As a Professional Craftsman qualified by experience and training to engage in disaster restoration, I accept a special responsibility to deal competently and fairly with homeowners and insurance companies alike.

As a member of the National Institute of Disaster Restoration, a division of ASCR International, I promise to uphold the following Code of Ethics:

I will prepare my estimates with the intention of charging a fair price for a good job.

I will limit the scope of my estimates to the damage involved, as I perceive it.

I will not knowingly prepare estimates for more or less that the restoration requires without so stating in my estimate.

I will enter into no agreements with the property owners, insurance adjusters or subcontractors to give or receive rebates or compensation not specified in my estimate.

I will not enter into any secret prior agreements to do more work for the same price, nor will I charge a lesser rate for the work done that the rate quoted in my estimate.

I will keep abreast of new research and developments in fire, water, vandalism and related disaster restoration so as to give my customers the benefit of the most effective techniques available.

I will keep adequate job records and administer my company’s affairs in accordance with accepted business practices and accounting procedures.

My estimates and opinions will reflect my best professional judgment and nothing else.

You can trust your reputation to a Certified Restorer

Your reputation depends on the contractors you turn to for disaster restoration. Of the thousands of contractors out there, only 350 have been designated as Certified Restorers (CRs) by the National Institute of Disaster Restoration (NIDR).

Certified Restorers specialize in property damaged by fire, smoke, water, vandalism and other disasters.

In order to qualify as a Certified Restorer, candidates undergo rigorous training, testing and an ethics evaluation.

So when you see the CR designation after a contractors name, you can know that it's the badge of professional excellence.

THE WATER LOSS INSTITUTE
CODE OF ETHICS AND CONDUCT

The goal of the Water Loss Institute is to establish and then maintain a reputation as an organization comprised of companies and individuals recognized for their technical excellence and indisputable integrity.

We undertake to earn this reputation, both with those whose damage we mitigate and whose property we restore and also with the insurance industry that bears the bulk of the financial responsibility for the cost associated with that damage, by establishment of and adherence to the following Code of Ethics and Conduct..

We will show respect for the abilities and reputations of competitors who conduct their business in a professional and ethical manner and we will work to promote professional and ethical practices within our industry.

We agree to abide by the licensing and other applicable laws of the county, state, province, or other political jurisdiction in which we conduct business.

We will document charges for services we provide as appropriate and format billings in a manner consistent with the highest industry standards. We are willing to explain or defend those charges at any time.

We will enter into no agreement with a property owner, manager or insurance company representative to offer rebates, kickbacks or similar compensation not specified in our estimates or billings.

We will not allow catastrophic conditions to excuse us for adhering to the professional and ethical standards that guide our company’s business practices.

We believe technical excellence results, in great part, from the free exchange of information, access to the findings of pertinent research and participation in ongoing technical training.

We agree to utilize, to the best of our abilities, all available association, industry and government resources to provide and maintain for ourselves and for those employed by our companies, state-of-the-art technical training and current information related to our industry.

We believe the safety of our employees, our clients and the public is of tantamount importance.

We will remain diligent in our efforts to provide our employees with appropriate safety equipment and training and to act in good faith to comply with or exceed currently accepted safety standards with regards to our facilities, equipment and job-site operations.

We believe that our responsibilities, when we agree to respond to a property loss, include the promise of quick, competent and appropriate response to each loss as it exists.

In our role as emergency responders, we will strive to make decisions involving the application of our skills and utilization of the manpower and equipment at our disposal that reflect a responsible balance between cost and benefit for all parties.

We will, when asked, make every effort to provide objective judgments concerning cause, condition and economic feasibility for the successful restoration of damaged property.

We will labor to provide the level of expertise, equipment and workmanship appropriate to both the needs of the property owner and the insurer; if applicable, based upon the conditions presented during the course of our company’s involvement in each loss-from initial response through final restoration. 

We understand that our ability to provide service to our customer is a result of the combined strength and cooperation of our company, suppliers, subcontractors and association.

We will seek to sustain that strength and cooperation by meeting our financial commitments to our suppliers, subcontractors and association in a timely and responsible manner.

We accept that we have an ongoing obligation to act responsible and in a manner consistent with preservation of the environment in which we live.

We will endeavor to follow both the letter and the intent of the laws that govern our business conduct and the environment.

We understand that we are members of a larger community and that we have responsibilities to serve the community from which we derive our livelihood. We believe we each should seek opportunities to be of service within that community beyond the scope of our for-profit operations.

We realize that in the course of any business, disputes may arise. In the event that a dispute results from operations carried out by our company and if that dispute cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of all interested parties within the scope of our standard operating procedures, we each are willing to attempt to settle the dispute by mediation under the direction of the American Arbitration Association.

Realizing that the ability of this association to fulfill its goal is the result of the combined actions of all its members, I agree, as a member of the Water Loss Institute (WLI), to conduct the operations of our company in accordance with, both in spirit and in practice, the articles stated above.