A color and/or effect coating material which is free from rheological aids based on phyllosilicates and comprises (A) a water-soluble, water-dilutable and/or water-dispersible polyurethane; (B) a color and/or effect pigment; (C) a dispersing assistant selected from the group consisting of the reaction products of (c1) a functionalized copolymer containing (c11) a copolymerized olefinically unsaturated monomer isocyanate groups, anhydride groups and epoxy groups; and (c12) a copolymerized olefinically unsaturated monomer which is free from isocyanate-, anhydride- and epoxy-reactive functional groups; (c2) at least one homopolymeric polyalkylene glycol, and (c3) at least one compound of the general formula I: NR.sub.2--C(O)--NR.sub.2 (I) in which the variables R are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen atoms and organic radicals, at least one of the radicals R containing at least one reactive functional group selected from the group consisting of isocyanate-, anhydride- and epoxy-reactive groups; and (D) a rheological aid based on (meth)acrylate copolymers; and its use to produce single-coat and multicoat color and/or effect paint systems.