I need someone to confirm to several of my employees that overlap and included times are part of the estimating system database and are not something that shops or insurance companies take on their own. We happen to use CCC One. I have an employee who swears up and down that he has worked at other shops that used CCC and they never took overlap on any of the estimates for which he received repair orders. Now, he has everybody convinced that we should not be taking overlap time. I have told him that CCC, Mitchell and ADP all take overlap and included operations and have been doing so as long as we’ve been using computerized estimating.

Question answered by Arthur Harris of the Database Enhancement Gateway, where collision repairers can submit online queries on database-related questions and get prompt responses.

Overlap is defined in the Motor Guide to estimating on page G5 and has been in the guide since 1994, so every estimate written in CCC after 1994 will show overlap. Overlap is taken because two or more components are being replaced and have the same R&I or R&R functions included in the stand-alone time.

An example would be when replacing a quarter panel and a rear body panel. Each panel will have a replacement time that includes all necessary functions, but when replacing both panels at once, there will be steps that are accounted for in duplicate where the panels meet, thus producing an “overlap deduction” to account for the operation only being performed once.
 
One thing to consider is that sometimes there are mistakes in the estimating systems that could show an item being included when it should not be. DEG Inquiry # 5557 is an example of this. If you come across areas where you believe that the system is applying overlaps improperly, you may want to file an inquiry with the DEG by visiting www.degweb.org and submitting a database inquiry.
 
For a better explanation about overlap in CCC, visit our blog on the DEG website.