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Letter to the Editor
Thursday July 19
ASA States Position on Feather, Fill and Block Procedure
The Automotive Service Association (ASA) board of directors has approved a position statement on the "feather, fill and block" procedure presented by the ASA Refinish Subcommittee. The subcommittee drafted the text under the direction of subcommittee chairman Dan Stander of Jerry Stander's Collision Works in Littleton, Colorado.The approved statement officially presents the association's position that as an industry standard, the process of "feather, fill and block" occurs during the refinish process of a repair. ASA recognizes the necessity of this process to provide the consumer with the highest standard of repair and craftsmanship in regard to the refinish process of a repaired panel.
ASA also acknowledges the "gap" (as defined by the Collision Industry Conference and addressed by the major information providers within their estimating guides) between preparation steps needed to raise the condition of a repaired panel to that of a new and undamaged panel.
In addition, ASA is aware of the lack of payment for this necessary procedure and strongly encourages insurers to acknowledge this action and compensate repairers accordingly for the labor and materials associated with this operation.
"This is such a prevalent issue. With rare exception shops are simply not compensated for the feather, fill and block steps after each panel is straightened," said Darrell Amberson, AAM, ASA's Collision Division director and president of Lehman's Garage in Bloomington, Minnesota. "CIC has provided a clear definition and it's time to implement steps to include this part of the repair process on estimates. Even though the database providers acknowledge the process, there is no automated system currently. It is up to the user to make a manual entry on each estimate. All who make compensation based on our industry's estimating systems, particularly insurers, should recognize these steps and make appropriate allowances."
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