In February 2001, ASA distributed a shop licensing survey to its membership via AutoInc. magazine. Following are the final results of the survey.

Shop licensing is a hot issue based on the member response rate. ASA received 370 responses via fax and regular mail. This provides a 95 percent level of confidence that the responses given are representative of ASA's approximate 13,000 member population. The number of respondents also gives the survey a confidence interval of +/- 5.02. The confidence interval allows for variation within the results. For example, if 83 percent agree with shop licensing, then one can be 95 percent confident that 77.98 percent to 88.02 percent are also likely to agree.

The large response rate also allows for the results to apply to independent mechanical and collision shops throughout the United States. When applying the results to the entire independent population, the level of confidence remains at 95 percent and the confidence interval changes slightly to +/- 5.09.

Respondents were asked to define their type of service as one of the following types: mechanical, collision, both (facilities that perform mechanical and collision repair), or other (usually towing, transmission or machine shop). The majority of the respondents were mechanical shops (75 percent). The remainder was composed of 14 percent collision shops, 8 percent from "both" and 3 percent from “other.”

When separating the various types of facilities, the significance of the results is changed. The number of collision shop respondents (51) does not provide statistically significant information useful in determining the true feelings of shop licensing among independent collision facilities. The number of mechanical shop respondents (275), however, does remain statistically significant at a 95 percent confidence level with a +/-5.79 confidence interval. Again, the confidence interval is the +/- leeway from the given response.

Overwhelmingly, shop licensing is strongly supported by both mechanical and collision shops.

When asked what the independent repair facilities would be willing to pay yearly to enforce licensing programs, the most common responses were $100 and $500 from those supporting shop licensing, followed closely by $200. Breaking out facility types of the respondents, 31 percent of mechanical shops cited $100; 24 percent cited $500. The collision shops varied only slightly with 33 percent citing $200 and 31 percent citing $500 as the yearly amount shops would be willing to pay to ensure enforcement of a licensing program. As expected, shops not supporting shop licensing cited “zero” for funding.

Interestingly, respondents interpreted shop licensing as an industry-specific issue, not just a specific type of service issue. Seventy-two percent of respondents felt shop licensing applied to both types of facilities. The remaining percentage (28 percent) was not in support of shop licensing for any facility.

Following are additional results of the February 2001 ASA Shop Licensing Survey:

Do you support establishing business standards for the automotive service industry?
	All combined	Mechanical	Collision	Both	Other
Yes	83%	82%	94%	71%	80%
No	16%	16%	6%	29%	20%

Should shop licensing be a requirement for professionally servicing and repairing automobiles?
	All combined	Mechanical	Collision	Both	Other
Yes	71%	68%	88%	68%	70%
No	27%	30%	10%	29%	30%

Should shop licensing have a training requirement for technicians?
	All combined	Mechanical	Collision	Both	Other
Yes	72%	69%	88%	68%	70%
No	24%	25%	12%	26%	30%

Should shop licensing have a minimum equipment requirement?
	All combined	Mechanical	Collision	Both	Other
Yes	64%	61%	82%	67%	60%
No	31%	33%	18%	27%	40%

Should shop licensing have a training requirement for service writers/estimators?
	All combined	Mechanical	Collision	Both	Other
Yes	58%	54%	76%	55%	70%
No	37%	40%	20%	39%	30%

Should shop licensing have a training requirement for shop managers?
	All combined	Mechanical	Collision	Both	Other
Yes	55%	53%	73%	45%	70%
No	40%	42%	24%	48%	30%

Should shop licensing have a minimum insurance requirement?
	All combined	Mechanical	Collision	Both	Other
Yes	73%	71%	90%	65%	70%
No	23%	25%	10%	29%	30%

Should shop licensing have a mandatory estimate requirement?
	All combined	Mechanical	Collision	Both	Other
Yes	47%	45%	59%	33%	70%
No	45%	47%	29%	57%	30%

This particular question was unanswered by a large number of mechanical shop owners. Often, a question mark was placed by the question and then left blank.

Should shop licensing be done on a state or national level?
	All combined	Mechanical	Collision	Both	Other
State	55%	53%	66%	52%	70%
National	17%	16%	22%	16%	10%
Not at all	28%	30%	12%	32%	20%

Should shop licensing require certification or licensing of technicians?
	All combined	Mechanical	Collision	Both	Other
Yes	68%	66%	80%	65%	70%
No	28%	29%	18%	32%	30%
No Response	3%	5%	2%	3%	0%

The majority of dissents included the dislike of government involvement and regulation. Commentary from shops not interested in shop licensing included the following statements:

• Owners need to take responsibility for standards and training, not some government agency.
• Ineffectiveness of shop registration exists.
• We have state licensing for mechanics and shops; it does nothing except make money for the state. Just having a license does not make a shop good, honest or dependable.
• I believe motorists will use unlicensed repair facilities because they will be cheaper.
• Licensing will not solve problems - doctors and lawyers all have licenses; it's up to the public.

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