Repair Procedure
Basecoat Refinishing
Content Topics
| 2 Authoritative Oganizations and Technical Groups |
2.1 ASA Position on Refinish and Basecoat
Basecoat and Refinish Time Procedures
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Motors guide to Basecoat Refinishing
2.3 PPG's Blend Panel Guide
Procedure and Recommendations
2.4 CAA's Report on Bascoat Reduction
Is Basecoat Reduction an Unreasonable Estimate Adjustment? <See the Details>
*Watch a Major collision damage repair video on an 08 Prius Hybrid
2.3 PPG's Blend Panel Guide
Procedure and Recommendations
2.4 CAA's Report on Bascoat Reduction
Is Basecoat Reduction an Unreasonable Estimate Adjustment? <See the Details>
*Watch a Major collision damage repair video on an 08 Prius Hybrid
*Watch Network's Advanced Technology Video and see the 'Academy Award' Performance your car will Receive!
2.4 CAA supports the stand among other Industry Associations of possible Unfair adjustments on Basecoat Reduction.
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See the CAA Report showing that actual application of Basecoat is only 19% of entire basecoat operation. |
| CAA "The California Autobody Association (CAA) is a non-profit trade association comprised of over 1000 individual and independent businesses within the automobile collision repair industry. The mission of the California Autobody Association is to enable the auto body industry to survive and prosper by helping its members produce a quality repair for the consumer at a fair price for a fair profit." |
*Network Auto Body wishes to recognize and thank CAA for their continued efforts in assisting auto body shops around the Nation by providing up to date important information that assist both Auto Body Shops and Consumers alike."
Is Basecoat Reduction an Unreasonable Estimate Adjustment?
Time study shows basecoat application is only 19% of entire basecoat operation. - CAA
In our industry, when a body panel is partially damaged (but still repairable), it is common practice to refinish that damage by using a process we call “blend within panel”.
As you know, all cars today are painted with a basecoat/clearcoat method. The purpose of “blend within panel” is to keep the basecoat (i.e. color coat) away from adjacent panels to avoid either nacceptable color match, or blending color into those adjacent panels at additional cost.
For example, take the case of a dent in the front of a door. After the door panel is repaired, feather-edged, primed, blocked, and re-primed, it may be possible to use the “blend within panel” technique if the primed area is still at least 18" from the back of the door. This technique entails color-coating the primed area, blending the color into the remaining undamaged portion of the door, and then clear-coating the entire door.
Some insurers see this instead as a “partial refinish”, which they believe allows them to take a deduction from the estimating software’s allowed basecoat refinish labor. We commonly refer to this adjustment as a “basecoat reduction”. You have probably heard adjusters explain this by simply saying, “you’re only painting half the door, we’re only going to pay half the labor”.
The problem with this logic is that the basecoat refinish labor time includes many operations other than the basecoat application itself.
CCC has provided the following information regarding the MOTOR data:
| CAA - Report from Motors | |
“Several studies conducted by MOTOR gave us this approximate breakdown: 1. Panel Prep/Clean/Wash: 27% 2. Primer/Sealer: 7% 3. Color Coat Application: 19% 4. Sanding Operations Combined: 47% 5. Clear Coat: a. First major panel - Add 40% to refinish time b. Each additional panel - Add 20% to refinish time c. Maximum time allocation - 2.5 hours"
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Using our example door panel, the database allows 2.5 hours for the entire basecoat refinish operation (items 1-4 above). When performing a “blend within panel” (or “partial refinish”) on this door, the only operation that may be subject to reduction is #3, the time allotted for applying (i.e. spraying) the basecoat.
The simple calculation is this: 19% of 2.5 hours is 0.48 hours, so the actual basecoat application time for our example door is less than 0.5 hours.
Some insurers regularly reduce the estimating software’s basecoat time by at least 0.5 hours, and we have seen this reduction as high as 1.5 hours. Any reduction that is greater than the actual time allowed is not only unreasonable, it is baseless.
The refinish time study does not make any mention of “blending”. Blending is a special technique used to apply basecoat so that it “blends” new color into old color, and may include additional steps such as viscosity adjustment, the application of blending promoters, and “finessing” the new paint into the old so the change is undetectable.
Since these are not included operations when refinishing an entire panel, additional labor may be required.
In our example where only half the door is being basecoated, the greatest reduction that should ever be considered is 0.2 hours. Adding back additional labor to compensate for the “blend within panel” operation may make the required labor actually higher than the original basecoat time.
Also remember it is important that your written estimates allow customers to recognize this procedure, and that you are also compliant with Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) regulations.
Other than those estimate line items designated as “blend”, each refinish line in your estimate that may represent a partial basecoat must be noted as such. The BAR has suggested to CAA that the line explanation be written as “Partial Basecoat with Full Clearcoat”, or “Blend Within Panel”. Contact your estimating software provider to learn
the easiest way to accomplish this.
CAA will be requesting estimating software providers to make this an automatic notation for repaired panels in future releases of their software.
CAA also appreciates any feedback regarding how our members actually use the information from these bulletins in their businesses.
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