What Happens Between Mitigation and Restoration

The horror of a fire raging through your home, the chaos of water falling from your hotel lobby ceiling, in a split second, you are drop-kicked into the moment.  You must act fast and you must act now.
Firefighters rushing on scene to extinguish the flames, plumbers identifying and shutting off the source of a water leak, or mitigation teams extracting the water and containing the damaged materials before it affects more of your building.  Everyone is rushing in and out to address the situation and put a stop to the destruction.  It can be chaotic. Eventually, they all complete their jobs and leave to help the next person in need.  What happens next?


THE QUIET PHASE.

After all the noise and chaos of disaster, the pace of the rebuild process can sometimes feel like you are sitting in a dark, silent, hollowed-out living room, and a lot of times that’s because that is the exact room you are standing in.  The loud and disruptive actions from before have been replaced by an echoing quietness. 

What happens leading up to the quiet phase?

After the initial cause is addressed and 100% of the mitigation of affected material is completed, the rebuilding begins.  A Summit Cleaning & Restoration Estimator will create a repair scope, which identifies what labor and material is required to put your building to pre-loss condition.

What happens during the quiet phase?

Things do get quieter on the job site during the “quiet phase” but there are quite a few things going on behind the scenes.


Communication with your insurance

The Summit Project Manager is creating an estimate using the same estimate software that the insurance industry uses.  As our team partners with our subcontractors and suppliers for specialty trades and materials needed, we are communicating with verbal and email documentation of our findings to your insurance company so we can agree on scope and overall cost of repairs.


Communication with our subcontractors and suppliers

We are scheduling meeting times for specialty subcontractors we have partnered with and researching and sourcing materials needed for repairs (flooring, cabinetry, specialty lighting, etc).  Once the variables of specialty trades and materials have been sourced, the final estimate would be submitted to your insurance carrier for approval.


Communication with you

The Summit Project Manager will be communicating with you for selections of flooring repairs, cabinetry, and other specialty items as needed.  Once the scope and cost to complete repairs is agreed to by Summit Cleaning & Restoration and your insurance carrier, funds are then released to you for construction and repairs.  Once funds are released, we can begin issuing purchase orders for the specialty items that we have researched and selected with you. 

After those three things happen then repairs and construction can begin.

How long does the quiet phase last?

The length of time a quiet phase lasts is completely dependent on the type of job it is.  A fast quiet phase would be 4-5 days.  On a large scale fire job that entails major fire reconstruction, it could be 30 days before the quiet phase ends.


Why would it take so long?

On a major fire, we would have the major trades on site with us at first.  This would include an engineer, a truss company, and maybe a roofer/sider to review it at the same time.  Throughout the 3-4 weeks of the quiet phase, engineering is being completed, truss engineering is being completed and submitted, the repair drawings are being reviewed, with the homeowner/business owner going over any possible changes they may have been wanting to make. Permit application and engineering documentation is submitted to the local municipality so they can review the drawings, engineering, etc.  As soon as we get approval from the city and receive permits, the plan is to have everyone scheduled and ready to begin work.

This all is happening at the same time to avoid a drawn out quiet phase, but it still takes time the larger the project is.

What should you expect during the quiet phase?

You should expect updates from your Summit Project Manager every two days regarding what communication is taking place and where things are at in the process of getting things approved with the insurance carrier. You can also expect a tentative schedule of repairs based on initial inspection, with the understanding that adjustments may be made as more information comes in.Your Summit Project Manager will be communicating with you for selections of flooring repairs, cabinetry, and other specialty items based on repairs needed. Once the agreed upon scope and cost to complete repairs is agreed to by the contractor and insurance, funds are then released to the homeowner or business owner.

What part do you play in the quiet phase?

You may be requested to be a voice to your insurance company to help spur things along if there is a delay in the process.  Expect and plan to have scheduled meetings to review the list of decisions to make regarding the current work scope and your choice of replacement materials.Once the agreed upon scope and cost to complete repairs is agreed to by the contractor and insurance carrier, funds are then released to the homeowner or business owner.  You can expect funds to be released to you to relay to the contractor you have hired for repairs.

_________________________________________
We hope this list of expectations for the different parties involved helps you better understand the process and be prepared for it.  During the quiet phase, you may see the damages around you and feel like the repairs have been forgotten.  You have not been forgotten!  You can reach out to your project manager whenever you have any questions or concerns during the process.