Insurance and Disaster Consulting

 

Respond and Recommend

Catastrophic losses require a timely, coordinated response by a team of qualified professionals.  Safetech understands the ins and outs of the insurance industry.  That’s why we have created a dedicated Insurance and Disaster Restoration Group to attend to your specific needs.  We respond in a timely manner to provide an assessment of damage and hazardous conditions caused by the loss using state-of the-art equipment and qualified laboratories.  This enables us to provide you with the scope of work for your retained contractors that are required to mitigate the loss and restore loss-related damage to pre-loss conditions both safely and quickly.  Our process ensures you are practicing your due diligence while also allowing for faster estimating and reserve-setting times.

 

Safetech provides a range of services to support damage claims, including the following:

Water Damage Claims

Safetech knows the urgent response required to identify areas of water damage so that appropriate measures can be taken as soon as possible to mitigate the loss and avoid mould growth.  Safetech uses state-of-the-art equipment to aid in determining the extent of water damage (much of which may be hidden or not obvious to the naked eye or to the touch) so that an appropriate drying and restoration plan can be developed.

Whether building structures and materials can be dried in place or need to be removed depends on many factors that have to be taken into consideration.  This includes the extent of water damage (or Class of water), the extent of contamination in the water (or Category of the water), and the characteristics (e.g., porosity) of the impacted materials.

Typical water damage services provided by Safetech include:

  • Water Damage/Flood Assessments

  • Moisture Mapping

  • Hazardous Building Materials Identification

  • Design, Implementation and Management of Water Damage Restoration Projects

  • Site Inspection, Testing and Verification of Drying During and After Water Damage Restoration

  • Air and Surface Sampling for Contaminants Related to Water Damage (e.g., sewage indicator bacteria, mould, glycol)

Fire Damage Claims

Once the flames have been extinguished the immediate hazards of a fire may be gone, but the hazards left behind can be numerous and significant.  The fire may have caused structural damage and smoke damage, while fire-fighting activities may have caused water damage. Emergency responders, restoration workers and others may be at risk of exposure to airborne contaminants generated by the fire.  Hazardous building materials may require removal.  Smoke can travel long distances from the actual site of the fire and may be hidden within wall/ceiling cavities, pipe shafts and other building structures.  If not identified and restored, smoke odours may linger and create ongoing occupant concerns.

Typical fire damage services provided by Safetech include:

  • Structural Assessments, Repair Specifications and Oversight

  • Fire Damage Assessments (Fire Residues/Soot)

  • Water Damage Assessments

  • Hazardous Building Materials Assessments

  • Post-Fire Air Quality Testing

  • Preparation of Emergency Restoration Scope of Work

  • Site Inspection and Surface Cleaning Verification Testing During Restoration

  • Post-Restoration Verification Testing (e.g. fire residues, odours, air quality)

Fuel Spill Claims

The size and complexity of fuel spills can vary significantly.  Heating oil may have leaked from an above-ground storage tank in a residential basement or a highway accident may have caused a release of diesel fuel adjacent to a nearby watercourse.  No matter the size or complexity, our qualified environmental spills team consisting of professional engineers, professional geoscientists, certified engineering technologists and environmental technicians are available 24/7 to assess these impacts and help mitigate the loss.

Typical fuel spill services provided by Safetech include:

  • Contamination Assessment and Recommendations for Emergency Mitigation Measures

  • Liaison with Regulatory Agencies, Emergency Restoration Contractors and Traffic Control

  • Soil and Groundwater Sampling

  • Preparation of Emergency Remediation Scope of Work

  • Post-Remediation Verification Sampling

  • Air Quality Testing

Structural Damage Claims

Did severe winds cause a tree to fall on a building?  Has a leak or water intrusion gone unnoticed, causing wood rot?  Has a vehicle impacted the building facade?  Did a fire burn or warp structural supports?  No matter the cause, Safetech’s team of structural engineers, building science specialists and technicians can attend the loss in a timely manner to confirm the cause of damage and determine appropriate repairs.

 Typical structural damage services provided by Safetech include:

  • Structural Analysis

  • Moisture Intrusion/Building Envelope Assessments

  • Structural Repair Design and Permit Applications

  • Cost Control and Quality Assurance Monitoring