SB 988, the California Motor Vehicle Glass Act

September 18, 2026 · updated September 18, 2026

Last updated September 18, 2026. This post describes proposed legislation. SB 988 has passed both houses of the Legislature and, as of the date above, is with the Governor. It is not law until signed, and it may be vetoed. Check the bill’s page on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov for its current status before relying on anything here.

Where the bill stands

SB 988, titled the California Motor Vehicle Glass Act, passed the Assembly on August 24, 2026 and the Senate on August 26, 2026. It was enrolled on August 28, 2026 and sent to the Governor. From there it is either signed into law, allowed to become law without signature, or vetoed.

If it becomes law, it would add a new Title 1.5C, sections 1784.50 through 1784.58, to the Civil Code. Some of its contract provisions would take effect January 1, 2027.

Everything below is written as “would” for that reason.

What the bill would require of glass shops

The core of the bill is a set of duties on the business doing the glass work. A shop would have to:

Tell the customer whether the vehicle has ADAS — the camera and sensor systems behind the windshield — and whether the manufacturer’s specifications call for a calibration after the repair.
Give written notice of whether the calibration succeeded or failed. Not a verbal “it’s done,” a record.
Provide a good-faith estimate before the work, and an updated estimate before the work begins if anything has changed.
Issue an itemized invoice and receipt when the job is complete.
Obtain a claim or referral number before contracting for any work that’s going to be billed to an insurer.
Charge only “reasonable and customary fees and costs.”

Most of that is what a careful shop already does. The bill would make it a requirement rather than a courtesy, and give a customer something to point to when it isn’t done.

What the bill would prohibit

The second half is a list of practices the bill would ban. A shop could not:

Offer rebates, gifts, cash or other incentives in exchange for directing an insurance claim its way.
Submit false, misleading or incomplete documentation to a customer or an insurer.
Claim an insurer has approved the work without written verification that it has.
Describe a repair as “free” unless coverage has actually been verified.
Damage a vehicle to increase the scope of the repair.
Falsify a work order or the date the damage happened.

Several of those describe specific patterns that have shown up in glass claims — the “free windshield” pitch that turns out to be a claim against the customer’s policy, and the incentive-for-referral arrangement — which is presumably why they’re named.

What it would mean for your insurance claim

Two provisions are aimed at the relationship between you, the shop and your insurer:

You couldn’t assign your policy benefits to a shop. A contract that tries to do that would be void. In practice this means a shop can’t take over your claim and deal with the insurer in your name; you stay the claimant.
You keep the right to choose your shop. Independent, insurer network, dealership or specialist — your choice. Insurers could still recommend shops and run networks; they couldn’t require you to use one. (California already says something similar in Insurance Code § 758.5 — see does insurance cover windshield replacement — so this reinforces existing law rather than creating a new right.)

Enforcement

The bill would set civil penalties of up to $500 for a first violation and up to $2,000 for each subsequent one, enforceable by city attorneys, county counsel or the Attorney General. Those figures come from the enrolled text of the bill; they’re the only dollar amounts in it.

What isn’t in it

A few things people might expect from a “glass act” that the bill doesn’t do:

It doesn’t set prices, price caps or a fee schedule for glass work.
It doesn’t require insurers to cover glass, waive deductibles, or offer any particular coverage. Whether a windshield is covered stays a policy question.
It doesn’t license auto glass technicians or create a certification.
It doesn’t tell you whether your chip is a repair or a replacement — that’s still the damage itself. The repair or replace guide covers that.

Why the ADAS disclosure matters most

Of everything in the bill, the calibration disclosure is the part most likely to change what a customer experiences. On a camera-equipped vehicle, a windshield replacement moves the camera, and the manufacturer typically specifies a recalibration afterwards. Today, whether you’re told that — and whether you get anything in writing about it — depends on the shop. Under SB 988 you’d be told up front, and you’d get a written result.

You don’t need the bill to become law to ask for that. Whether the vehicle is parked at an office in Irvine or a hotel lot in Anaheim, ask before the glass comes out: does this vehicle need recalibration, who does it, and will it be documented. The ADAS recalibration post goes through what to expect.

Text us a photo of the damage through the contact page and we’ll tell you what the vehicle needs — glass and camera both.