What are Application Rates

One of the most important elements to running a painting business is having an effective process for estimating projects. If you’re in the painting business, understanding your base costs are critical in order to win bids and bring your projects in on budget. The only way to do this is to stop guessing and start using real data from the field to develop accurate estimates. This way you are more likely to stay within budget and remain competitive in the marketplace.

One of the first and fundamentally important things you need to understand to win bids and bring your project in on budget are your Application Rates. Basically an Application Rate is how long it takes a painter to paint a given object or surface, typically within an hour. For large areas like plaster walls, this is measured in meters squared, whilst items like skirting is measured in lineal meters. These rates will of course differ whether you’re brushing, rolling or spraying.

Why use Application Rates

Calculating an Application Rate is relatively simple. Measure the area being painted and then divide by the Application rate. This will give you how many labour hours are need. The real skill here is moving past a set of basic Applications Rates and developing a much more comprehensive set of rates that take into consideration your working environment.

What you need to consider

• Working from heights, when using elevated working platforms, swing stage and abseil will greatly reduce productivity.
• Small surfaces will reduce production rates.
• Projects where multiple colours are specified that will require additional cutting in.
• Disruption from other trades, the public or customers.
• Working in multiple areas or occupied buildings.
• Where the quality expectation is very high.
• OHS considerations and complex requirements.
• Rough textured substrates where production rates are reduced.
• Windows and doors that have additional components like colonial windows and doors with glass panels compared to your standard flush panel doors (rule of thumb is the smaller the window the slower the production rate).

What are the benefits

The application rate approach is a great way to establish a consistent approach to estimating. By getting this right, you are provided with so much more information to help improve efficiency and manage your business:

• It provides a breakdown of hours per individual item, so you have a complete understanding of project scope and expected outcome.
• Your onsite painters have clear and manageable targets which can be monitored and adjusted where required.
• You can allocate jobs to painters who are more proficient at certain tasks.
• You can determine early on whether you are meeting budgets and likely to achieve profits. This gives you the opportunity to adjust how the project is being undertaken.
• You have a better understanding before you commit to a project and whether it is worth undertaking.

To recap, the very best way to generate your estimates accurately is to develop a range of Application rates. Luckily PaintProjex has done all the hard work for you. Our system has 1000’s of Applications Rates built in and more importantly, we have included functions that take into consideration the working environment.