Does the International Carwash Association set real US bay standards?

What to take away

What the International Carwash Association is and is not

The International Carwash Association is a trade body. It publishes research, runs training, holds its annual conference, The Car Wash Show, and lobbies on behalf of operators. It does not write building codes, inspect sites or issue licenses, and it publishes no bay standard of any kind that a US state enforces.

That distinction matters more than most new operators expect. A vendor can show you an ICA slide with a throughput number and imply it is a requirement. It is not. Nothing in the ICA's output carries the force of law in any US state.

The plain answer is no. No ICA document is cited in a state building code, no inspector enforces an association throughput figure, and no permit application asks you to certify compliance with one. What the association puts out is benchmarking data, education and advocacy, and none of it is binding.

Membership is voluntary and paid. Benefits run to benchmarking data, education, legislative updates and networking with other operators. Small single-site owners often join for the data alone, because peer comparisons are hard to assemble without a group of similar sites.

What the association does well is aggregate. Individual operators rarely know whether their cars per hour is good, average or poor for their format and region. The association collects enough member data to publish ranges, and ranges are what you need.

What it cannot do is see your site. Bay count, tunnel length, conveyor speed, water reclaim capacity and local wage pressure all change what a realistic target looks like. ICA data frames the question. Your own numbers answer it.

Treat the association as a library and a lobby, not a regulator. That framing keeps you from overpaying for compliance you do not owe and underpreparing for rules you do.

ICA benchmarking reports and the numbers operators actually use

ICA benchmarking reports are the association's core practical product for operators. They typically break performance down by format: express exterior, full service, self serve and detailing. Within each format you get ranges rather than single figures, and access runs through membership or a report purchase. Pull the current edition for your own format and tunnel length rather than relying on a number quoted secondhand.

The metrics that matter most for bay throughput are cars per hour, revenue per car, labor cost as a share of revenue, chemical cost per car and membership penetration. Each one tells you something different about whether your bottleneck is equipment, staffing or pricing.

Cars per hour is the headline number, and it is also the most abused. A site running 100 cars per hour on a 130-foot tunnel is not comparable to one running 100 on an 80-foot tunnel with a shorter wash package.

Labor cost as a share of revenue is the metric most new owners ignore. If your labor share runs well above the peer range, more throughput will not fix the problem. You are buying volume to cover a staffing structure that does not fit your format.

Membership penetration changes everything downstream. High penetration smooths demand, reduces payment friction at the pay station and lets you plan chemical and labor needs against a predictable base rather than weather.

Use the reports as a range check, not a scoreboard. Pull your own numbers for a full quarter, compare them against the range for your format and size, then ask which gap is worth closing first.

One caution on data age and sample. Benchmarking figures reflect the members who submitted them, weighted toward larger multi-site operators. A 40-year-old single tunnel in a small market may sit legitimately below the published range.

Training programs and how they map to bay staffing

ICA training programs are built around roles rather than around equipment brands. That is useful, because your equipment will change and your staffing model will not change as fast.

Typical content covers chemical handling and dilution, tunnel and bay safety, customer conflict, damage claims and basic equipment troubleshooting. Some courses are online, some run as education sessions at The Car Wash Show, and some are delivered through regional groups.

Where training maps to staffing is in task ownership. If a course teaches chemical titration, someone on your site has to own titration on a schedule. If it teaches damage claim handling, your shift lead needs the authority to resolve a claim without calling you at home.

That mapping is the real output of training, not the certificate. Write down which role owns each trained task, then check whether your current headcount can cover those tasks across your operating hours.

New hires are where this breaks first. A site that trains well but schedules thin will still fail at peak, because trained tasks compete for the same person during the busiest ninety minutes of the day.

Build the new-hire checklist around tasks, not around days, and check the car wash equipment brands that matter before you commit to a training plan.

Pay attention to who delivers the training. If your most experienced attendant trains every new hire, you have effectively made that attendant a part-time trainer. That is fine, but it has to show up in your staffing plan and your wage structure.

For operators scaling past one site, the training question becomes a documentation question. Courses give you a curriculum; you still need a written standard that a new manager in another state can follow without you in the room.

Advocacy positions versus enforceable US standards

ICA advocacy positions are where the association speaks to government. The work covers issues like water use and reclaim rules, chemical regulation, vehicle damage and insurance questions, and tax treatment of equipment.

Advocacy is not standard setting. When the association files comments on a proposed state rule or lobbies on a federal question, it is trying to shape what regulators write. It has no authority to write the rule itself.

This is the single most common confusion among operators new to the industry. A position paper, a legislative update or a model policy is a recommendation. A regulation published by a state environmental agency is enforceable, and the two can differ.

So read advocacy output as a forecast. If the association is pushing back on a proposed stormwater rule in your state, that rule is probably coming in some form, and you should plan capital for it.

Practical use: track advocacy updates for your state, then verify the actual rule text with the agency that issued it. Never budget compliance work off a summary of a position, however well written.

Where advocacy helps most is early warning. Operators who follow legislative updates tend to hear about water, chemical and labor proposals months before inspectors arrive with questions.

Setting bay throughput targets from ICA data

US bay throughput targets have to be built, not borrowed. Start with the ICA range for your format, then adjust for the four variables that move the number most: tunnel length, package mix, payment setup and staffing at peak.

Here is a workable sequence for a single express exterior site.

That sequence keeps targets honest. A target set at the peer midpoint when your own 75th percentile is far below it is not a target, it is a wish.

Peak hour is where throughput targets earn their keep. Average daily volume hides the fact that a site can be capacity constrained for two hours and idle for four. Fixing the peak usually means payment speed, not conveyor speed.

Payment setup is the most underrated lever. A pay station that takes too long per car caps your peak throughput no matter how fast the tunnel runs. Adding a second lane or prepaid membership scanning often moves the number more than any equipment upgrade.

Use the operations and workflow view when you set targets: throughput is a chain, and the slowest link sets the ceiling. Revisit targets when the market shifts, which is what is happening with locations for car wash right now.

Write your targets down and post them where the team can see them. An unpublished throughput target is just a number in your head, and your shift leads cannot manage to it.

Where ICA guidance stops and OSHA, EPA and ADA begin

Everything in this section is enforceable. ICA guidance is not. Knowing where the line falls keeps you out of trouble and keeps your budget pointed at real risk.

OSHA governs worker safety at your site. That covers hazard communication for chemicals (29 CFR 1910.1200), personal protective equipment (29 CFR 1910.132), electrical safety around wet equipment, lockout/tagout during maintenance (29 CFR 1910.147) and injury recordkeeping (29 CFR 1904). The laws and regulations that apply to your site are published and citable.

Inspectors do not care whether your training came from an association course or an in-house session.

OSHA also publishes help for employers. The compliance assistance there is aimed at small businesses that cannot afford a full-time safety officer.

EPA rules govern what leaves your site. Stormwater, wastewater discharge to a sanitary sewer, reclaim system operation and chemical storage all fall under federal and state environmental law. Industrial stormwater is regulated under the Clean Water Act through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, and sewer discharges run through the local pretreatment program that same act authorizes. The EPA laws and regulations hub is the place to confirm what is enforceable.

State agencies often run stricter programs than the federal floor. In Texas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality administers the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) permit in place of the federal NPDES permit, and other states run equivalent programs.

ADA governs accessibility at your site, including parking, paths of travel, pay stations and restrooms. The technical requirements sit in the ADA Standards for Accessible Design, which apply to new construction and to alterations at places of public accommodation under Title III. They are enforced through the courts as well as through local permitting.

Local government governs the rest. Zoning, site plan approval, water and sewer connection, fire code compliance for chemical storage and sign permits all come from your city or county. Your city or county permit office and the U.S. Small Business Administration's website are reasonable starting points for the permits and registrations a new site needs.

If you are planning a build, remodel or throughput upgrade, free counseling from SCORE or a Small Business Development Center can help you pressure-test the business case before you commit capital. That is a better use of a week than guessing at demand.

Here is a pre-season compliance check you can run in an afternoon.

Pair that with a staffing review. Staffing level benchmarks from ICA data give you a ratio to compare against, but your legal obligations set the floor. You cannot staff below the level that lets you train, supervise and protect workers safely, whatever the peer range says.

That is the honest relationship between the association and the law. ICA data tells you what good looks like commercially. OSHA, the EPA, the ADA and your local agencies tell you what you must do regardless.

The operators who handle this well keep two documents: a benchmark sheet with their own numbers against ICA ranges, and a compliance calendar with real deadlines. The first improves margin. The second keeps the doors open.

If you are still building the team that will run this, start with hiring and training before you set aggressive throughput targets you cannot staff.

Common questions