Code of practice for bodybuilders
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BY NEXT summer between 40 and 50 bodybuilders will be approved by the British Standards Institution and be signatories to a Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders code of practice.
Of around 300 builders listed in the UK, 200 account for 80 per cent of the available capacity.
While it is generally accepted that the customer gets what it pays for, the more responsible companies involved in bodybuilding have become concerned about standards of engineering, quality and customer support offered by some elements of the industry.
It has taken four years for the code to be agreed. Its schedule specifies such items as the quality of weld, timber, paint standards and rust inhibition and recognises the chassis manufacturers' recommendations.
The code also includes a clear customer care policy, ensuring that records are kept and that warranty on parts and labour covers proprietary components.
Over the next few months, the BSI will carry out an assessment of individual companies to determine their suitability to produce bodywork and so meet the require m en t s of its new standard BS 5750.
Each company will have to pay an assessment and registration fee of £1,000 and there will be an additional annual charge of £600 a year.
Besco Bodies chairman Donald Wilson, an SMMT working party member told CM: "The cost of conforming to the BSI standard can be offset by grants obtainable from the Department of Trade and Industry, but Li practice will be more than repaid by improvements in efficiency."
Compliance accredited by BSI will entitle a bodybuilder to describe the company as BSI registered, but where both parts of the code are complied with, the company will be entitled to advertise that it operates the SMMT bodybuilders' code of practice.