A hard rain's gonna fall
October 1st 2008

As flooding becomes a more common occurrence, the National Flood School is helping to train technicians in restorative techniques, so that damage can be cleared up quickly and efficiently

Last summer saw the insurance industry hit with a huge bill of up to £3 billion from flood claims.Claims handlers and loss adjusters were overwhelmed by the scale and the intensity of the damage as many had never before experienced flooding to this degree.

As the flood waters abated and the restoration process began, it soon became painfully clear that there was a shortage of qualified restoration technicians.Many in the cleaning industry have risen to this challenge and with the help of the National Flood School (NFS), in Farnham, are embarking on a series of training courses, like the Water Restoration Technician (WRT), and Applied Structural Drying (ASD) which are IICRC accredited.

Welcome to the house of flood The NFS have a floodable training facility, the 'Flood House', which is, we believe, the only one of its kind in Europe, and is constructed of 60 common household building materials.

Up to 1500 gallons of water can be pumped into the 'Flood House', allowing attendees to experience first hand the devastation of flood damage on different materials and learn how restorative drying techniques, if carried out properly, can facilitate a quick and often inexpensive return to pre-loss condition.

An example of how this type of extensive training is helping technicians in the field was recently illustrated by a job undertaken by an NFS trained company, Clean Plan, whereby a 24"water mains pipe in the main road burst flooding outbuildings, the cellar and even the garden to a depth of 3' in places. Extensive drying ensued, and with the aid of the Thermodry Heat Trailer, from Restoration Express, it was brought back to pre-loss conditions in a relatively short time.

It works by drawing in fresh air, heat conditioning it to between 2-15% Relative Humidity (a desert is 22%RH) and then blowing this extremely dry air into the building through the flexible ducting.As the dry air circulates throughout the building, it absorbs large quantities of moisture which a second blower then extracts.This process is extremely fast and is ideal if you want to reduce drying time and reduce business interruption.

Getting started If you are starting a business within the Fire and Flood sector or looking to expand into this profitable area, then the NFS have the course for you.

The Business Development Course provides an essential guide of how to succeed in the restoration industry and provides students with an excellent opportunity to learn everything required to run a professional restoration business. It is taught by an individual who already has a proven track record.

Students will benefit from lectures, discussions and expert instruction in areas such as the following: Understanding and writing a 'Restoration Service' business plan and company ethos Financial forecasting, profit and loss accounts, balance sheets, cash flow forecasts, how to set up a budget and cash-flow forecast for single van and multi-van operation Operational systems – developing paper-trails to show operational and pricing compliance – managing quality throughout the process Business development – sales and marketing – how to approach local and national markets Maximising pricing – effective pricing strategies for both national contract work and opportunistic local jobs Employing staff and rewarding your team – job descriptions, roles and responsibilities, bonus structures, pay, and those all important KPI's The course is especially suited to business start ups, cleaning professionals, builders, property claim specialists and other related trades. Please contact the company for more details.

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