Share a little bit about your company – its background, location, etc.
We’re a full-service restoration company headquartered in Central Iowa with employees throughout the country. Our consulting and restoration division, Pro Commercial Construction and Consulting, brings together expertise in insurance claims and a well established national commercial development company. Combined, we are able to expertly consult on otherwise complex claims throughout the country with the ability to sign a contract to perform the scope of work if needed.
When did you first get the call about the loss? How did you land this job? Did you have a prior relationship, referral, online search, etc?
The adjuster knew someone within our new development division and called us in May of 2023 to inspect the loss and provide our thoughts on the scope and budget. When I arrived on site the next morning, mitigation had already begun on the property, and it felt very chaotic. I think we stood out to the client because we came on and helped press the “pause” button rather than contributing to the chaos.
Instead of adding to the scope and talking about everything that needed to be done, we took the pastor aside and asked, “What’s important to you? How can we make sure this loss impacts you and your congregation in the least way possible?” Too many times, no one asks this question, but opening up this conversation helps get everyone on the same page and establishes the plan of action necessary to achieve the common goal for all parties involved–to reduce the length and severity of the claim.
Walk us thru the loss:
- What type of loss was it? How did it happen?
This was an accidental structural fire that started in the basement offices of a church. - How much of the structure was affected?
Based on the construction of the building, 100% of the structure was damaged by smoke and soot. There was also damage to structural steel and concrete decking and pilasters. - Did this require mitigation? Rebuild? Contents?
This project required everything from structural cleaning, demo and mitigation, asbestos abatement, contents evaluation and salvage, MEPs and complete structural rebuild. - How big was the crew working on the loss, especially in the days immediately after?
Another mitigation company was the initial crew on site, and they had up to 40 people in the building. When we were brought on to take over the project, we had a crew of 16 (12 skilled labor) for the first two weeks. Once the cleaning and demo was complete, we maintained a four-man crew throughout the duration of the project and coordinated cleaning efforts with reconstruction scheduled to get the facility operational for on site services and activities.
What was the biggest challenge on this loss? What was the biggest win?
One of the challenges we encountered on this loss involved the architecture of the building along with upgrades that had occurred throughout the years. This church was designed with five points to resemble a crown. This posed several structural challenges and made creating budgets a little more complicated because some of the building components and repairs needed aren’t available as line items in Xactimate. It was important that all of these items were identified and explained to the carrier ahead of time to ensure that our estimate was not only accurate but something we could produce without the need for supplements.
After setting a realistic expectation that this project was extensive and going to take an extended amount of time to complete, the board and I discussed what was important to them. Having services resume on site as quickly as possible was the first order of business, followed by making sure that the sanctuary was available for Easter services. There was a lot to coordinate, and our team went into action setting a phased approach in motion. We worked well with the adjuster, the church and city officials to make sure that we could get temporary occupancy in the gym and finally a full certificate of occupancy for Easter. It makes me so proud of our team for doing whatever necessary to deliver on our promise to the church.
What is the biggest lesson your team learned, good or bad, on this loss?
The adjuster initially estimated the damages for far less than our Rough Order of Magnitude. At first, it appeared that the majority of the damage was contained to the offices in the basement. However, when we were able to dig deeper, we found that due to structural component designs and alterations, smoke and soot had infiltrated the entire building. As you can imagine, communicating $1.5 million differences in our initial estimates to repair the damages was difficult. We spent the time meeting with everyone on site, explaining and showing why there was so much more damage than originally believed. In the end, we performed the work for our original scope with minimal supplements to cover unforeseen damages uncovered during the process. It 
was another lesson learned on how impactful communication can be on projects big and small.
How long did the restoration process take?
A little less than one year.
How was communication with the carrier/adjuster throughout the process? How long did it take to get paid in full?
Communication with the carrier was informative, effective and professional. It was evident early on in the assignment that all parties were committed to creating a scope of work that represented the repairs needed and coverages allowed. We always stand behind our initial numbers and have held true to them throughout the entire project. Consistently doing this has built credibility and trust from those that involve PCCC on their claims. There were no surprises at the end of the project, and we were paid in full within ten days of the final invoice.
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