Tips for Conducting Damage Appraisals as an Auto Body Repair Technician
If you’re passionate about cars, then a career in auto body repair would be very rewarding for you. But for you to have a successful career, you’ll need to know how to conduct damage appraisals of customers’ vehicles when they arrive at the auto body shop.
At ATC Surrey, you’ll get hands-on training in auto body repair. This will help you develop the skills needed to launch a successful career.
Read on to familiarize yourself with tips that can help you perform damage appraisals like a pro!
Using Checklists During Auto Body Technician Careers
Avoiding mistakes and not missing out on vital information when you’re assessing the damage on a vehicle is very important. To do so, you can keep a checklist handy, which will help you input all the information you need for the job. A checklist helps to make sure that you don’t overlook anything or forget to inspect part of the vehicle. This will help you catch things that might not look obvious at first.
Auto body technician careers benefit from being thorough and from using proper documentation. You can also use a scope sheet to input the customer’s name, the various vehicle damages sustained in the accident, and the vehicle’s odometer and VIN.
Put Information Onto a Tablet or Laptop
The use of technology is a great way to make jobs in any industry easier. That’s also true for an auto body repair technician who wants to conduct damage appraisals. When you conduct damage appraisals, you should bring with you a tablet or laptop so that you can immediately type up all the information pertaining to the damages sustained by the vehicle. This will help you save time, since you won’t have to input the information at a later time and avoid forgetting any details that were only summarized on your paper forms. Some auto shops have even done away with paper forms altogether, since digital files are easier to store. Digital files also make things easier when communicating with insurance companies and other parties.
Be Thorough with Your Inspection
Throughout your career, you’ll understand the value of being thorough when doing damage appraisals. Being thorough in your inspection doesn’t mean walking around and assessing the damages from a distance. You’ll also want to be going under the vehicle as well, meaning you might get a little dirty during your inspections. You might even have to assess and move aside damaged parts to check for any further damages sustained to the vehicle’s structure or frame, like checking behind the bumper to see what other damages might have occurred. While doing so, take photos from the best convenient angle that can present the damages in the clearest way. This will help save time when communicating your findings, as well as when you’ll be ready to start working on repairs.
Are you interested in auto body technician training?
Contact ATC Surrey for more information!
