Canadians, unite !

[repare-brise]

Goodday eh!

After years of lobbying I was thrust into a enviable position this morning, I have a meeting in Ottawa on Thursday to speak to the Canadian Research Consil, and the office of consumer protection(sorry I don't know the official name in english). Our laws are very vague about WS repair in the Great White North, and interpretation is left up ot inspectors and provincial bodies to apply as they see fit. The law now states that any intersection of cracks larger than 12mm is considered an infraction, it doesn't state if that is repaired or not(20+ year old law).

My disscussion will be centered around the progress of our industry, the inherant security afforded by the factory seal, VS repalcement, the enviromental concerns of WS repalcements, and also the cost's of WS replacements in regards to truckers specifaly(truck WS's used to be cheap, but with the nice new 1 piece curved WS's cost is a big issue for truckers).

How can you be of help? If you have any safety reports, cost analysis, insurance company documents, recycling, customer testemonials, or any other pertinant materials you wish to share, please do. If you are not the author of said documents, please include the authors name and contact information if you have it so that I can obtain authorisation to use there materials.

You can post the info here for all to share, or if you prefer you can e-mail it to me.

At Your Service

[Robin Hood]

Good luck Yvan!

I spent many years here in Maryland working to get Sunday hunting and a black bear season legalized. It is a very slow process but the system works if you have patients and learn how the system works. It is also very rewarding.

Please keep us informed of your progress!

Tim

[GlassStarz]

how bout your help on a Mother-inlaw season?

[Robin Hood]

I beleive they are considered a nuisance varmet and in season all year. lol

[boyd]

Yvan, I've made some smart comments about some of your posts, all in fun of course. However, if I was a canadian w/s repairman I can think of no one I'd rather represent the industry than you. I really mean that.
You could probably sell ice to an eskimo.
Now here comes the smartellic in me. Just dont do the "small pieces of glass in the bag, thrown against the wall, bowling ball thing to them".

Also, remember ... if they get confused and look like they don't understand use the ole adjustable wrench/full set of wrenches analogy on them and you'll see the light bulb come on and the heads begin to nod.

Good luck. If you speak 1/2 as good as you write...... it's automatic for you guys.

BOYD

[repare-brise]

Boyd

Thanks for the praise, in a life time we recieve much more critisism, than we ever do positive comments.

As for the breaking of glass, that step is also to come, I have to bring 18 sample peices of glass 1 foot square, all with different breaks/cracks, then proceed to repair then in front of them. Once repaired they will perform a drop ball test(they use a 5 lb steel ball, I said the bowling ball because more people are likely to have that in the closet, dropped from a height of 2 meters(6foot 6in) on some of the samples, and a flex test on others.

PS does anyone know how to produce "perfect" buls eye's every time, I need 6 of them in the center of my sample pieces? I currently use the lead shot on elastic method, I tried the automatic center punch with a rounded end, that creates wonderfull stars with a small bulls eye reuniting the legs, but the starless bulls eye still evades me.

At Your Service

[repare-brise]

Any of you southern friends have state legislation that is favorable to crack repair? if so let me know what state you are in, and I will endeavor to obtain a copy for my presentations.

Thank you

[toab]

yvan...you should start a canadian division of the nwra..From what i have seen on this forum there is a smattering of canadians from across this country that would probably join . hey you other canucks chime in EH. Show this man some support.

[repare-brise]

Paul

There are Canadian members of the NWRA, but a purley Canadian branch would be a good thing, it would allow us to discuss the direction of our industry here, and give us a slighly better chance when facing Mr Harper(as Rick Mercer put it "Canada's first president") and his gang. So when's the first meeting?

Just so you know the support on the forun is minimal but my e-mail is another story, Thanks everyone.

At Your Service

[repare-brise]

Well all went well, we(I brought along 2 of my franchisee's to do repairs) were enthusiasticly recieved.

We came to an agreement on the definition of a repair(so that inspectors would have some basis for decisions), they dropped some balls on some glass(note to Boyd, they didn't use a bowling ball!) and flex tests on others, some other samples will be exposed to repeated wet dry cycles, and the final batch will undergo heat and cold cycling tests. The tests done today were all favorable to the industry(and yes we used more than 1 resin).

the summery description of a proper repair is the following
- a repaired break shall have a smooth finish that does not interfeer with the action of the wipers(in otherwords the pit is filled)
- A repaired break does not have any parts that reflect light, ie; unfilled legs on a star(a problem with oncoming cars at night, sun during the day)
- it will not have any obstructions to the drivers vision greater than 5mm(3/16) in diameter(black spots from trapped air in a flower break for example)
-a repair will be acompanied by an invoice that shows the location of the break, the vehicules identification number and licence number, and the certification number of the technician(another part of my presentation).
- a repair shall come with a lifetime moneyback garrenty( a true money back, not a " bring it to us and we deduct the cost of the repair from a replacement garrenty

No mention was made of a maximun length for cracks, just that the crack must have a visable point of origin(in other words no stress cracks), and that the finished result must meet the above criteria.

One subject that they brought up was technician certification(I would have brough it up myself, but they beat me to the punch). They were originally pushing for an apprentaship, I felt that this was not practicle and conveyed this point to them. The following are some of the preliminary guidlines for tech certification.
- All existing techs will have to pass a written exam, and show proof of factory training(so when are you comming to Canada Jeff?). The glass shops will undoubtably complain about this particular point as there training is for the most part minimal.
- New techs must take and pass a factory training course dedicated to the system they are using of a minimum of 16 hours training time.
- Pass a written exam(the exam's focus is on customer service and knoledge of provincial and federal laws relating to WS's)
- Have a dedicated business phone
- Have a place of business, or employer, in the case of a mobile service the car must be under the company name(we will be disscussing this point further, I don't agree with it, they fell it neccesary to avoid fly-by-night's)
- Take a refresher course(time lapse undetermined) to maintain certification.
- Provide a written invoice containing the vehicule's VIN number, licence number, a description of the break and it's location, and a lifetime warrenty against further breakage, optical clarity, and the warrenty must be unconditional, and money-back.

Of course these are all preliminary and open for disscussion, I invite all of you to participate(regardless of country) we have the chance to produce some nice legislation that will be adapted to our industry.

At Your Service