S500 standard

Definition

The consensus standard an adjuster pays water damage restoration against.

Why It Matters

Restoration work is the revenue this trade gets bought for and this is the rulebook it is paid against. The standard is published by an accredited body and sold instead of posted, so a shop buys the document and certifies its technicians against it one at a time. What it governs is wide: the microbiology and health effects of a water loss, building and material science, psychrometry and drying technology, instruments, antimicrobials, documentation and risk management, contents, and large projects. Two things follow for a buyer. The category call decides the scope of the job, and moving the same square footage up a category brings protective equipment, containment and disposal into it, which an adjuster is entitled to re-argue. And the drying log and the moisture readings are what turn labor into a paid invoice, so read restoration revenue as documentation-quality revenue and ask whether the certified people are staying.