BSI Kitemark Accredited

Changes to the Kitemark scheme for vehicle damage repair are good news for body shops and garages, car makers and insurers, and retail and fleet customers.

For over 10 years, the BSI Kitemark for Vehicle Damage Repair has been helping repairers ‘prove’ themselves to  motorists and work providers. Originally based at first on the publicly available.

There are other, knock-on effects, of course: the better the quality of repairs, the lower the risk of re-work, and the lower the risk of re-work, the lower the costs to the business. It’s important to emphasise that the Kitemark is not just a promotional and marketing tool: it’s a tool for continuous improvement and risk mitigation. Because we ‘inspect’ management  systems as well as repairs, we help ensure there’s the ‘internal infrastructure’ for a business to continue to perform well and deliver excellent service over time.

Put simply, the Kitemark makes a business better and keeps customers safer. The corollary is that work providers that choose Kitemarked repairers protect and enhance their own  reputations -and their own businesses.

The award of the Kitemark starts a chain reaction that benefits everyone -from the company that made the vehicle to the company that insures it to the body shop or garage that repairs it, right through to the person who drives it, and that person’s family and passengers. The even better news is that recent changes to the scheme, effective from 01 August 2017 have consolidated the benefits.

To give the Kitemark even more meaning in the marketplace and make our customers even more competitive, we’ve introduced three ‘optional extras’ as part of the ‘package’. These are summarised below:

1. Clients who have more than seven members of staff in total and who therefore are usually subject to six monthly ‘spot checks’ can now elect for one of their visits to be ‘announced’ -provided they’ve performed well in the previous two visits and continue to do so. This change recognizes that unannounced visits can cause additional pressures and interrupt workflow, possibly to the detriment of the business and its customers. It does not just benefit garages and body shops, though: by providing an incentive to maintain standards, it benefits car makers and insurers and, ultimately, retail and fleet customers.

2. All clients can now opt for annual BSI certification to Cyber Essentials, the government scheme that, partly through external testing of Internet-facing networks and applications, reassures customers their data -and their customers’ data -is safe and secure.

3. All clients now have the choice of BSI assessment for compatibility with FCA customer complaints procedures -the opportunity to bring procedures into line with those used by FCA-regulated insurers.

In addition, all outstanding clients -irrespective of number of employees -will now be automatically shortlisted for the Kitemark Excellence Award at the British Body Shop Awards.

Combined, the three new options reflect the new realities of doing business today, and we believe they’re in the best interests of everyone involved in the automotive industry and of Motorists and consumers. We also believe take-up of them will be high. They come with no specification PAS 125, and from 2014, on the full British standard BS 10125, it’s only given to repairers who have the technical competence and the management systems and procedures to operate and perform to the highest standards.

Consistency and quality are key to its credibility. A Kitemark is never awarded ‘for life’: BSI inspectors regularly return to ensure standards are being maintained and will revoke the licence to use the symbol if they uncover significant non conformities and a client is unwilling to put things right.

Research shows us that the Kitemark really means something in the marketplace. “We believe the BS/ Kitemark BS 10125:2014 standard endorses the correct standards for Man, Method, Material and Machine, covering all aspects required to deliver consistent levels of quality to ensure customer satisfaction and safety is delivered in every repair.” Adam Murray, Motor Technical Manager, Aviva, UK

“It was essential we worked to achieve the BS/ Kitemark as there is no other symbol in the world that denotes such high quality and trust.”- Mark Baldwin, Managing Director, East Bilney Coachworks Consumer surveys

GfK NoP research shows that high percentages of consumers – upwards of 80% – associate Kitemark symbols generally with honesty, quality, reassurance, safety, reputation and trust. In other independent research carried out for BSI in 2012*, 84% of drivers said they’d feel more comfortable going to a Kitemarked repair centre – and a 2014 survey reported similar results, with 62% of 16-24 year olds and 72% of those aged 55+ saying they’d choose a garage that had a Kitemark over one that didn’t.

An independent study conducted via OnLineBus for BS/. A total of 923 British adults aged 16+ were interviewed. Interviewing was conducted by online self-completion from 11th- 15th October, 2012. The sample was weighted to represent the 16+ population of Great Britain.

The confidence of work providers and motorists, coupled with the rigour of the scheme, translates into significant business benefits for Kitemark licence holders.  Again, we think the evidence speaks for itself. In a 2015 survey of customers licensed to use the Kitemark for Vehicle Damage Repair:

92% said that BSI inspectors were experts in their fields and delivered an excellent service

72% saw improvements in the quality of their repairs

95% said their staff were better trained as a result of the Kitemark scheme

% saw an increase in the efficiency of their processes