In April, the Auto Glass Safety Council™ (AGSC) will begin its 2016 validations. This will be the first year that validations are conducted to ANSI/AGSC/AGRSS™ Standard 003-2015, the most recent version of the AGRSS™ Standard. Because of the change to the Standard, the documents that the validators use to conduct the validation have also changed. They are available on the AGSC website for your review, as follows:
- AGRSS Compliance Checklist; and
- Retention System Provider Training Instructions and Documentation Worksheet (also known as the Adhesive System Manufacture (ASM) Matrix). Each ASM has created one and these are all available on the AGSC website.
Due to the changes in the Standard, the list of required items for validated shops also has changed. As before, there are three categories of required items: those to be sent to the validator before the validation; those to be reviewed during the validation; and, in the case of a noncompliance, those to be reviewed during the revalidation.
Prior to Validation
If these items are not sent to the validator before the validation, they must be reviewed on-site, which will increase the length of the validation. The first three items on the list below can be obtained from your ASM, the fourth from your technician training provider, and the last may be available from your in-house or external staff trainer:
- Deliverable from ASM showing that retention systems are produced under the ISO 9001 standard or any standard that contains the entire text of ISO 9001;
- Deliverable from ASM showing that ASM is an OEM-approved retention system or equivalent retention system;
- Evidence that shop has the latest revision of written comprehensive and current application instructions from the retention systems manufacturer or private labeler. In order to verify that you have the latest revision, we only need to receive the page(s) containing the title or document number and the revision date or number;
- Technician training records; and
- Staff training records.
During Validation
The following items are required to be available during the validation:
- All technicians who ever install windshields;
- A separate windshield installation job for each technician, including all required tools and materials;
- Demonstration that each technician has access to the latest revision of written comprehensive and current application instructions from the retention systems manufacturer or private labeler at the location(s) where the installation is performed;
- Technicians using an adhesive product that is affected by temperature and/or humidity must have a way to determine current temperature and humidity where the vehicle will be stored following the installation. A forecast is not sufficient; a real-time reading is required. This may come from a measuring device or a website;
- Records demonstrating that all adhesive system component lot numbers are traceable to each job;
- Records demonstrating that all glass parts are traceable to the installation by a DOT number and part number; and
- Records of each auto glass replacement sufficient to demonstrate compliance with this Standard, for a period of at least three years from the date the work was completed or since your date of registration with AGSC, whichever is the shorter period of time.
In addition, based on the circumstances of the validation, a situation could exist where a technician needs to demonstrate access to OEM instructions.
Revalidation
If one or more noncompliances are identified at a location, these are communicated to the location during the validation, along with the fact that a re-validation will be conducted in about six weeks. During the revalidation, the AGSC allows locations the opportunity to prove that effective actions have been taken to bring the location into compliance with the Standard. Therefore, the evidence needed for revalidations varies depending on the noncompliance, since only those areas or technicians found to be noncompliant are revalidated.