A new code of practice for the vehicle service and repair industry has been launched that should give fleet managers certainty about the standard of work of participating garages.

Garages that sign up to the Motor Industry Code of Practice for Service and Repair commit to meet certain standards, such as open and transparent pricing, invoices that match quoted prices, honest and fair services, and completing work as agreed.

Although the code is not yet operational, it is open for garages to sign up to.

So far, more than 5,500 outlets – about 25% of the total market place – have committed to the code.

The majority of businesses are franchised, with an 80/20 split between franchise and independent businesses.

“It will be terrifying for people not to be compliant, and whether you are franchised or independent it is the same,” Alec Murray, chairman of the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMIF) said.

Paul Everitt, chairman of the Society of Motor Manufactures and Traders added: “Considerable effort has gone into developing their industry-wide code to make it affordable for businesses and accountable for consumers.”

The code will be enforced by a four-stage process, which includes two written warnings giving guidance about how to correct any porblems and more severe sanctions such as a ‘consumer warning’, which will be published on the code’s website.

The final stage is a referral to the compliance panel for possible exclusion.

From August, fleet managers will be able to log on to the code’s website -http://service.motorindustrycodes.co.uk - and see whether a company complies with the standard and whether it has a warning against it.