 |
The following information is intended to assist you inunderstanding the restorative process under taken by your Chem-Dry representative whenever Chem-Dry New Zealand's Corporate Services Division has been appointed on behalf of your Insurance Company or their Loss Adjusters to assist in the restoration of your building and/or contents.
Once instructions are received that your property has been affected by fire and/or smoke damage, one of our qualified Technicians will contact you to gather as much information as possible about the incident and to make arrangements to inspect the affected areas.
Once the estimate has been authorized by your Insurance company, our Technician will follow up to arrange a time to commence or complete the necessary work.
In dealing with the incident, and depending on the severity of the damage and/or restrictions or limitations of the policy cover, some or all of the following procedures may be followed as the restorative work is undertaken.
Initial consideration will be given on emergency work to prevent further damage and the health and safety of you, your family, the restoration Technicians and any other sub-contractors that may need access to the property.
Emergency work may involve the following:
- Site safety. Gas and/or electricity may need to be shut off
- Preliminary detoxification may need to be undertaken (This involves thermal fogging, a technique which produces millions of deodorant particles that has a mist like appearance giving it the ability to go wherever the smoke or malodour has gone)
- Ventilation of the property
- The application of solutions to burnt/charred surfaces and smoke damaged walls to prevent the evaporation of odour bearing molecules
- Removal of burnt/charred building materials and/or content items dependant upon policy cover
- Application of granular odour counteractants to control airborne odour particles
Following the completion of the emergency work a detailed assessment of the damage to the building and/or contents will be undertaken
Buildings
The extent or amount of restorative work performed will depend upon the intensity of the fire.
The effect of airborne smoke deposits may be visible throughout the property on surfaces, walls and ceilings. Redecorating cannot be successfully completed without the removal or neutralization of these carbon deposits.
Smoke residue on most structural surfaces will be dry-cleaned initially to remove loose deposits often followed by wet cleaning. Surface cleaning will remove the majority of smoke deposits, however, if the particles have been driven into the building's structural materials, a sealant will be applied, after cleaning, to prevent the re-occurrence of smoke odour and staining of subsequent decorative finishes.
If building materials are physically burnt then restoration may not be possible and building work and redecorating may be required, which will normally be considered separately by your Insurers or Loss Adjuster.Our goal is to leave the structure in a suitable condition for any other subcontractors to complete their work.If your policy covers contents only, the Technician will not be in a position to remove fire damaged building materials, i.e. kitchen units or clean walls/ceilings etc.
Content
After the emergency work has been completed our Technician will, providing you have the appropriate Insurance coverage, assess content items to determine the possibility of successful restoration. Other specialists such as French Polishers, electrical engineers and upholsterers may be required to inspect damaged items. This will be discussed with you by the Technician or Loss Adjuster.
It is appreciated that affected items may range from floor coverings to light fittings and everything in between and so a wide range of restoration techniques have been developed. Depending upon the extent of damage it may be necessary to remove items for cleaning off-site.
Once an assessment of the items to be cleaned has been completed, an estimate detailing items that can be economically restored will be provided to the Insurers or Loss Adjusters for their approval before we can proceed.
Items that are beyond economical restoration will be identified, listed and with your approval removed. Your Insurers or Loss Adjusters will require a list of these items to organize replacement/settlement.
Upon completion of the restoration work the Technician will request that you sign off the work confirming that everything meets your satisfaction. This will enable the final report to be submitted to your Insurers for prompt settlement.
We hope that the above information is useful as an introduction to ChemDry Corporate Services and what to expect should you be in need of restorative services. Should you require any assistance on this or any other service offered by Chem-Dry New Zealand Ltd., please do not hesitate to contact us
| |
