What licences does a driving school need?

A driving school does not run on a single document: the school authorisation, the staff certificates and the vehicle paperwork together form the legal right to train students.

Short answer

1. The driving-school authorisation, issued by the Romanian Road Authority (ARR) per training category, under OMT 733/2013.
2. ARR certificates for the staff: a driving-instructor certificate for every instructor and a road-legislation teacher certificate for the theory training.
3. Compliant vehicle paperwork: dual controls, a valid technical inspection and insurance in force for every school car.
4. The yearly visa on the authorisation: ARR maintains it only if the school reaches the minimum first-attempt pass rate.

The legal basis of the licences

OG 27/2011 on road transport: the competent authority (the Ministry of Transport, through ARR) authorises driving schools and certifies legislation teachers and instructors.
OMT 733/2013, Annex 1: the school-authorisation norms — premises, equipment, vehicle and staff conditions, plus the fees in the annexes.
OMT 733/2013, Annex 2: the certification norms for road-legislation teachers and driving instructors.
For motorcycle categories (AM, A1, A2, A), the norms require a practice range with a right of use of at least one year.

The checklist before filing the dossier

Check the validity of the ARR certificates for all instructors and the legislation teacher — an expired certificate blocks the dossier.
Check every vehicle: dual controls fitted, technical inspection valid, mandatory insurance in force and ownership documents.
Confirm the theory room meets the minimum equipment in the OMT 733/2013 annexes.
Pay the authorisation fee and file the dossier with the local ARR agency; keep the payment proof.
Plan the renewals ahead: the school’s yearly visa and the certificate expiries do not line up with each other.

Common mistakes

Treating the authorisation as “obtained once, valid forever”: without the yearly visa and the minimum pass rate, the school loses its right to operate.
Tracking expiries in people’s heads: certificates, inspections and insurance expire on different dates, and a single miss takes a car or a person out of activity.
Expanding to a new category without re-reading the norms: every added category comes with its own vehicle and instructor requirements.

How 4driving helps you

4driving keeps records exactly where ARR checks: every instructor has a profile with their certificate and teachable categories, and every car has technical-inspection and insurance deadlines with alerts before expiry.

At an inspection or at the yearly visa, you pull from one place the list of compliant vehicles, active instructors and students with their completed hours.