About Us
NABR is an independent research, technology, and business consulting firm serving the automotive collision repair industry, working to enable an industry-wide rational pricing model for labor rates, and to help level the playing field for payment of necessary but not-included repair procedures and operations, all for the ultimate care and safety of the consumer.
Through its innovative and proven Variable Rate System (VRS) and BillableGenie online software, NABR collects and reports public and hard to find labor rate and paid procedures data.
Through its innovative and proven Variable Rate System (VRS) and BillableGenie online software, NABR collects and reports public and hard to find labor rate and paid procedures data.
Our Story
From the very beginning of our company's history, it's always been about people and their safety. When a person gets their vehicle repaired after a collision, that vehicle needs to be returned to them with the same crashworthiness it had prior to the accident. If that person is in another collision, the vehicle needs to perform the same way it was originally engineered and built. But if vehicles are not repaired correctly, this can obviously put consumers at serious risk.
Yet we have observed that too many repairers lack the formal training, tools, equipment, facilities, and certifications necessary to repair modern vehicles completely, properly and safely.
Among various reasons for this, we find one of the root causes is a lack of sufficiently and sustainably profitable labor rates charged by the shops and paid by insurers. We see a clear link between labor rates and consumer safety, in that a proper labor rate enables the body shop to invest in the people, training, equipment, and certifications necessary to repair vehicles correctly and safely. This is compounded by shops not charging or collecting for many necessary but not-included procedures, operations, and materials, further putting pressure on profitability and their ability to invest.
From our early research and labor rate surveys, it also became quickly evident in the data that labor rate prices in this industry are largely irrational, and too many collision repairers don't know how to properly price their labor. We saw shops with large investments in their business charging (or getting paid by insurers) the same rates as other shops who did not have those investments. Shops in lower cost of living areas were getting paid more than shops in higher cost of living areas. Shops with OEM certifications were charging or getting paid the same as shops with no certifications. And collision labor was often priced 25 - 50% less than the labor rates for plumbers, electricians, bicycle repair, lawn mower maintenance, and mechanical service at auto dealerships, even while collision labor comes with much greater required investment in equipment and far greatly liability. In short, collision labor rates did not make sense to us.
So we created the Variable Rate System to help both insurers and body shops address a critical economic factor in the health and sustainability of the collision repair industry--labor rates. Then, we created BillableGenie to reveal data on which not-included procedures were getting paid around the country, at a new level of data transparency the industry had never seen before but was needed to help ensure a complete and safe repair was properly paid for.
Ultimately, this is still about consumer safety. The VRS provides shops the tools to better understand their cost of doing business and freely determine the right labor rates for their own individual shop that will ensure sufficient and sustainable profits. Coupled with sound business judgment, the VRS significantly helps auto body shops generate the profits they need to reinvest in training, certifications, equipment, and technology necessary to properly repair modern high-tech vehicles. And it helps insurers better understand which rates to pay to which shops, especially those shops who make the investments necessary to repair cars right. Then, families can with confidence be assured that their safety and well-being are the highest priority in the minds and actions of those repairing their crashed vehicles and reimbursing their repair expense.
It is to that end that National AutoBody Research and the Variable Rate System are dedicated.
Yet we have observed that too many repairers lack the formal training, tools, equipment, facilities, and certifications necessary to repair modern vehicles completely, properly and safely.
Among various reasons for this, we find one of the root causes is a lack of sufficiently and sustainably profitable labor rates charged by the shops and paid by insurers. We see a clear link between labor rates and consumer safety, in that a proper labor rate enables the body shop to invest in the people, training, equipment, and certifications necessary to repair vehicles correctly and safely. This is compounded by shops not charging or collecting for many necessary but not-included procedures, operations, and materials, further putting pressure on profitability and their ability to invest.
From our early research and labor rate surveys, it also became quickly evident in the data that labor rate prices in this industry are largely irrational, and too many collision repairers don't know how to properly price their labor. We saw shops with large investments in their business charging (or getting paid by insurers) the same rates as other shops who did not have those investments. Shops in lower cost of living areas were getting paid more than shops in higher cost of living areas. Shops with OEM certifications were charging or getting paid the same as shops with no certifications. And collision labor was often priced 25 - 50% less than the labor rates for plumbers, electricians, bicycle repair, lawn mower maintenance, and mechanical service at auto dealerships, even while collision labor comes with much greater required investment in equipment and far greatly liability. In short, collision labor rates did not make sense to us.
So we created the Variable Rate System to help both insurers and body shops address a critical economic factor in the health and sustainability of the collision repair industry--labor rates. Then, we created BillableGenie to reveal data on which not-included procedures were getting paid around the country, at a new level of data transparency the industry had never seen before but was needed to help ensure a complete and safe repair was properly paid for.
Ultimately, this is still about consumer safety. The VRS provides shops the tools to better understand their cost of doing business and freely determine the right labor rates for their own individual shop that will ensure sufficient and sustainable profits. Coupled with sound business judgment, the VRS significantly helps auto body shops generate the profits they need to reinvest in training, certifications, equipment, and technology necessary to properly repair modern high-tech vehicles. And it helps insurers better understand which rates to pay to which shops, especially those shops who make the investments necessary to repair cars right. Then, families can with confidence be assured that their safety and well-being are the highest priority in the minds and actions of those repairing their crashed vehicles and reimbursing their repair expense.
It is to that end that National AutoBody Research and the Variable Rate System are dedicated.
Our Mission
To enable a rational pricing model for labor rates in the auto collision repair industry, and to help drive consistency in the payment of necessary but not-included procedures & operations, all for the ultimate care and safety of customers.
The Vision
NABR's Variable Rate System is the automotive collision repair industry standard system for measuring and reporting market-based labor rate prices; and for searchable approved and paid estimate data for key operations and procedures.
We see a future where body shop labor rates are market-based, not artificially controlled or adversely influenced by anyone. Today, vehicles are priced according to the market. So are parts, paint, equipment, and tools. Why not labor rates? Auto mechanics, electricians, and plumbers, for example, have the freedom to price their labor at whatever price they choose, in the context of market prices and their skills or specialties. Collision repair labor be that way too, and we can help the industry do better.
"Prevailing rate" is a misnomer. There is not one single labor rate in a market. Instead, there are a range of reasonable and acceptable rates, segmented by a shop's location, capability, the vehicle, and the type of repair. All shops are not equal, and neither are their prices.
This Vision is being realized as we speak, as more and more collision centers gain access to powerful and practical data not available anywhere else. A national movement is underway to restore logic and rationality to labor rate pricing and paid procedures in the auto collision repair industry. Join us and enroll in the VRS & BillableGenie today.
Whether you are an independent shop, MSO, or a large national brand with hundreds of locations, you need an independent, third-party source to provide trusted, objective data on labor rate prices in markets around the nation. The VRS is that source. Use it on a daily basis for quotes, estimates, and payments, knowing that the VRS reported prices are the truest market-based rates available.
"Prevailing rate" is a misnomer. There is not one single labor rate in a market. Instead, there are a range of reasonable and acceptable rates, segmented by a shop's location, capability, the vehicle, and the type of repair. All shops are not equal, and neither are their prices.
This Vision is being realized as we speak, as more and more collision centers gain access to powerful and practical data not available anywhere else. A national movement is underway to restore logic and rationality to labor rate pricing and paid procedures in the auto collision repair industry. Join us and enroll in the VRS & BillableGenie today.
Whether you are an independent shop, MSO, or a large national brand with hundreds of locations, you need an independent, third-party source to provide trusted, objective data on labor rate prices in markets around the nation. The VRS is that source. Use it on a daily basis for quotes, estimates, and payments, knowing that the VRS reported prices are the truest market-based rates available.
