeat of the STK but a separate procedure with its own report.

In Czechia it is called the evidenční kontrola and is carried out at an STK. The inspector compares the chassis number, the type plate and the car's registered characteristics with the register. It is required for certain register transactions, typically import, change of keeper and changes to the registered data. The office accepts only a recent report; how old it may be, the municipal office that handles registration will tell you.

In Slovakia the job falls to the kontrola originality, carried out by specially authorised sites rather than by any STK. Besides matching the car to its papers, it checks that the car's markings, above all the stamped chassis number, are original and unaltered. It is required before an imported car is registered and for further procedures listed in the law.

Exactly which procedures trigger the check has changed several times in both countries. Confirm the scope with the official body before you start: in Czechia the transport ministry or the responsible municipal office, in Slovakia the transport ministry or the police traffic inspectorate, the dopravný inšpektorát. The import guides describe the whole route for an imported car.

A listing usually just says “STK do” followed by a month. That is when the test expires, not when it took place; in Czechia the sticker on the rear plate shows the same thing. And for an import: a Czech or Slovak report generally does not replace the test in the destination country.

In Czechia you can check for yourself. The transport ministry runs a public lookup that shows, for a chassis number, the mileages read at tests and checks, and a portal with data from the vehicle register including the test's validity. A series that rises steadily is the cheapest confirmation you will get.

In Slovakia, results and mileages are likewise recorded in a state information system. Several services show extracts from it by plate or chassis number; make sure they name their source, and compare what they show with the seller's report. Carvexia does not check vehicle histories; you run these lookups yourself.

The most important paper, though, is still the report from the last test, and you are entitled to ask for it. Read three things in it:

Ask when you book which papers the station wants to see. Usually it is the registration certificate and, where the emissions check was done elsewhere, proof of it. And plan both parts together: book the measurement and the STK back to back on the same day in Czechia, or find a site in Slovakia that does both checks, and you only make the trip once.

Most findings can be spotted before the appointment. On cars from the mountain regions of both countries, where roads are heavily salted in winter, a look underneath is especially worthwhile: