In a recent article published in Repairer Driven News (RDN), the Society of Collision Repair Specialists’ (SCRS) online news source, RDN reported that Audatex has failed to act on SCRS’s request that the estimating system address an inconsistency in its five-year-old feather, prime and block digital tool.
According to RDN, Audatex’s 2007 Database Reference Manual states, “Audatex does not provide labor or material allowance for the feather/prime/block process” on welded panels. Yet its 2007.5 feather, prime and block entry describes the operation as not-included for repaired panels; it doesn’t mention welded replacement panels. By 2008, Audatex told the Database Enhancement Gateway that labor times for welded replacement panels include feather, prime and block.
But the operation of feather, prime and block still can consume materials, which Audatex explicitly states aren’t included in the labor time for welded panels.
“Audatex recognizes that feather/prime/block are required operations when replacing welded-on panels,” Audatex wrote in the 2019 Database Reference Manual. “Time to perform this operation is included in the Audatex time for welded panel replacement in the seamed areas, to bring the panels to the condition of a new, undamaged panel for the purpose of refinish. Although the time is included, Audatex does not provide a material allowance for the feather/prime/block process. If necessary, the determination and assessment for materials is best provided by the estimate preparer for consideration and allowance during the estimate preparation process.”
Later in the story, SCRS said the discrepancy “suggests a practice of inhibiting repair facilities from being able to capture the labor or materials on welded replacement operations.”
To read the full story in RDN, click here.
