A new version of the ANSI/AGSC/AGRSS™ Standard, ANSI/AGSC/AGRSS™ Standard 003-2015, was approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) recently. The AGRSS™ Standard is North America’s only auto glass replacement standard. It addresses procedures, education and product performance.
The AGRSS™ Standard, maintained by the Auto Glass Safety Council™ (AGSC), is a continuous maintenance standard and is reviewed and updated by the AGSC AGRSS Standards Committee in an effort to provide proper windshield replacements to consumers and insurance policyholders.
“The latest version of the Standard is the result of a lot of hard work by the dedicated members of the AGSC AGRSS Standards Committee,” says Bob Beranek, who chairs the AGSC AGRSS Standards Committee. “We continually review the Standard to make sure it is meeting the needs of the driving public and the industry that serves it, and are excited to see this latest version of the Standard become official.”
The new version includes a number of changes, including an expanded scope, which describes the Standard as follows: “an automotive glass replacement safety standard addressing procedures, education and product performance for motor vehicles falling within the guidelines of FMVSS 212/208.”
Among other changes, Section 6.4 also has been revised to require that “the vehicle owner/operator shall be notified prior to and after the installation process of the minimum drive-away time under the circumstances of the replacement.” Previously, the Standard required only that the owner be notified—but didn’t specify that this be done both before and after the installation.
Additionally, Section 8.5 has a new requirement added: “Any product installed by those engaged in automotive glass replacements that is discovered to be defective or which is determined could jeopardize customer safety must be immediately reported to the customer with an offer to remedy the situation.”
ANSI/AGSC/AGRSS™ Standard 003-2015 also adds details to the provision that those in the auto glass replacement business retain records of their work, noting in Section 8.7 that records be retained for at least three years from the date the work was completed.
Additionally, “Records, either electronic or hard-copy, shall be legible, easily identifiable and readily available. Such a three-year period may be temporarily shortened for specific, clear and substantial reasons but must be adhered to when such reasons no longer exist.”
A new section, 8.8, also was added to the Standard: “Those engaged in the repair, removal or replacement of motorized windows and/or panels in automobiles that are equipped with anti-pinch mechanisms shall reset, initialize and/or confirm their proper operation before the vehicle is released to its owner. If the reset operation cannot be completed for any reason, the vehicle owner shall be informed verbally and in writing of the failure to reset.”
Section 9.2 also was added, as follows: “Training with respect to the content and requirements of the current version of this Standard shall be required for all personnel directly involved in the automotive glass replacement process (examples: scheduling, purchasing, installing, customer service, quality control, management). Records of this training, detailing content, date, participants and acknowledgement of the participant’s successful completion of the training and receipt of a printed copy of the current Standard shall be maintained.”
Click here to view the new Standard in full.