If the past few years have taught us anything, it is that uncertainty is the only thing we can count on in today’s world. A global health crisis, unforeseen economic challenges, skyrocketing housing prices, labor shortages, and other events have impacted almost every industry – and every human – in the world.
Climate change is, of course, one of these transformative crises – one that will only continue to wreak havoc on the environment, and thus on peoples’ lives. Specifically, as Dr. Howard Botts – Chief Scientist at CoreLogic – stated at INTRCONNECT™ 2023, the world will experience increased flooding and intense rainfall at a much higher rate. The same goes for other weather perils.
Climate change is particularly concerning for providers across the property insurance and restoration industries, as experts predict that the world will only see an increase in natural disasters.
As insurers must anticipate increasing numbers of claims, restoration contractors must also do their part to prepare for different potential scenarios that the future could bring.
In order to prepare for the uncertainties of the future, restoration contractors must use technology solutions that have certain functionalities. These digital capabilities will position contractors to handle any situation brought on by either climatic or economic crises of the future.
Restoration contractors should use software platforms and applications that enable them to do more when they are offsite. These tools will allow them to tackle more jobs with greater efficiency and consistency – all while assuming minimal personal risk. The right technology will also facilitate contractors to stay within their budgets, and to do more with their allotted funds.
At CoreLogic, we have embedded our restoration job management software – DASH™– with these capabilities and functionalities. For water mitigation projects, we’ve done the same with our MICA™ platform.
With CoreLogic solutions as our example, here are some of the technical functionalities that restoration contractors need in order to embrace all the different kinds of future uncertainties.
CoreLogic Equipment Tracking
Our restoration job management platform has many features, and one of its main components is equipment tracking – a key functionality for contractors in positioning themselves against economic and climatic uncertainties of the future.
The more claims that insurers assign to contractors, the more important inventory will become for contractors. Equipment and certain tools are large investments for restoration contractors – and of course central to being able to fulfill their jobs and bring in revenue.
With DASH’s built-in equipment manager, onsite professionals can easily scan equipment on job sites so that they are automatically tracked within the platform. As a result, contractors always know the location of, and professional using, each piece of equipment. In turn, expensive gear never gets lost.
Also, it becomes easier to keep track of the “mileage” put on each piece of equipment so that contractors know when exactly to perform proper maintenance – to keep tools in commission for as long as possible.
For the greatest efficiency and accuracy, contractors and technicians can track equipment in real-time through the DASH mobile application.
CoreLogic Timesheets and other Accounting Functionalities
As insurance carriers anticipate taking on higher volumes of claims amid climatic uncertainties, restoration contractors need to be prepared to take on more businesses as they support their insurance provider partners.
Laying the groundwork for consistently getting projects done on time and within budget will be at the crux of sustaining long-term partnerships with insurance carriers. Getting these failsafe processes in place will be crucial for restoration contractors to not only remain profitable, but to remain solvent in the coming years when intensifying and increasing economic and climatic crises are possibilities.
DASH has accounting functionalities that facilitate contractors to track costs and all sources of revenue. By managing jobs within this system, DASH users have one place to track and easily see where jobs originate, and how profit is yielded from each project, and how much of their costs are attributed to worker wages, equipment and so on.
Leveraging these capabilities, business owners know where to focus time and efforts – and where they can potentially cut costs. This data enables owners to make decisions to put them in the most profitable position at any given time. Being able to handle and even thrive through uncertainties requires restoration contractors to be versatile and agile. If something isn’t working, decision-makers need to know immediately so that they can course correct.
Enter the new CoreLogic timesheets feature within CoreLogic’s restoration job management platform, which gives technicians a convenient mechanism for tracking their working time in real time. In turn, contractors have instant access to data they need to manage their technicians more efficiently.
The timesheets function is available both on the DASH desktop platform as well as on the mobile application. The mobile edition allows field professionals to track their time on the job with a single click of a button on their mobile phones, and this information is immediately reflected for their managers to see in the job costing center of the desktop application.
This feature really gives contractors an edge when embracing uncertainty in how it allows restoration contractors to maximize their control of labor costs. It allows restoration project managers to make timely decisions so that they can optimize workflows for every project. It even enables decision-makers to make changes to job plans mid-project so that they can meet budget expectations.
For example, if high-cost technicians are spending more time on a project than was originally planned, then managers can make sound adjustments to an in-progress job as early as possible to reduce costs. They can analyze multiple jobs at a time, too, which translates to an exponential growth in cost savings. With this mobile and desktop function within DASH, contractors have another way to maximize their control over costs for every single project they oversee.
The ability to consistently meet budget expectations is only going to become more important in the face of growing uncertainties. And because the DASH mobile application gives users access to all these features from their cell phones and other devices, all users of this job management platform have easy, instant access to the data they need to make prudent adjustments to plans.
CoreLogic MICA for Water Damage Resiliency
Water damage presents some of the most time-sensitive projects for restoration contractors. And, with climate change at play, experts predict that the kinds of weather events that cause flooding will likely increase in frequency and severity in the coming years.
For example, severe convective storms – including straight-line winds, tornadoes, hail and severe thunderstorms – are among the most frequent and damaging natural hazard events in the United States. Thanks to climate change, experts project that areas all over the United States will increasingly experience more severe convective storms (and thus more water damage to properties) in the years and decades to come.
To scale business with what could likely be increased demand, restoration contractors should leverage a solution like CoreLogic’s MICA – the leading water restoration job management solution. While using DASH is undoubtedly advantageous to forward-thinking restoration companies with water mitigation in their scope, MICA is designed especially for water mitigation projects.
MICA is a mobile application that enables users to streamline, standardize, and overall simplify the water mitigation loss documentation process. Users achieve greater and more consistent accuracy, compliance, and efficiency across all their workflows. Its functionalities are crucial for businesses looking to future-proof their operations for future uncertainties.
For one, MICA comes with the same equipment management tool that DASH does.
Other key features include guided compliance functionalities – including a compliance task manager and a compliance verification tool. In times of uncertainty, we can’t predict how often state and other regulations may change within the property insurance and restoration industries. With MICA’s compliance task manager, users have a centralized resource for guaranteeing that all their ‘i’s are dotted and their ‘t’s are crossed – for every unique situation with its own specific requirements.
Also, MICA’s compliance verification feature integrates project estimates with S500 compliance verification procedures. With this as a precursor to projects, water mitigation contractors have an easy way to ensure that their work is always in line with IICRC standards.
With the ability to upload photos and videos – along with tags and descriptions – directly to MICA, technicians and contractors have one place to find all water mitigation project data. This shortens project lifecycles so that contractors can complete more projects, more efficiently. Most importantly, it leads to policyholders getting back into their homes as they knew them more quickly.
With a tool like MICA, water mitigation professionals can log psychometric moisture data into one centralized system, from which project managers get updates from the field instantly. The greater accuracy and efficiency that water mitigation contractors can achieve, the more prepared they are for the future – and all the scenarios it could contain.
CoreLogic Technology to Embrace Uncertainty
With the right tools in hand, we really can position ourselves for all the uncertainties of both the near-term and longer-term futures.
Regardless of the kind of property restoration your business executes, leveraging sophisticated CoreLogic technology with mobile capabilities will give you all the advantages possible to thrive through all the unknowns of tomorrow – and even in the decades to come.
Contact us today to learn more about all of our property restoration solutions and functionalities that will help you prepare your business for the uncertainties of the future.
Also, watch the recording of our recent webinar about the new timesheets feature to discover more about this exciting new capability for users of our job management platform.
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