[showtime1k]

a friend of mine is taking over a body shop.(rent). he does tinting and auto customizing. he looking for someone to share the rent. i offered him 500 towards the rent. are there any expenses involved with this besides tools and materials. ive done work from my garage so i know how to price materials, hours, and labor help.
are there any permits or insurance requirements and how much if so?

[poncho62]

Originally Posted by showtime1k

are there any permits or insurance requirements and how much if so?

For a body shop?...I am sure there are. Not to mention all the special and safety equipment.....Spray booth and related exhaust and breathing apparatus

[MARTINSR]

Depending on the state, county and city you are in there is likely a shopping list of permits and equipment/storage/waste devices you need.

Again, depending on where you are at, it could be required to have a permit for your compressor, twenty or thirty other things like explosion proof cabinets, hazardous waste to a multi million dollar bond for when your shop burns down the town. Plus a state board of equalization (it's called that here in Ca) permit to collect sales tax.

Bodyshops are one of the most highly regulated businesses there are. You need to do your home work, or you could be asking for some big time trouble.

First go to your city government office and start the process, good luck.

Brian

[showtime1k]

Originally Posted by poncho62

For a body shop?...I am sure there are. Not to mention all the special and safety equipment.....Spray booth and related exhaust and breathing apparatus

im going to check the place out this weekend. im assuming those things are there, it was a body shop previously, jus trying to find out what other expenses are there

[showtime1k]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

Depending on the state, county and city you are in there is likely a shopping list of permits and equipment/storage/waste devices you need.

Again, depending on where you are at, it could be required to have a permit for your compressor, twenty or thirty other things like explosion proof cabinets, hazardous waste to a multi million dollar bond for when your shop burns down the town. Plus a state board of equalization (it's called that here in Ca) permit to collect sales tax.

Bodyshops are one of the most highly regulated businesses there are. You need to do your home work, or you could be asking for some big time trouble.

First go to your city government office and start the process, good luck.

Brian

now that you mention it, you do need a permit for the compressor in ny depending on the size. so im sure that one will need on.

multi million dollar bond? is that and insurance policy?

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by showtime1k

now that you mention it, you do need a permit for the compressor in ny depending on the size. so im sure that one will need on.

multi million dollar bond? is that and insurance policy?

Yes, "completed operations", liability, ect.

Yep, it's real hard to say what you need, every city and county are different. The firedept is commonly in charge of the hazardous waste, you will likely need double containment, explosion proof cabinets, that sort of thing.

This is all a guess because I don't know your county. I know that here, when I opened a shop back 30 years ago there was no big thing, then more and more started coming. Today, it costs quite a bit to open a shop. But around your neck of the woods, I simply don't know. You need to start doing home work.

Brian

[oldBodyman]

"are there any permits or insurance requirements and how much if so?"

You are in N.Y. just ask the state police, they do have an autobody shop inspector dept. (nice people). They can answer most of your questions.

[swvalcon]

A lot depends on how big of a city you live in and how over worked the state inspectors are. You may start a shop and not see a inspector for years or you may see one the next day. Every state has different rules. If you know anyone in your area that owns or works in a body shop they should be able to fill you in on a lot.

[Kevin45]

I have a buddy that had a body shop in the country. He started it years ago. Fast forward....he got divorced and was looking at opening a new shop. It was going to cost him around $250,000 by the time he got everything up to snuff with the permits, waste disposal, paint booth with proper filtration, and so on. He decided to work at a body shop instead of opening another one. He does do some small stuff out of his home garage though, but nothing on a fulltime basis like he had.

[deadbodyman]

Originally Posted by showtime1k

a friend of mine is taking over a body shop.(rent). he does tinting and auto customizing. he looking for someone to share the rent. i offered him 500 towards the rent. are there any expenses involved with this besides tools and materials. ive done work from my garage so i know how to price materials, hours, and labor help.
are there any permits or insurance requirements and how much if so?

I would leave it a tint shop and not say anythig about doing body and paint work,at least long enough (maybe a year) to see if you work well together and if you'll have enough business. Keep your expenses to the bone if you do it by the book (the counties book) you'll be out of business before you start...
As broke as NY is you'd think they'd loosen up on fees and taxes for small businesses so more would start up and prosper but like most big businesses they Raise the price of doing business ,putting more and more out of bussiness ....The wisdom of this escapes me but what do I know I'm just a lowly bodyman...I left NY 25 years ago ,it was one of the best moves I ever made....

[Lizer]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

Bodyshops are one of the most highly regulated businesses there are.

You should come spend a week with me in pharmaceuticals. It will make your bodyshop feel like a picnic.

[66GMC]

The phrase "Born Free ... Taxed to Death" comes to mind.

It doesn't seem to matter what industry you are in, the government wants to bury you in legislation, permits, and taxes.

[oldBodyman]

"Fast forward....he got divorced and was looking at opening a new shop. It was going to cost him around $250,000 by the time he got everything up to snuff with the permits, waste disposal, paint booth with proper filtration, and so on."

That $250,000 doesn't count tools and equipment and IT'S ONLY THE START.

going DRP for insurance companies have their own requirements
doing contract work (rental cars or service truck) have their own requirements
there's not enough personal walk-in trade to guarantee your bills getting paid
old cars are not worth the bill, new cars require constant equipment up-grades
you're wide open to walk-in inspections at anytime (spelled fines)
you're wide open to pilferage, out right theft, accidents, acts-of-God, ect.
towing & storage doesn't happen for free
ect., ect., ect.

Lots of money, aggrevation and commitment here (leases, loans, licenses)
As an owner YOU can't say 'take this job and shove it', YOU can't just walk away.

Personally I'd keep it hobby, if you are still going to open up, keep it on the down-low and see if it works out, bodyshops have always been 'feast or famine'. There are many reasons quite a few bodyshops have been leveled and turned into mini-storage units, less liability and more profit.

[deadbodyman]

Around here the ins. pro shops are taking over and putting all the bigger bodyshops out of business out of business..They just opend up a new shop next door to one of the bigger shops we expect that shop to last one more year....Right now its good for the smaller shops but in the future it'll be much worse for us...

[shoddy_f-body]

I rented a small shop for a while. There are tons of expenses. I had to pay a stack permit fee for my booth, had to install a fire suppression system in the spray booth and every year I had to pay the fire official a few thousand for so for some type of permit.Thats just a few of the things. I decided to go back to working out of my garage.