Open letter to bodyshops on BS10125 compliance
Dean Lander, head of repair sector services at Thatcham Research, has issued an open letter to UK bodyshops addressing feedback and concerns raised about BS10125 compliance during coronavirus.
The full text of Lander’s message is seen below:
A message to bodyshops regarding BS10125 compliance
Many bodyshops have raised concerns recently regarding the BS10125 standard and maintaining compliance.
Maintaining compliance with existing repair quality procedures, against a backdrop of social distancing rules and business restrictions, is increasingly difficult. While an audit, with resources already stretched to breaking point, becomes a daunting prospect.
I posed these questions and challenges to the United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS), to seek some guidance on behalf of bodyshops.
UKAS oversees the activities of the certification bodies, including those that issue BS10125 certificates to bodyshops. UKAS, which is a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the European Co-operation for Accreditation (EA), has been working with these groups to adapt international policies for the current situation.
There are many individual variations that come into play so one piece of advice won’t work for every bodyshop.
I, and UKAS, encourage dialogue between subscribing businesses and the certification body to find the most pragmatic and effective solution for the needs of that individual business, with full consideration given to publicly available policies TPS 62 and TPS 73, available here:
CARSQA is one of the certification bodies issuing BS10125 certification and fully appreciates the challenges that bodyshops are facing in these unprecedented times.
Kevin Porter, managing director of CARSQA said: “CARSQA is more than happy to support the industry and its clients in these difficult times. Compliance however is a requirement ongoing for the safety of a repair process, considering these very difficult times, we must all work together to reduce the risks to everyone involved.”
If any bodyshop is struggling to cope with the strain of an audit, even a remote one, I strongly recommend that you contact your certification body to discuss and consider the clauses within the TPS 62 policy.
If the current circumstances are creating challenges for compliance with any BS10125 requirement, and you are forced to deviate from your standard repair quality control processes, it is important that you do so in a controlled way and seek other quality assurance mechanisms. Again, I would encourage that wherever bodyshops are unsure, they discuss with their chosen certification body.
Importantly, while compliance may feel like an additional challenge right now, it remains fundamental for the safe repair of vehicles.
Dean Lander
Head of repair sector services, Thatcham Research
BSI SVS 20 Committee Chair
Autoraise Board Trustee
Note:
There have been many questions on this topic over the last weeks posed directly to the BSI SVS 020 committee. The work of standards development in a committee is separate from any compliance / certification or accreditation scheme. While the committee was asked to provide a view, it is not within the committee’s remit to do so.
