Centro Zaragoza is a research institute on vehicle repair. It is owned by insurance companies which represent approximately 75% of the insurance premiums in the sector in Spain.
Its mission is to manage and control material damage to automobiles and to prevent this damage.
Centro Zaragoza offers voluntary certification of products which allows the auto body spare parts industry to prove that its products fulfil the technical specifications required.
The certification entails:
• Evaluation of the manufacturer
• Product tests and inspections
• Monitoring of the quality level of the product
The certification process begins with the request, after which the pieces are sent to the laboratory to verify the materials, and then the certification is finished. During the process, the following factors are checked:
• Overall appearance of the part
• Adaptability to the vehicle and interconnection with other components
• Assembly times (which should be equal to or lower than the manufacturer’s parts)
• Control of officially approved raw materials
• Resistance test: To colour | To heat | Impact at low temperatures | Fuels
• Paintability: Resistance to moisture | Resistance to high-pressure cleaning | Resistance to solvents
• Pendulum crash testing
As a result of the certification process, Centro Zaragoza allows the manufacturer to use an adhesive label that bears the letters CZ, the date of the certification and a bar code to help identify it correctly.