New California teardown regulation approved, takes effect July 1

The California Bureau of Automotive Repair’s (BAR) regulatory action concerning teardown requirements has been approved by the Office of Administrative Law and filed with the Secretary of State. 

The full proposal was approved by the office, with no adjustments to the text. The regulatory action will go into effect July 1, according to a BAR announcement. 

Article 1, Section 3303 and Article 7, Sections 3352 and 3353 of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations are amended with the approval. 

According to BAR, the action: 

• • “Adds and amends definitions related to disclosure requirements’
  • “Clarifies estimate requirements for a teardown;
  • “Sets documentation requirements for the use of third-party estimates;
  • “Requires third-party payor amounts on the estimate, or a notice if the amount is unknown; and
  • “Requires towing service fees to be provided to the customer and authorized separately from the repair estimate.” 

Andrew Batenhorst, California Autobody Association (CAA) Glendale/Foothill Chapter president and Pacific BMW Collision Center body shop manager, said he is disappointed with the regulation changes. 

“It’s a combination of insurers being frustrated with how shops are not following the rules, and then because we didn’t follow the basic rules, now we really get slapped with a ton more regulation,” Batenhorst said. 

He said it is also disappointing for those in the industry who advocated during workshops with BAR regarding the regulations. 

“A lot of energy and a lot of time was spent sitting on those workshop calls,” Batenhorst said. “The insurance companies came with their A game, and we did not. I know we tried, but I don’t think we were as effective as we thought we were.”

While there is disappointment, the administrative burden this will have on collision repair shops still remains unknown. He said he is waiting for BAR to publish documents that explain how shops should comply. This includes “Write to Right” documents that the agency publishes anytime there are changes to teardown or customer authorization, he said. 

Batenhorst said CAA also often provides guidelines and template forms that help businesses meet the regulations.  

“I don’t want to pass judgment until it’s actually in effect and we’re using it,” Batenhorst said. “But off of first glance, it’s definitely a lot more work, even for shops like me that are acutely aware of what we’re supposed to do.” 

Changes to Section 3352 require repair work to be performed in a single transaction with a statement of each repair to be performed and a description of each repair provided in a manner free of technical and industry terms that a person without professional knowledge would understand. 

A representative with BAR previously told Batenhorst that an example of this would be if the left front corner of a vehicle is hit repair shops would need to explain in the teardown authorization that it is a disassemble and diagnosis of the left front corner of the vehicle. 

“The BAR understands that our type of diagnosis/teardown can become very complex very quickly,” Batenhorst said previously. “They are looking for clear expectations to be set with the customer.”

Batenhorst also previously voiced concerns that changes to Section 3353 (1)(E) might be the most contentious for shops. It requires that the third-party payor be notified if the customer authorizes changes to the repair prior to the continuation of the repair. 

He says that sets up a scenario in which most customers don’t get to decide to pull their vehicle out while a teardown is happening.

“It happens when the teardown is done, and they have found out that the third-party payer is not going to approve what the collision repair facility is asking for,” he told BAR. “This can take as long as six to 10-plus business days in many cases. Instead of starting the clock when the teardown form is signed, it should start when the teardown is completed, and the form should mention that once the customer is notified, the shop then has ‘X’ amount of days to put the car back together.”

He said Monday that many shops, such as his, already communicate about changes. However, this could cause additional steps for other shops. 

“This is BAR acknowledging the insurance companies’ involvement in this process, even though the repair contract is really only between the shop and the vehicle owner,” Batenhorst said. “This is to add some additional language to help specify the roles of each of those three entities and how they all need to work with each other. In some ways, it will be helpful for the consumers to have some more transparency. But again, the average body shop that was not really following along and doing what we do in terms of being clear and transparent with our customers, this is going to look like a lot more administrative burden.

“Ultimately, what will end up happening is if a customer gets upset enough and they file a BAR complaint against you as a shop, your odds now of getting fined or getting punished will increase tenfold because now the regulation is very clear on your obligations in each of these scenarios.”

Bartenhorst said shops will have to wait and see exactly how BAR decides to enforce the regulations. 

“There’s help on the way,” Batenhorst said. “It’s just right now we have to wait before we can find out how it all shakes out.”

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