House Subcommittee Advances Federal ADAS Calibration Standards Bill

The federal legislative calendar produced a development in the week of February 13, 2026 that could ultimately reshape how auto-glass shops approach every ADAS-equipped windshield job. A House of Representatives subcommittee advanced the ADAS Functionality and Integrity Act on February 12 — a bipartisan bill introduced by Representative Diana Harshbarger (R, Tennessee) in December 2025 and supported by co-sponsors from both parties.

The bill, if enacted, would require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to collaborate with automakers, standard-setting organizations and independent aftermarket companies to develop calibration guidelines for vehicles from model year 2028 onward. The guidelines would be designed to ensure that ADAS systems "maintain functionality" following any aftermarket repair or modification, including windshield replacement. The bill's sponsors argued that this mandate would create a clear, consistent standard that currently did not exist — replacing the patchwork of conflicting automaker position statements that shops were navigating without federal guidance.

The legislation called for published calibration procedures following repairs, confirmatory test protocols and performance validation metrics that could be applied consistently across vehicle platforms and verified by independent repair facilities. The Independent Glass Association expressed concern that the requirements could be drafted in a way that restricted who is allowed to perform calibrations — potentially limiting independent shops' ability to compete with dealerships that had OEM tool suites. The IGA urged that any NHTSA guidelines explicitly protect aftermarket shops' right to perform calibrations using equivalent tools and validated procedures.

The ADAS Coalition, a group representing calibration technology companies including Burke Porter and DEKRA, argued that the bill did not go far enough, calling for calibrations to be mandated as routine maintenance on all ADAS-equipped vehicles — not just as a post-repair obligation. The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) backed the legislation as a framework that could ensure aftermarket components and repair procedures would not automatically be deemed non-compliant with ADAS system requirements, a concern that had dogged shops installing non-OEM glass on vehicles subject to strict automaker position statements.

Multiple industry organizations provided written comment on the bill. The collision repair community broadly supported the concept of federal calibration standards but diverged sharply on the question of who should be allowed to perform those calibrations and what equipment would qualify as acceptable.

For glass shops, the bill represented a double-edged development. Published federal calibration standards could give shops clearer guidance than the patchwork of automaker position statements and insurer requirements they currently navigated. But if the standards were written narrowly or if OEM tools were designated as the only compliant option, they could effectively favor dealerships over independent aftermarket providers. Industry advocates urged shops to follow the bill's progress through the comment and hearing process and to submit their own perspectives to NHTSA once rulemaking was opened.