R&I vs R&R on a PDR estimate

The short answer

R&I, remove and reinstall

the existing part is taken off, set aside and put back on. It is labor only, written in hours. Some estimates say "remove and install"; it means the same thing.

R&R, remove and replace

the part comes off and a new part goes on. It is labor plus the price of the new part.

The test is simple: does the part that comes off go back on? If it does, the line is an R&I. If a new part goes on in its place, the line is an R&R.

Why PDR estimates carry R&I lines

Paintless dent repair works from behind the panel. A technician needs a clear path for a rod or a whale tail to reach the back of each dent, and on most panels something is in the way. Taking it off is access work, and access work is written as R&I. The R&I lines that show up most on hail cars:

Each R&I line is written in labor hours at the shop's labor rate. The hours for a part on a given vehicle come from the collision trade's labor guides or from the shop's own experience with that model, and an adjuster will usually expect to see them as hours rather than a lump sum.

Write each R&I under the panel it gives access to. A headliner R&I belongs to the roof repair and a tail lamp R&I to the quarter panel, so whoever reads the estimate can see why each one is there.

When it becomes an R&R

An R&R appears when the part that comes off cannot go back on, either because the storm damaged it or because it is the kind of part that is not reused once removed. Typical hail-car R&Rs:

• A molding or an emblem dented or cracked by the hail itself.
• Clips, adhesive-backed moldings and some roof moldings that are made to be replaced once they come off.
• A cracked lamp lens, a bent roof rack rail or a broken antenna.

An R&R line carries two things: the labor to take the old part off and fit the new one, and the price of the part. The part is something the shop buys in, so it gets ordered, received and billed on its own terms, and it can hold a car up while it is on the way.

The two mistakes cost in opposite directions. Writing a reusable part as an R&R bills for a part nobody needed. Writing a one-time part as an R&I leaves the shop paying for the replacement out of its own pocket. Check the part before deciding, and note on the estimate why a part is being replaced.

R&I on retail and dealer work

On retail and dealer work, access is often folded into the price. An owner with one door ding doesn't need a separate line for the trim panel, and a dealer's price sheet usually prices the panel with its access included. The work is the same either way, so know what the R&I costs in time before quoting: a quarter panel that needs the tail lamp and the interior trim off is a different quote from one reached through an opening.

On insurance work the opposite holds. Access belongs on its own line, in hours, under the panel it serves, where the adjuster can see it and match it to the photos.

R&I, R&R and supplements

Hidden damage often shows only once parts are off. A dent under a roof bow appears when the headliner comes down; a broken clip appears when the door trim panel comes off. Once the estimate has been approved, the added R&I, R&R or PDR goes in a supplement with its reason, rather than an edit to the approved version.

A clean supplement says what changed against the original and why, and keeps the original as it was approved. The hail repair workflow guide covers when supplements usually happen and what holds them up.

How R&I and R&R affect technician pay

Shops pay on access work in different ways, and the difference between the two lines matters here too. A shop paying commission usually pays on the labor and the PDR, not on a part the shop bought. A shop paying flag hours pays the hours written on the line, so an R&I's hours are part of the technician's pay.

Whatever the plan, the estimate is the record pay is figured from. A part written as labor, or labor buried in a part's price, moves a technician's pay as surely as it moves the bill. The technician pay guide explains each pay plan.