The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has established a new quality mark to ensure that consumers can find the highest possible standards of crash repairs. The best body shops will be awarded the Certified Steel Standard mark, which ensures that repairs and remedial work on an increasingly complex vehicle fleet is carried out at a very high level of quality. It's an especially serious issue given the number of cars on the road that have been previously written off after accident damage.
Paul Linders, President of SIMI, said that "customers deserve the best service and the best standard of repairs when they experience the trauma of a crash repair. When a vehicle is involved in a serious crash or accident it doesn't necessarily have to be written- off, that vehicle can be repaired to a high standard and returned to the road in a safe condition. What is important though is that you can be sure it has been properly/correctly repaired before it is returned to the road and that is where CSS comes in."
At the presentation of the CSS accreditation to 38 body shops, Mr Linders said "these body shops should be proud of their accomplishment. Their willingness to raise the standard of repairs within the Industry demonstrates the passion and pride they have in their personnel and their business and most importantly in their ability to repair crashed vehicles safely and to the highest quality."
Anything else?
Linders also commended the efforts of the Road Safety Authority for their continued focus on road safety and welcomed their plans to introduce regulations for statutory reporting of write-offs and the requirements for significant repairs to be certified or recorded prior to a seriously damaged vehicle being allowed back on the road.
"It is time to implement these requirements for the benefit of consumers and road users. We strongly support this RSA initiative and we would see CSS playing a key part of this process."