Mr. Heiner Herz:

In a scary way, there are no rules for becoming a windscreen technician. Anyone can open a shop, buy windscreen glass and glue it in in whatever way he or she wants. We have come across windscreen replacements put in with bathroom sealer. There is no training available and it usually is the older technician training the younger one. Thirty years ago the windscreen was very different. As Mr. Davies explained, windscreen replacement is a very complex chemical process. If one step of the process is missed, it can pose a problem. The root of the problem is that there are no standards; no training is provided and up to now the problem was invisible. The National Car Testing Service, NCT, makes a visual check and inspects to see if the E-mark is on the glass. However, this will not identify any underlying problems with the windscreen. Mr. Davies is working on how to scan or test the bond, but currently there is nothing on the market that can identify if a windscreen has been fitted badly.