Helping define a foundation and a road forward, the most prominent collision repair organizations, who say they represent the voice of the collision repairer nationally, issued and signed a joint statement officially recognizing OEM vehicle manufacturer published repair procedures as the industry’s repair standards.
The organizations making the declaration include the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers (AASP), Automotive Service Association (ASA), Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) and Assured Performance Network. The statement was presented on Wednesday to those attending the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) meeting at the Las Vegas Hilton on Nov. 2.
Their statement reads as follows:
"The undersigned organizations continue to be the leading voice of collision repair businesses and technicians across the United States, just as they have for decades. Representing their interests, we hereby recognize published repair procedures, as provided by automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEM), as the official industry recognized ‘Repair Standards’ for collision repair. These standards, where they exist, shall be the basis for the establishment of training, testing, repair practices, and documentations.
"Whereas, we acknowledge that OEM repair procedures are incomplete in comparison to the full scope of vehicles and repair operations which exist in the marketplace, the OEM published repair procedures shall serve as the baseline for industry repair standards, with the recognition that further development of procedures will be necessary in areas not covered by published procedures.
"Therefore, we officially ask the board of directors for the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR), to establish within their overall organizational structure, an industry council to identify gaps in existing OEM procedures and develop processes to close gaps, vet industry proposed alternatives, modifications, and additions to OEM procedures. The Council will include volunteer representatives serving at least ASA, SCRS, AASP, and I-CAR."
Although many assume OEM repair procedures are standards by default, it has never been officially established until now, the groups noted. As these organizations collectively represent collision repair businesses and technicians across the United States, they say their official adoption and declaration provides a "much-needed foundation and focus" to the industry’s effort to establish collision repair standards.
