What a detail scope of work should cover, job type by job type

In most detail agreements, the scope of work is a single line: "vehicle preparation." It's the clause that looks the most obvious, and it's the one that causes the most disputes. The same word covers very different jobs, and everyone (from the prep tech to the sales manager) reads it their own way.

A well-written scope of work isn't paperwork. It does three things: it lets you compare two per-unit prices on the same basis, judge quality without an argument, and settle a redo in thirty seconds.

Four job types, four definitions

Everything that goes through a dealership detail bay falls into one of these four families. Each deserves its own definition, because each has a different time, a different cost and a different customer at the end.

Delivery prep

The new vehicle leaving with its owner. It's the most visible work in the whole dealership: the customer inspects it within a minute. The scope should say what gets removed (shipping film and protection, adhesive residue), what gets cleaned (exterior, glass, interior, door sills, trunk, wheels) and what gets checked before the keys are handed over. It should also say what is not included and billed separately: protection products, paint correction.

Used-vehicle recon

Here, a single level is never enough. A recent, clean unit and an eight-year-old trade-in don't need the same work. The scope should define two or three levels by what they include, and above all say who picks the level: ideally the used-car manager at appraisal, not the prep tech standing in front of the vehicle.

Courtesy wash

The service customer's vehicle going home after maintenance. Quick, but frequent, and easy to let drift. The scope should say what it includes (exterior only? vacuum?), who requests it (the advisor, on the repair order) and when it's scheduled so it doesn't delay the customer's pickup.

Lot upkeep

Inventory units that need to stay presentable. The scope should say which ones, how often, and what's done on each pass. Without that, lot upkeep becomes either invisible or never-ending.

For each type, five lines to write

The fifth line is the one most often forgotten. If the invoice doesn't say which type of work was done on each vehicle, it can't be reconciled against your repair orders, and the per-unit price stops meaning anything.

The grey zones that end in disputes

• The out-of-the-ordinary vehicle. Pet hair, smoke odour, heavy stains: a surcharge, a different level, or included? Write it down beforehand, don't negotiate it in front of the unit.
• The return from the shop. A vehicle prepped, sent back to the shop, returned dirty: who pays for the second pass?
• The move with no work. A unit moved to free up the bay isn't a prep. Does it count?
• The photo. Is the used vehicle ready "for photos" or "for delivery"? Those aren't the same standard.

How to start in your store

Take one week of work from your bay. Sort every vehicle into one of the four types. Then ask two prep techs what exactly they do for a delivery prep.

If you get two different answers, you've just found the first line of your scope of work.