This year's survey found more shops are asking to be paid for the procedure, but the number being reimbursed has fallen off.

Of the nearly 100 repair procedures covered in the “Who Pays for What?” collision repair surveys throughout the year, destructive testing of welds is one of the “top three most important,” according to shop consultant of Collision Advice, who conducts the surveys with CRASH Network.

“This step is so critical to ensure safe and proper repairs,” Anderson said. “A proper weld involves so many factors that it is nearly impossible to tell if the settings are correct without first performing a destructive weld test. And it needs to be performed for every type of weld being made on the vehicle.”

Looking at the survey data over time, the news is generally good. A decade ago, more than 80% of shops had never sought to be paid for the destructive testing procedure, which Anderson said at the time raised concerns whether it was something most shops were doing. That has continued to fall over time, with less than one-third of shops (32%) this year acknowledging they had never sought to be paid for destructive testing of welds.

The percentage of shops that somehow believe that the eight large national insurers asked about in the surveys will never pay for the procedure also has fallen over time, from nearly 80% in 2015 to half that today.

But this year’s survey findings include some troubling data, Anderson said. The percentage of shops reporting they are paid “always” or “most of the time” by the eight largest insurers for the labor involved in destructive testing of welds — though still significantly higher than what it was a decade ago — actually dropped 9 percentage points in the survey conducted in April compared to the prior year.

“I won’t be satisfied until I’m convinced, most importantly, that this critical step is being performed 100% of the time,” Anderson said. “But the lack of reimbursement for it causes me great concern as well. This is a non-negotiable procedure. Every OEM states that we need to do this. Shops need to do this, and insurers should be paying them for this not-included procedure.”

The latest quarterly “Who Pays for What?” survey is now open through the month of July. It focuses on not-included body labor operations. Shops can take the survey here.

Survey participants receive a free report with complete survey findings along with analysis and resources to help shops better understand and use the information presented.

The survey can be completed in about 15 minutes by anyone familiar with their shop's billing practices and the payment practices of at least some of the largest national insurers. Each shop’s individual responses are held in the strictest confidence; only aggregated data is released.

The results of previous surveys are also available online here.

Watch Anderson and John Yoswick, editor of CRASH Network, unpack the results from this year's "Who Pays?" survey on frame and mechanical operations here.

Collision Advice is an independent training and consulting firm featuring some of the most respected and experienced experts in the collision repair industry. CRASH Network is a subscription newsletter offering news and information not available from other industry sources.