ASE Education Foundation Announces New Standards and Accreditation

The ASE Education Foundation has announced updates to its collision repair and refinish standards as well as the creation of a new area of accreditation, according to a press release.

These changes were the result of a workshop conducted by the ASE Education Foundation, which reviewed the methods used by ASE-accredited collision repair and refinish programs in high schools and colleges.

Those that reviewed the changes were a committee consisting of vehicle manufacturers, collision repair and refinish shop owners and technicians, instructors and industry trainers, and equipment and parts suppliers.

The new accreditation is titled “Collision Repair and Refinish Fundamentals” and includes 121 distinct skills/tasks a required minimum of 300 hours in combined classroom and lab instruction.

Using existing areas of accreditation as its template, the new accreditation centers on five core skill areas that employers are most concerned with: damaged vehicle disassembly, reassembly, small dent repair, plastic repair, and prep for refinish.

Updates were also made to collision repair and refinish standards, which included new hybrid and electric vehicle safety tasks that are now required for all students in ASE-accredited collision repair and refinish programs. 

Additionally, two new task sections were added to the mechanical and electrical components for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and hybrid and electric vehicle service procedures.

A webinar will be held by the Foundation on September 14 to discuss the new changes in more detail.