How Do You Calculate Repair Time?

I once had an estimator explain that they used a sheet of paper to calculate repair times. If the paper covered the damage, it was a three-hour repair. To be fair, I didn’t ask how big the paper was, but it struck me as a fairly inaccurate approach.

So what goes into your repair time? Some time ago, we did a poll in a popular estimators group with the same question. It turns out that most of us guess. They are educated guesses based on industry knowledge and experience, but at the end of the day, it’s a guess. I’ll admit it; I do it too. In fact, I work for a company that develops collision repair software that scans damage, builds 3D damage maps, and generates repair times based on all the panel’s objective inputs about the repair, and my first reaction still is to guess.?

They’re good guesses, though; I’ve written a LOT of repair estimates.?

What's wrong with Guessing?

To be honest, that was a fine approach until the last few years. Almost everything was a nice, agreeable mild steel, and when the repair was complete, it just had to look pretty. Door skins were essentially decoration, and all the safety stuff was inside. We can’t guess anymore. Cars now have multiple types of steel, aluminum, and alloys that simply did not exist in the automotive space five years ago. If you try repairing an aluminum panel the same way you repair a steel panel, the repair will fail. Then why are we estimating them the same way?

So how do you NOT guess?

What should we actually be looking at when we’re about to determine a repair time? The best place to start is, of course, size. Actual size, not the strange arbitrary comparisons we’ve always used. A ‘golf ball’ or a ‘hand-sized’ dent really doesn’t mean anything. You and I probably have different size hands, and have you ever pulled a frame rail about a ‘golf ball’ to the left? We need actual damage measurements. If I know my technician can repair 100 square centimeters in an hour (about a golf ball), I have a consistent usable basis to start building repair times.?

Beyond size, the most important aspect of a repair is the substrate. Mild steel, high-strength steel, and aluminum with identical damage will all repair differently. Aluminum has no memory and never just pops back. High-strength steel will buckle the surrounding area as the original damage is pulled. Billing these three the same way would make no sense. So determine and document the substrate and modify the repair time accordingly. How do you determine the substrate? There are plenty of ways that make it easy. Most estimating systems will note a substrate. CCC, for example, will often put (ALU) or (HSS) to the right of the panel in the estimating system. You can also pull this information from the OEM documentation. If you’re an Alldata user, this can generally be found under ‘Construction Materials.’

Just don’t make your determination by the sound knocking on the panel makes. Maybe your ears are better than mine, but I’m wrong half the time.?

Location, Location, Location!

We should also consider the location of the damage on the panel. Does the repair area have body lines or contours that will need consideration? Damage in the center of the panel will likely be more easily addressed than damage on the edge where the panel is factory work hardened due to shaping. How much body line must be re-created? I know many estimators that simply add an additional hour if a body line is involved. If the damage is minor, that may be great, but it is likely insufficient if you must recreate an entire wheel opening. Again, measurement is an excellent tool for this. If recreating 10cm of body line takes an hour, then 20cm of body line should be more than an hour.

This is complicated. Just replace it.

Replacing a repairable panel may seem like an easy option, but panel repair is very appealing when estimated correctly. Turning a few borderline replace jobs into repairs greatly benefits multiple areas of your shop. There are fewer parts to deal with, a smaller warranty footprint, and the vehicle can go home faster. It also provides your big jobs with some breathing room. But repair estimating needs to be done at the same level we do all our other operations. I know you’re not guessing on a structural pull. Your painter isn’t in the mixing room blobbing color together until it’s close. We have to start treating repair time calculations the same way. It’s not all mild steel anymore.

How are you calculating repair times? What do you find works best in your facility? I’d love to hear from you, so let me know in the comments!?

Thank you for reading. Until next time!