Gas Station audits can be very rewarding as well as frustrating. I have had the opportunity over the years to do audits at the BIg Eight--BP/AMOCO, EXXON/Mobil, SHELL. Sunoco, Marathon, Gulf, Valero and CIrcleK Unbranded for different companies. I now concentrate on BP/AMOCO because they have consistent standards for excellence and compliance.
BP has a good policy. Take your Full on pump, top of pump, valence area, Middle of pump card reader aerea, and bottom of pump skirt area. Note violations on island under the pump and rust or peeling paint on the columns next to the pump. If there are NO violations, only the full on pump photo needs submitted. If editing finds an issue that wasn't spotted, you have your back up photos already to submit.
I've run across cars blocking pumps multiple times. Frequently, it is a staff member whose car is there, or even the dealer himself. I do the other pumps and come back to it. If it is a staff person car, I politely ask them to move the car to a different pump, because I am required to take photos of ALL pumps for BP. It gets moved and the pictures get taken.
In the case of a broken down vehicle at the pump, Take as many pictures as you can of the pump from different angles and submit no more than 4 to your Editor,
As for the 12 hour rule, that is imposed by the client company to insure compliance in the field by the local operator. BP uses a leave behind document that outlines what corrections MUST be made to become compliant with the current standard.
Gert to know your editors. If they return a report to you, they WANT you to be able to get paid for your work. They need the additional information to properly submit to the client.
If there are several outlets of the same company in an area close to you, consider talking to your scheduler about setting up a route. SOME, but not all scheduling companies, will permit a longer reporting window for routes.
Long story short, You can have a lot of fun doing gas station audits, make money and improve your fitness with the walking you taking pictures( 6000-10000 steps or up to 5 mile).Good Luck.