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BAR rolls out online educational‑certification and business change workflows
Summary
BAR demonstrated new SimplyGov online workflows allowing automotive repair dealers to upload educational certifications and submit business or controlling‑individual change requests; staff said email support and outreach are available for shops.
The Bureau of Automotive Repair demonstrated new online features in its SimplyGov/ELM licensing platform that let automotive repair dealers (ARDs) submit educational certifications and request business or controlling‑individual changes electronically.
Licensing manager Cole Gandalman and analyst Rebecca Guile showed the new educational‑certificate workflow that validates an ARD’s submitted certificates (ASE, OEM, ICAR, BAR‑accepted training or post‑secondary diplomas) and publishes approved badges on the bureau’s Auto Shop Locator. The Ed‑cert workflow uses front‑end validation and publishes approved items to the public profile once licensing staff approve the upload.
Why it matters: dealers can now add training badges and keep business contact, address and authorized‑individual records current online. The change‑of‑business and controlling‑individual workflows prefill bureau information, support Google address lookup, allow uploading of required SOS or educational documents, and produce a signed, auditable form upon submission; BAR staff said typical processing goals are three to five business days.
BAR staff said they will continue to accept support requests by email (barlicensing@dca.ca.gov) and that the licensing team is assisting earlier uploads generated before the workflow was live. Vendors and advisory members asked for clearer public listings of what constitutes “BAR‑accepted training” and for short “how‑to” video snippets to help shops unfamiliar with online forms. BAR agreed to publish guidance and ensure the accepted‑training list is accessible on its website.
Ending: BAR staff said they plan to integrate online renewals into the SimplyGov platform in the coming months, and encouraged industry associations to help distribute guidance to shops that prefer paper filings.
