Serving Wichita and the
surrounding areas since 1994.

Notes from a Remodeling & General Contractor for the Wichita, KS Area

Importance of IICRC for Consumers with Fire & Water Damage

Taking a recent post in a more personal and practical direction, we’re going to discuss how the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration, Certification (IICRC) is important to you, the consumer (home or business owner), in the event you face a fire or water related loss in your home.

If you need to learn more about the IICRC and its role in cleaning and remediation industry-wide standards, see our previous post, “Fire & Water Damage Cleaning & Remediation – What is the IICRC?

IICRC Sets the Standards & Stays Up-to-Date

The IICRC has developed a set of industry-wide standards and reference guides that professional cleaners, mitigation companies, inspectors, trade schools, health workers, and insurance companies can turn to in various cleaning and restoration situations. These standards are updated and reviewed at least every five years to account for new information, techniques, equipment, and scientific discoveries that come to light. These reference guides benefit the consumer in multiple ways:

Finding a Qualified Water & Fire Damage Mitigation Contractor

When in the midst of a fire, smoke, water, or mold loss, the last thing you want to worry about is if the work will be completed by a qualified contractor. Finding a certified IICRC contractor like S&A Restoration (a division of S&A Construction) can help ease your stress in the midst of an already stressful situation. S&A Restoration performs our work to comply with the IICRC standards.

Helping with Water, Smoke & Fire Loss Insurance Coverage

By setting standards for properly mitigating water, smoke, or fire loss, the IICRC helps insurance companies, contractors, and customers sort through insurance coverage questions more quickly. While these standards are not a guarantee for what will be covered in each situation, they do provide a baseline.

For example, if a contractor can refer to the IICRC standard book to justify what steps are needed to mitigate smoke damage from a home, the insurance company will likely pay for the required work to be done. The IICRC standards provide the consumer leverage with the insurance carrier in the event there is debate about the extent of work the insurance carrier will authorize. Common questions we see referenced are:

  • How many fans and dehumidifiers are necessary to dry the property?
  • Can the wet carpeting/pad be saved, or does it need to be removed?
  • How much wet drywall should be removed from a water loss?
  • Can the popcorn texture on my ceilings be cleaned from smoke, or does it need to be scraped and re-textured?

Customer Health & Safety

The IICRC standards take into account the personal health and safety of both the worker and the consumer. Health professionals, scientists, microbiologists, contractors, and cleaning companies all work together with IICRC to take into account a best-practices standard of work to protect everyone involved in mitigating a home of damages and restoring it to a place where people love to live again.

Demand IICRC Certified Professionals for Fire & Water Damage Restoration

S&A Restoration works to maintain the industries’ highest standards in water, smoke, and fire mitigation by having IICRC certified staff and technicians to provide our customers with expert knowledge and expert service.

If you find yourself in an emergency situation, consider S&A Restoration, a BBB A+ rated professional in water, fire, and restoration. Give us a call at (316) 558-8422 day or night.