Windscreen Chip Repair Bristol | Express Windscreens

Repair Or Replace

Can Your Chip Be Repaired?

It comes down to three things. How big the damage is, where it sits on the screen, and whether that part of the glass is doing a job for a camera or a display. The repair trade works to a British Standard that spells all three out.

The Standard: BS AU 242b:2022

Windscreen repairs in this country are carried out to British Standard BS AU 242b:2022. It splits the swept area of the screen into two zones and sets a size limit for each.

Zone A is the driver's view. A 400mm wide band directly in front of the driver, centred on the steering wheel and inside the top arc of the wiper sweep. Damage there can be repaired if the whole of it fits inside a 20mm circle.

Zone B is the rest of the swept area. Damage there can be repaired if it fits inside a 40mm circle.

Camera and head-up display zones are out altogether. No repair of any kind is done in the part of the screen supporting driver assistance cameras and sensors, or a head-up display, whatever the size of the chip. Those zones vary from one make to the next and are often larger than the mirror housing suggests.

The MOT is a separate test with its own limits, and in the 290mm strip in front of the steering wheel it fails damage over 10mm. That is tighter than the 20mm the repair standard allows. A finished repair is judged on whether it still obstructs your view, and most repairs leave something you can see if you look for it, so in that strip it comes down to the tester on the day. Nobody honest will promise you a pass on it.

If it looks like a repair, ring the repair team direct on the number below. Photograph the chip with a £1 coin held next to it first so they can see the size straight away. If you are not sure either way, use the form at the top of this page and we will tell you honestly which one you are looking at.

📞 07946 222246

The Repair Itself

Who Carries Out The Repair

We do not do chip repairs ourselves. They are handled by Windscreen Repairs Bristol, a separate firm we pass this work to. Ring them direct and the job goes straight into their diary rather than through us first.

Mobile, at your home or work

Most repairs inside 30 minutes

Same day in most cases

📞 07946 222246 Visit Windscreen Repairs Bristol

Those details are theirs rather than ours, so check the price, the timing and whether they come out to your part of the patch when you speak to them. They are Bristol based, so it is worth asking if you are further out.

If It Cannot Be Repaired

When The Screen Has To Come Out

Some damage is past filling. If any of this sounds like your screen, it is a replacement rather than a repair, and that part is our work.

A Crack Running To The Edge

Once damage reaches the bonded edge of the glass the screen has lost strength there. Filling it does not put that back.

Too Big, Or Sat In Your Eyeline

Over 20mm in the 400mm strip in front of the steering wheel, or over 40mm anywhere else in the swept area, and you are into new glass under the repair standard.

Several Breaks Close Together

Two chips within a few centimetres can be treated as one damaged area, which pushes it over the limit even though each looks small.

It Has Already Spread

Cold nights, hot demisters and a rough road turn a chip into a crack. Once it has run, the repair window has gone.

It Sits In A Camera Or Display Zone

The area of glass working for the driver assistance cameras and sensors, or for a head-up display, is excluded from repair completely. Size does not come into it. That one is a new screen, and the cameras are recalibrated after the fit.

See how we handle windscreen replacement

Common Questions

FAQ - Windscreen Chip Repair

No. Size and position decide it, under BS AU 242b:2022. A chip in the rest of the swept area can be repaired up to 40mm. In the 400mm strip in front of the driver the limit drops to 20mm. Damage that has cracked out to the edge, or that sits in a camera or head-up display zone, means a new screen whatever the size.

Usually, but it is the tester's call rather than a guarantee. What the MOT looks at is whether the damage still obstructs your view, and most repairs leave a mark you can see if you look for it. In the 290mm strip in front of the steering wheel the MOT limit is 10mm, which is tighter than the 20mm the repair standard allows, so a filled chip in that area comes down to the tester on the day. Away from the driver's view there is far more room.

Windscreen Repairs Bristol, direct. The repair is their job and their price, so we do not quote for it or take payment on their behalf. If the screen turns out to need replacing instead, that is our work and you deal with us for it.

They say most repairs are done inside half an hour and that they can usually get out the same day. Ring them for a slot and they will confirm it.

You can, but it rarely stays still. Temperature swings and vibration spread a chip into a crack, and a crack almost always means a new screen instead of a cheap fill. Worth dealing with in the week you notice it.

For a replacement, we cover Bristol and the surrounding areas including Backwell, Bedminster, Brislington, Congresbury, Knowle, Long Ashton, Nailsea and Weston-super-Mare. For a repair, ask Windscreen Repairs Bristol directly whether they come out to you.

Windscreen Chip Repair In Bristol

Can Your Chip Be Repaired?

Who Carries Out The Repair

When The Screen Has To Come Out

FAQ - Windscreen Chip Repair

Book Your Chip Repair