Flood Recovery Guidelines

ADDRESSING BASIC FLOOD RECOVERY PROCEDURES

The following information will allow those affected by floods or water ingress to check whether contractors are following acceptable procedures and should, where time allows, be used in conjunction with advice from insurers.

The 2000 floods highlighted concerns over cowboy operators with the vast amounts of work needed on thousands of commercial and domestic properties which had been restored inappropriately.

Since it is not always possible to judge the competence of contractors until after the event, the BDMA provides some basic guidelines to assist those faced with urgent recovery needs, which indicate the service they are entitled to expect.

A competent recovery company will undertake the following:

• A Risk Assessment
• Assessment of potential for secondary damage
• Control and mitigation of the situation where possible
• Categorisation of the incident
• Provision to the customer of Health & Safety information
• Assessment of the cost of damage/restoration
• Report of projected costs to relevant persons or organisations

Following flood damage the competent organisation will verify the full extent of primary and potential, or consequential, secondary damage.  Information and advice offered to those affected will meet common duty of care requirements.

Control, measurement and records of drying progress are essential.  Buildings and/or contents should be left in the same condition as before the incident where at all possible.  Where this not possible the reasons and likely outcomes of the resulting status should be notified to the property owner and other interested parties.

After flood or water damage the competent restorer will aim to leave buildings and property clean, dry, odour free and sanitised.  This is of course not always possible and where it cannot be achieved the relevant parties should be advised accordingly in order to consider alternative options, such as replacement or even abandonment.

Recovery and restoration imply returning a damaged item of building to its pre-incident condition, within a time frame and cost scale that delivers a level of saving acceptable to the client.  The work required is highly specialised but will often prove more cost effective than replacement.

Refurbishment or replacement relates to renovation and renewal and this provision is likely to be undertaken by other operatives such as builders, decorators, plumbers and electricians.

What is meant by clean? The cleaning process includes locating, identifying, containing, removing and properly disposing of unwanted substances from an environment or material.

An area is considered 'clean' when contaminants, pollutants and undesired substances have been removed from an environment or surface, thereby reducing damage or harm to human health or materials.

When is a building considered to be dry?

In simple terms a building, its materials or contents are considered to be 'dry' when the moisture content achieves 'equilibrium'. This means a level of moisture  is such that it prevents active growth of fungal spores.  To achieve this requires different levels of moisture content for different types of material.

Ideally, a building or its contents should be returned to the condition that existed prior to the incident.  In cases where the structure was previously suffering from damp it will be up to a loss adjuster or insurer to determine what is an acceptable recovery level.

A competent organisation will know when drying operations should cease.  This would normally be when they are satisfied that:

• The internal conditions are at, or better than, normal room conditions.
• The moisture on and in the building materials themselves will not support active growth of mould and mildew.
• The building materials and contents will finish returning to equilibrium within normal room conditions by themselves, without suffering further damage.

Odour free

While individuals have different perceptions of smells and what is unacceptable, odour can often be an indication of potential risks to human health.

Where possible the source of any odour should be removed, the area cleaned and, as a last resort, properly sealed.  Overlaying odour with fragrances or masking of  bad odour is not acceptable and is potentially dangerous.

If odour reoccurs after professional cleaning it is usually due to poor decontamination or other processes.

Sanitation
Sanitary conditions exist in an environment that supports the natural balance of life, as opposed to sterile conditions which require a laboratory environment.

Where there is a high level of micro-organisms these should be reduced to a level which can be demonstrated to be safe or at least equivalent to pre-existing conditions.  Sanitation will normally involve procedures for removing the source of the problem, followed by thorough cleaning and the application of a sanitising agent.  Tests are available to identify both specific and generic contamination and these can be used both for records and reassurance.

Recovery technicians will NOT give medical advice.  However, it is their responsibility to alert clients to potential health threats from the contamination or possible short term side effects of the sanitising process.  They should enquire and make note of anyone whose immune system may be deficient or compromised, such as the elderly, young children and those with respiratory problems, advising them of the risks.

If in any doubt, as to the ability or credentials of a company offering to deal with the aftermath of flooding, advice should be sought from an insurer or loss adjuster before work commences.

The BDMA is the accreditation body for recovery, restoration and damage management practitioners and can be contacted via BDMA Administration or by phone at 07000 843236