EPA limit too high, charge-out too low
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• The Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association (VBRA) has condemned the Environmental Protection Act as "farcical".
In a survey of members on the new solvent regs only 348 of the 755 respondents have been required to register with their local authorities for using more than two tonnes of solvent a year. And changes to the rules governing solvent recycling, meant that 73 of those repairers no longer needed to register.
This left only 275 (36%) who were required to register. Under the previous rules 392 (52%) of the respondents would have been covered, says the VBRA.
The survey also revealed that more than 650 (87%) of hodyshops recycle gunwash on site.
VBRA chairman, Andrew Couper has again called for the two-tonne threshold to be "drastically reduced".
E In a survey on charge-out rates the VBRA has found evidence
that some insurers demand discounts on the total cost of a repair, rather than on parts alone. According to the VBRA, Commercial Union now requires a total invoice discount of 7.5%. Commercial Union says that it is trying out a "selected repairer" scheme and confirms that it requires a 7.5% discount from participating paintshops. But it stresses that its policyholders do not have to use approved repairers.
If these discounts become the norm many paintshops will be working at a loss, says the VBRA. It advises paintshops to carry out monthly management accounts to catch problems before they threaten the business.
The survey found that chargeout rates have been pegged since last year apart from a rise of around 50p an hour for those who have agreed to total invoice discounts. The result, says the association, is to take more money out of the paintshops.