While all the stipulations of the legislation have yet to be finalised we have put together an overview of what the industry anticipates will come into force.  To see how the new regulations will affect you, ITIA members can access the full overview in our members section of the web site.

 The IMI ( www.motor.org.uk) is a not for profit organisation and is the governing body for Automotive Technician Accreditation(ATA).  It is driving a campaign for ‘Ethical competence’ through its members. 

 Accreditation is valid for 5 years and successful candidates must follow a code of conduct which includes best practise.

 At this stage two levels of competency have been developed – level 1 Fast fit Technician and Level Two Fast fit Technician.

 Training will be offered to groups of 12 tyre technicians and takes one day to complete, with another day to sit the accreditation exam.

The ITIA see training as an important aspect to membership of the association.  It will set our members apart and reassure the driving public that when they choose an ITIA member, they are dealing with a fully trained professional tyre outlet.  Together we can improve standards throughout the industry by working levels of best practise and offering a customer orientated service and after sales care. 

For Further details or to sign up for training please email Anne Marie on info@itia.ie or call 086 773 96 66

The AGM and Annual dinner will be held in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin on March 1^st 2012.  The evening will commence with a drinks reception at 7pm followed by dinner at 8pm.

 We are delighted to announce that we will have our first group of Accredited Tyre Technicians at the dinner to receive their certificates.  As this is the first independent qualification available for tyre technicians in Ireland, we feel that this is a great step forward to our members and the industry as a whole.

To book places for the dinner please email info@itia.ie or call Anne Marie on 086 773 96 66

An e-mark confirms that the tyre meets the minimum agreed standard in relation to its dimensions, load and speed rating. Find out why it is important to have e-marked tyres.

E-mark

It is a requirement throughout the EU that motor vehicles have e-marked tyres.  E-marking applies to both new and retreaded tyres. An e-mark confirms that the tyre meets the minimum EU or International (UNECE) standard in relation to its dimensions, load and speed rating.

What is an E-mark?

The ‘E’ mark consists of an ‘E’ or ‘e’ followed by a number included in a circle or a rectangle.  The number denotes the government’ which granted the approval.   The number outside the circle or rectangle is the number of the type approval certificate issued for the tyre size and type.  Apart from tyres other replacement component parts which must be e-marked include exhaust silencers, catalytic convertors and brake pads

Why is it important to have e-marked tyres?

An e-marked tyre will have been tested to ensure that the tyre has adequate tread depth and does not exhibit tread and ply separation when performing at its maximum design weight and speed.

Tyres which are not e-marked will not meet the required minimum EU or international standard.  They are likely to perform less well and given the uncertainty over the quality of manufacture could be at risk of sudden and / or serious deterioration endangering both the occupants of the vehicle and other road users.    For example, a tyre with tread or ply separation could be at risk of having a “blow-out” or sudden tyre deflation during driving which would cause the driver to lose control of their vehicle.

Roadworthiness check of e-mark tyres

Checking of e-marked tyres as part of the roadworthiness test is common through the EU.    Since 1st April 2010, the NCT has included a check to ensure that tyres on cars are e-marked.  A similar check for e-marks on HGV tyres was introduced in March of this year.  This new test item was introduced because of the importance of the standard of tyres to vehicle and road safety.

The check on e-marking of tyres is one of a number of new NCT test items which were introduced following the completion of a public consultation process in 2009.

Tyre Sidewall markings explained

Example of an E marking

Sources: www.rsa.ie, www.atshz.com

The evening started with a presentation from Martin Hutchinson from the IMI, where he talked about the benefits of accredited training for tyre fitters. He reported on the success of the pilot training evening held recently in DIT Bolton street. Anne Marie Lambe then gave a brief outline of the work the ITIA are currently involved in and what future projects will be developed on behalf of the members. She also reiterated the benefits of membership with the ITIA, which includes money saving schemes for Insurance and Credit card transactions, lobbying on key issues, press campaigns to the consumer, feature events to promote tyre safety, key connections with organisations that tangibly benefit the members, including the SIMI and RSA and the introduction of training and standards to help promote ITIA members as recognisably reputable tyre outlets.

Fiacra Quinn from Greenstreets then discussed the progress that has been made with the uptake of TRACS. The meeting was then turned over to the floor where there was lively debate on the key topics affecting tyre outlets currently. Among the points discussed were the trade of second hand tyres, the proposed training programme for ITIA members nationwide, illegal and non legitimate traders in the industry. President, Brian O Neill was delighted with the turnout and stated ‘I‘d like to thank everyone who took the time to come to this meeting. It was great to get direct feedback from the industry and this is an enormous help for us in directing what issues we need to prioritise on behalf of our members.’

DIT has a full garage training room which provided an ideal area for the fitters to take a ‘hands on’ run through of the information they had received in the presentation. The focus of the training was the correct procedure for tyre puncture repair. In the absence of any regulation in Ireland for puncture repairs, the aim of the training for this module is to establish industry best practise for tyre puncture repairs.

While there will be adjustments made when the training is rolled out to the membership regionally, there was positive feedback from the fitters on the evening as to the level of training, in particular for the practical aspect of the training.

The training will be accredited so all attendees who attend and pass the training criteria. It will cover all aspects of skills required for fitters and managers in tyre retail outlets over six modules. These modules can be added to according to feedback from members on what their requirements are. President Brian O Neill commented ‘it is great to get the training programme up and going. We are encouraged by the feedback we have received and have some work to do before we bring the training to our membership nation wide.

The training is seen as a way for tyre retailers to develop their business during these hard times Brian continued ‘While many outlets operate at the highest levels of expertise, it is important that we enable ITIA members to differentiate themselves in the current market as reputable outlets. We feel training will help us show our customers that we take safety very seriously and that the consumer can trust an outlet displaying the ITIA logo as somewhere that has trained, capable staff who are working to industry best practise. It is a first step to improving standards in the industry.’

The ITIA will be contacting their membership to ascertain the level of interest from retail members in accredited training, before devising the nationwide training scheme. Anyone interested in training should contact Anne Marie Lambe on 086 773 96 66 or email info@itia.ie