Disaster Planning

One of the most significant areas in property management that is overlooked is proper preparation for a possible disaster such as major fire, tornado and ice storm.
How do we plan for a disaster?

Step I – Identify what constitutes an emergency. Fire, tornado, flooding, frozen pipes, employee injury are a few examples.

Step II- Importance of disaster planning. This procedure establishes a plan that will be implemented when a disaster occurs.

• Emergency phone numbers, i.e. 911, number of insurance company, management company and restoration company.
• Communications between emergency crews, co-owners involved, insurance carrier and management company.
• Securing damaged property.
• Assessing damages, determine proper coverage and responsibility, property restorations.

Step III Insurance coverage

• Review Community Master Deed. Determine respective responsibilities (Association vs. Co-owner).
• Meet with insurance carrier and be sure adequate coverage’s are in place, i.e. blanket building coverage, betterment’s & improvement.
• Coverage where required (sometimes optional), flooding i.e. sewer back up and sump pump failure, glass, ordinance of law (building code compliance). Once you have determined the proper coverage for the Association, communicate to the co-owner’s so that they may modify their own personal homeowner’s policy (HO6) to cover items not insure under the Community Master Policy.

Step IV. Prepare an emergency manual for the Board and Management Company to utilize.

• These are just a few examples of what proper planning for a disaster should entail.
• This should be one of the most important projects that you should implement.
• There is no warning prior to a disaster. Knowing how to deal with a disaster will enable you to handle it successfully for all who are involved.