Redemption… the only word I can muster to describe how I felt yesterday as I witnessed an Insured admonish an Electronic Restoration “Specialist” that clearly didn’t do their homework. It’s refreshing to finally have someone other than myself calling-out the lack of experience, science or technology of the self-proclaimed experts in the Electronics Restoration Industry. At the same time, I’m embarrassed for my industry. Some look at every project like it’s just like printing money… especially when they believe they are operating under the radar.
The Incident…
I was engaged by an Insurance Adjuster to assess and manage a project that most restoration contractors only dream about… Direct engagement (Insured requested service), Deep pockets (University insured by the State), Hi-tech facility (containing equipment worth millions), High Profile Incident (Mission-critical operations) and under the radar of competitors (incident wasn’t made public and nobody was chasing the fire loss). A project like this doesn’t come along very often (if ever) for most contractors. A target-rich environment… or so it appeared for the restoration contractor.
Stake the project…
Responding restoration franchisee looked at the loss and immediately realized that the project exceeded their abilities and reached out for support from their corporate office and the Electronic Restoration Specialist partner. The franchisee “stakes” the project by performing a general clean-up of high traffic areas outside the fire area and sets-up a few air scrubbers and hydroxyl generators. In short order the large-loss and electronic recovery specialists assess the loss and present an estimate that totaled almost $500K to clean the building and $175K to “restore” the electronics & machinery.
The disconnect…
Neither the restoration contractor nor the Electronic Restoration Specialists bothered to analyze the soot residues or acknowledge the Insured’s expertise in the subject matter of materials, construction, chemistry and electronics. While I personally did not have the privilege of witnessing the dog and pony show (the Insured’s words, not mine), I was told it was entertaining. Apparently the Equipment Restoration Specialist didn’t pick-up on the disconcerting response of the Insured’s personnel and decided to double-down by presenting a 10 page “Technical” report outlining their position that unless they acted immediately, the equipment would be irreparably damaged. Apparently they assumed that they knew more than the Chemists, Metallurgists, Engineers and career Scientists (literally they were all Rocket scientists) that worked in the affected workspace.
The reality check…
It took me less than 10 minutes onsite to confirm what I already suspected simply based on the fire report I received from the Lab Manager and Facility support team… the soot residues didn’t contain any of the potentially catastrophic compounds that the Equipment Restoration Specialist claimed were “inherent” with ALL smoke exposures. Likewise, the physical properties of the residues were predictable given the combustibles… light, dry (not oily) and loosely affixed (if at all) to most exposed substrates. At worst, the effects of the soot residues could be compared to normal nuisance or construction dust.
The “Specialist” was correct in their recommendation to clean the affected equipment assets, but overshot the runway a bit on what they proposed and estimated. The team of engineers and scientists rolled up their sleeves and decided to complete the “Hi-Tech” restoration project themselves. They also enlisted the assistance of the company that they previously engaged to perform a detailed “construction cleanup” of the structure just prior to their move-in a few years earlier. Based on initial estimates the University will spend considerably less than $100K in cleanup efforts – $575K less than the restoration contractor wanted to charge.
The walk of shame…
If ever there was a situation that represents everything wrong with the restoration industry this may be the one. While I’ve witnessed much grander scale of waste and misapplication of resources on restoration projects following wide-spread disasters (like Hurricane Katrina) I’ve just never witnessed something so egregious and total disregard for reasonableness as demonstrated by the restoration contractors on this project. The University had already decided to kick them to the curb before I even received the assignment. Apparently, however, the contractor was either too embarrassed to pick-up their equipment at the site or was hoping for a change of heart. Based on the dissertation I heard concerning the inappropriate application of the equipment that the contractor left at the site, I have no doubt that the equipment will not be there on my follow-up visit.
The outcome…
In over 30 years in the restoration industry I’ve only witnessed a few recovery projects like this that were successfully executed by an Insured without professional assistance. For what it’s worth, it appears that this Insured has “The Right Stuff” to pull it off. I seriously doubt that they’ll be able to contain the recovery costs under $100K, but they’ve already surprised me. One thing is sure, I won’t dare underestimate their knowledge or abilities like the last guys did. I’ve been asked to stick around as a consultant and monitor the recovery project… I’ll keep you posted on the outcome!