GOLD CLASS

Overview

Gold Class® organizations are already in a league of their own – making an unwavering commitment to ensuring their business represents the highest achievement in collision repair training excellence. In today’s era of advanced, complex vehicles, I-CAR® is raising the skills bar across the board, including the requirements for Gold Class and Platinum™-level achievements. While the requirements are greater, we're confident your organization will continue to demonstrate its time-honored dedication to performing complete, safe and quality repairs for the ultimate benefit of the consumer.

Enhanced Gold Class Training Requirements

  • The Enhanced Gold Class role requirements are scaled to shop size. This means that 50% of all estimators, refinishers and non-structural technicians in a shop and a 100% of all structural technicians must be trained to the new Gold Class requirements. This scalability ensures that both small and large shops alike can now achieve an equal percentage of trained employees.
  • One person can hold no more than two required roles at one time.
  • Increased frequency of Welding Training & Certification™ skills moving from five years to three years. New Welding recertification courses will be offered!
  • Gold Class recognition is achieved at ProLevel 2®. Therefore 100% of structural technicians, and 50% of the estimators, refinish, and nonstructural technicians in the collision repair shop must complete ProLevel 2 to achieve or maintain Gold Class recognition. 
  • Up to six role relevant Vehicle & Technology Specific Training courses per tech are required annually for all non-role representatives and role representatives who completed ProLevel 3®.
  • Electrical/Diagnostics and Mechanical theory courses are required at the shop level. Shops determine who takes the courses.
  • Two Hands-On Skills Development courses, Squeeze-Type Resistance Spot Welding and MIG Brazing, will be required to maintain and achieve Gold Class recognition.

 

Transition Benefits for Gold Class Shops

Shops that achieve or maintain Gold Class by October 1, 2019 will be grandfathered into Gold Class status and have additional time to reach the new requirements.

Gold Class shops will continue to train to current Gold Class rules until their renewal period in 2020. At that point the shop will begin transitioning to the new Gold Class requirements for their 2021 renewal.

 

Training Subscription

A training subscription, which includes live, virtual, and online courses for any shop employee can be purchased by Gold Class shops. The goal of subscription is to address turnover cost concerns, to build bench strength by providing training for all technicians and to help shops budget for training expenses.

Learn more about training subscription. 

In-Shop Knowledge Assessment

In-Shop Knowledge Assessments allow technicians to demonstrate their current knowledge to achieve ProLevel 1, avoiding training in the areas in which they already meet the requirements for competency/understanding. As grandfathered Gold Class shops scale up their technicians to meet the new requirements, many may benefit from using an In-Shop Knowledge Assessment for speed and overcoming barriers to training.