I was recently asked to do a quick review of a fire damage restoration estimate for an insurance claim written in the industry’s most prevalent estimating software, Xactimate. The estimator captured the majority of the relevant scope and the majority of my comments back were related to formatting. I appreciate an estimate that is not only written to accurately reflect the scope but looks sharp and organized as described in my book Be Intentional: Estimating. Formatting is a personal preference that has served me well for 20 years whether I was composing estimates in Xactimate, Quickbooks, an Excel spreadsheet, or a variety of programs. This article will not be a tutorial on Xactimate estimating but a framework for intentional restorers when writing fire damage restoration insurance claims.
In Xactimate, many of the generalized charges are included in "Main Level" or a subset of “General Conditions” which should be outlined in any estimating format. These would include considerations for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Describe your calculation of how many technicians you anticipate by how many days the PPE will be utilized. These descriptions in Xactimate are called F9 notes. The Restoration Industry Association (RIA) arranged a series of recommendations and supports in their document Protection from Environmental Dangers During Fire Restoration, which includes the following list for, "Invasive activities such as removal and cleanup of areas with visible fire residue or discernible smoke odor."