Damage Assessment and Repair (DAR)
Has your facility been damaged to the point where repairs are required to restore it to full operational status?
Are the repairs designed to minimize the chances of repeat damages?
Are you ensuring that all that is possible is being performed to minimize collateral damage so that down time and expense can be minimized?
Are you permitting your insurance carrier to make the assessment of damages without expert help there to look after your interests?
Do you have the expertise in house to analyze all aspects of the damage and, if you do, can they take the time away from their regular duties to do a thorough job of damage assessment?
Who is going to work with the insurance company to organize and manage the reconstruction effort and ensure that it is performed in your best interest and in the shortest possible time?
In many cases additional damage to facilities and contents occurs to the lack of immediate action to minimize further problems. Typically this can occur during the period where your staff is busy trying to regroup and your insurance company is too busy to immediately respond to your needs. Good response at this point can also cause your insurance carrier to look more favorably on you because you did everything to minimize their exposure and could vastly improve your working relationship with your carrier.
Performing a thorough job of damage assessment requires knowledge of every aspect of the infrastructure technologies you are employing and how they interact with the building systems that supply it and the building itself. It is not unusual for many of the ancillary systems for areas vital to correct operations to be overlooked and lack insurance coverage because they were never taken into consideration with the carrier. Successful facility restoration means taking all direct and indirect items under consideration at the time of coverage negotiations, not at claim time. It has always been a wise decision to employ the services of professionals who regularly deal with high tech facilities and usually are thorough in their assessment. After the assessment is performed and reviewed with management, the negotiations with your insurance carrier must be undertaken to get you the best possible settlement.
Next on the list is the task of dealing with the necessary design teams, construction companies, and vendors to begin reconstruction to ensure that all parts will come together correctly and at a reasonable cost, making sure that all contracts and a detailed schedule are in place for all parties involved.
The reconstruction of the facility and replacement of hardware comes next. This phase must be closely managed to ensure it stays on schedule and that invoicing and payments are correct for all parties.
Last is the placing the facility back into full production with all systems working properly with proper training for personnel, all necessary paperwork in place and closeout of all contracts and purchase orders.
And, don’t forget to include the instance in your corporate Disaster Recovery Plan.