Estimate & Customer Authorization: the full procedure

Give the customer a written estimate of parts and labor and obtain documented authorization before any work or added work begins.

• Applies to: Service advisor.
• Frequency: Every repair order and every change to scope.
• Scope: Covers building and authorizing the estimate. The specific written-estimate and signed-authorization legal requirements defer to your state’s auto-repair law and the FTC.

What you need

• Estimating system
• Written estimate form
• Authorization log (signed/oral/electronic)
• Labor guide
• Parts pricing

The procedure, step by step

1. Build the written estimate — Itemize the parts and labor needed for the specific job so the customer sees exactly what they’re approving.
2. Explain the estimate — Walk the customer through the concern, the recommended fix, and any safety or maintenance items in plain language.
3. Get authorization BEFORE work — Obtain the customer’s consent — signature, or documented oral/electronic approval — before any work is done or charges accrue.
4. Honor the estimate cap — Don’t exceed the authorized price; many states bar charging beyond the estimate without fresh consent (AAA caps overages at 10% without prior approval).
5. Authorize added work separately — If the technician finds more, stop and get a new documented approval before doing the extra work or buying the extra parts.
6. Log how & when authorization was given — Record the date, time, method (signed/phone/text/email), and name of who approved.
7. Confirm old-parts & diagnostic fees — Note any teardown/diagnostic charges and whether the customer wants replaced parts returned.
8. No surprise charges — Ensure the final invoice cannot contain any line the customer didn’t authorize.

Quality check before you finish

• Estimate itemizes parts and labor separately.
• Authorization obtained before any work started.
• Authorization method and timestamp logged.
• Added work re-authorized before proceeding.
• Final price within the authorized amount.
• Diagnostic/teardown fees disclosed upfront.
• Replaced-parts return preference recorded.

This is a free, source-anchored standard operating procedure (SOP) you can print and hand to staff. It documents the work sequence for a Auto Repair Shop business — not safety or regulatory rulings, which defer to the cited authorities, the applicable code, and your own health-and-safety plan. Open the tool above to print it, toggle ink-saver, or (with a free ToolFluency Business account) edit it to match your own workflow.

Sources

• California BAR / 16 CCR 3353 — Written Estimate & Authorization (bar.ca.gov)
• FTC — Auto Repair Basics (consumer.ftc.gov)
• AAA Approved Auto Repair — 10% Overage Cap (aaa.com)