A disaster can happen at any time. Even the most carefully operated commercial buildings will likely experience a water damage event sometime in its lifetime. Some of you may have, or will suffer the devastating effects caused by a fire. Are you ready?

Preparation and a quick response could save you thousands of dollars and reduce your down time. Your staff should have a well-practiced emergency response plan and it should be conducted on occasion like a school fire drill.

We all hope we never to need to use these plans. However, they can help ensure a more rapid recovery from a major fire, roof leak, flooded basement, or soaked office carpets from sprinklers. The speed of response to a water or fire damage loss is the most vital key to getting back to normal day-to-day operations quickly.

An emergency response plan includes:

• Emergency evacuation of personnel from the building.
• Shut down electric and gas supply lines as appropriate.
• Shut down water supply lines.
• Easy access to appropriate tools and first aid kits.
• Emergency telephone numbers for fire, police, and emergency personnel.
• A list of contacts for HVAC, plumbing, and other specialties particular to your building.
• Agreement / contract with a full-service restoration company.

Having agreements or contracts in place with a restoration company and other trades (before a disaster strikes) will save you time, money, and headaches. This is extremely important because some companies may be able to suck up water but do not handle fires or do the repair work. Other companies may not have the proper drying and dehumidification equipment to quickly dry out the building. Others may not be able to handle the removal of mold should that occur or be able to remove odors, and so forth.

You need to select an organization who can respond 24/7, every day of the year to any type of property loss. Choose a company with the manpower, proper equipment, and resources to handle the entire loss from start to finish. A company, who understands the unique needs of your building, be it an older historic structure or a new modern high rise.

Ideally, you would establish this relationship with a full-service restoration contractor and have them look at your buildings and walk through them with you. This way you can discuss your particular needs and priorities should a water loss, fire, or other disaster occur. For example, you can point out the most important aspects to your business, such as computer rooms, files, or what offices would need to be restored first.

Think of it like triage in a hospital emergency room. The emergency team will quickly go through the patients and select who needs immediate care first, then second, and so on until they get to the end and decide who can wait to be treated later because their needs are not life threatening.

You need to do the same for your building. What is the heart of your business? What must be up and running first to keep your business alive? With this in mind, you can outline the most important areas for recovery and restoration.

Recently, we were working with a client whose building suffered a devastating fire loss. T he next day the tenants were allowed to go in to retrieve their belongings. They decided to take a logical approach and started clearing the first floor then planned to move to the second floor and finish with the third floor.

They were very pleased with their efforts and had removed everything from the first floor by the end of the first day. They showed up the following morning to proceed to the second floor and found out the city had condemned the building and no one was allowed to enter the structure, not even with hard hats.

The business owner said that if he had known that he only had one day to retrieve items he would have done it differently. His first priority would have been to gather all the files from the third floor because they contained all the contracts and the most important items. Second, he would have collected all the computers from the second floor for data recovery. Third, he would have collected some of his personal items such as photos, artwork, etc.

The owners plan was logical but was not the overall best plan. He should have had a targeted response with tactical priorities. He should have planned in advance what was most important to his business and to him personally.

Another item often overlooked is insurance coverage for your building and business. You should evaluate your insurance needs yearly to make sure you are adequately covered. The cost is minimal and can make all the difference whether your business survives or not.

This article only scratches the surface of disaster readiness for your commercial building. Hopefully this will get you thinking along the lines of what your business resumption priorities are if you suffer a fire or water loss.

Linn Griffith is the Utah Marketing Director for BELFOR Property Restoration. BELFOR is the world leader in disaster recovery services with more than 170 locations in over 27 countries. BELFOR provides 24/7 single-source recovery solutions for any type of disaster. We support our clients with solutions to get them back in business as soon as possible and limit the consequences of damage. www.belforusa.com 1-877-232-6524