Cleanfax, MayJune 2018

What they often do is leave something valuable behind untouched Of course they may contract it out to another company instead of doing it themselves and earn a fraction of what they could have What is it e lucrative service of contents cleaning and restoration Due to the shortage of companies who o er quality contents cleaning and restoration services insurance adjusters often write o and instead o er replacement dollars to the insured for valuable but damaged contents that could have been salvaged and restored that is if the restoration contractor on the job had o ered the service And when contractors attempt to tackle specialized contents cleaning and restoration without proper training and equipment the situation can go bad real fast The challenge Historically contents work has either been ignored or pushed onto the insureds to do list as in Maam just wash those in the sink like normal Or items were simply replaced with insurance dollars What about today It seems even with advancements in technology and processes that the quality of contents cleaning and restoration is often substandard Why is that What is the problem And is it getting any better Unfortunately there have never been any o cial industry standards to help restorers navigate contents restoration according to David Mazur president of the Fireline Contents Network ere are many moving parts to contents restoration and restorers do t he best they can based on the current experience of their contents team and their collective job experiences is has created an industry where service quality has been largely inconsistent frequently prompting adjusters to write o claims that could be and should be e ectively restored e good news Mazur explains is there is now technology and training to help restorers successfully negotiate the process Mazur notes that most restoration companies have their roots in the construction industry which might explain why many restorers are not excited about contents cleaning and restoration I spoke to an owner of a restoration company recently who was contemplating expanding his contents division He told me outright that he had delayed the expansion because he was a builder at heart and as he put it Builders dont do dishes is may help explain why most full service restoration companies struggle with a contents business Mazur laments The solution For whatever reason many restorers resist implementing the tools and training required to successfully engage with the process ere seems to be no rhyme or reason for this thought process because modern day contents restoration executed properly provides pro t margins that rival the mitigation business Mazur says However there now appears to be a movement of sorts in the contents cleaning and restoration industry Many contractors are reassessing their position realizing that they are missing out on a viable business opportunity that could help grow their organizations Mazur adds What are they doing Many are investing the money required to transform their status quo contents divisions into modern day contents processing centers However Mazur warns an investment in equipment does not necessarily translate into improved e ciency and pro tability Although there is no question that modern day technology can speed up the production process and help restorers recover items previously thought to be non restorable true success is achieved by implementing managerial and technical services techniques A Soft Contents Case Study Submitted by Ken Campbell Vice President of the ECONA Network There are plenty of opportunities to increase revenues by bringing soft and hard contents cleaning in house But you need the right equipment and technology As part of the ECONA Network we support 265 restoration and remediation service providers nationwide To illustrate an example of how our members operate here is a brief case study JP Maguire Associates is an independent cleaning and property restoration and reconstruction services fi rm operating in a 37000 square foot facility in Connecticut They were faced with the diffi cult task of restoring 1000 pounds of smoke and soot infested clothes lost to a garage fi re After securing the premises they provided the homeowners with two weeks worth of soft contents such as clothing shoes belts handbags kids backpacks etc as an interim solution They cleaned this initial batch within 24 hours Then they got to work JP Maguire used the patented iS4000 Esporta Wash System which can process up to a 100 pound load at a time All told for the full restoration of the 1000 pound project JP Maguire took 20 hours to complete the job after running an average wash cycle of two hours plus the time allotted to drying pressing and delivery JP Maguire identifi ed fi ve areas of benefi t to their company Going green and not contributing to landfi lls or using potentially hazardous chemicals associated with dry cleaning Bringing soft contents cleaning in house to increase savings on outsourcing Higher margins and increased profi ts from processing their own contents Providing a positive customer experience resulting in referrals Considering trends in contents restoration insurance carriers realize substantial savings per claim settlement which should translate into lower premiums for insureds MAY JUN 2018 cleanfax com 9