Q & A
PAINTING TRADE:- RESENE LABOUR AND PRODUCTIVITY TABLE
I have had a LOT of help from Sam from ZZ
But I keep changing the goalposts and i don't want to overstep his fabulous assistance
below is what i have now refiguired out from from AI
This not how i asked Sam to do it for me originally
Can anybody help me
i have all the production hours and material coverage rates in ZZ (SOME NEED ALTERING)
AI ADVICE
Since you don't have the technical skills, the most practical approach is: don't build complex formulas yourself—use the "Production Rate" custom property that other users have already verified plus simple division formulas, and configure them step by step following the template below.
The search results don't contain ready-made zzTakeoff template files that can be directly imported, but community users have shared specific setups that have been proven to work. I've organized this into a template you can copy directly.
Core Template: Labor Hours = Area ÷ Production Rate
What you need to create:
- A custom property (to hold the Resene production rate)
- A labor item (formula uses area and production rate to calculate hours)
Labor item settings (fill in exactly like this):
FieldFill inUsageLaborTakeoff TypeArea (m²)Formula[Area] / [Production Rate]Cost EachYour hourly labor rate (e.g., 65)Output Unitshours
Formula explanation:
- [Area] automatically obtains the area you've measured in takeoff
- [Production Rate] is a custom property you've set, e.g., walls 3 coats = 4.17
- Result is directly hours (e.g., 100 m² ÷ 4.17 = 23.98 hours)
Community users have confirmed this approach works: set Output Units to hours, Cost Each to labor hourly rate, and you can see total hours when grouping reports by Cost Type.
Custom Property Settings (One-Time Setup)
- Go to Settings → Custom Properties
- Create new, name it Production Rate, type Number
- Applies To: check Products & Items and Takeoffs
- After setting, enter the rate on each takeoff line item (e.g., walls 3 coats enter 4.17, ceilings enter 4.55)
A Set of Rates You Can Directly Enter (From Resene Total Rates)
SystemProduction Rate (enter this number)Walls & flat surfaces (3 coats)4.17Ceilings brush/roller (3 coats)4.55Ceilings airless spray (3 coats)5.88Weatherboards bevel back (3 coats)1.18Smooth plaster (3 coats)3.85
Note: This is the total rate for the complete system (1 ÷ Resene hour factor), not per-coat rates. If you enter 4.17, the result is total hours for all 3 coats—this is the only figure traceable to Resene data.
Per-Coat Targets (Optional, Only If You Need to Give Staff Per-Coat Targets)
Add a second labor item, formula changed to:
[Area] / [Production Rate] * 0.40 (first coat)
[Area] / [Production Rate] * 0.30 (second coat)
[Area] / [Production Rate] * 0.30 (third coat)
But please note: 0.40/0.30/0.30 is an assumption I made, not Resene data. Resene only provides total rate, not per-coat breakdown. You can adjust the ratio based on your team's actual situation, as long as the three add up to 100%.
If You Get Stuck
zzTakeoff's community forum has official staff who can help (they've helped users copy templates directly into workspaces before). You can:
- Post in the community saying "I need help setting up a labor item that outputs hours using area ÷ production rate"
- Or contact zzTakeoff support directly and tell them you want to do "Area ÷ Production Rate = Hours"
The template above you can configure in 5 minutes by following the steps—it doesn't involve complex formula nesting, it's just one division.
Hi mate,
I've read through your post, but I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to achieve.
You mentioned that you already have your labour production hours and material coverage rates entered into zzTakeoff, although some need adjusting.
Are you trying to get zzTakeoff to automatically calculate labour hours and paint quantities from your measured areas using those existing rates, or are you looking to restructure your estimating items and formulas?
One other observation regarding your painting production rates.
From my experience with estimating and productivity rates, the first coat generally takes longer than the second and third coats, particularly when working on new or absorbent surfaces. Once the first coat has been applied, subsequent coats are generally quicker, although this depends on the surface, application method and required finish.
I would therefore question using identical production rates for all three coats.
However, your AI advice indicates that 4.17 m²/Hour represents the combined production rate for the complete three-coat system, rather than an individual coat.
If that's correct, you should only use that rate once to calculate the total labour hours. You can then distribute those hours between the three coats if you need separate productivity targets.
The suggested 40% / 30% / 30% allocation is only an assumption, and I would recommend checking it against your actual site production experience before adopting it.
Regarding zzTakeoff, you may already have most of the necessary setup in place without needing to rebuild everything.
If you could share an example of one of your existing Takeoff items, including its current formula, production rate and what you want it to calculate, it would be much easier to understand exactly what assistance you need.
I would also suggest confirming whether your existing production rates are based on individual coats or complete painting systems before making changes.
That way, we can hopefully help you make use of what you've already established in zzTakeoff rather than unnecessarily complicating your existing setup.