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Welcome to Schkeeper Inc. Professional Engineering's
spring 2015 newsletter!
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FEMA to Review Flood Damage Claims

Ensuring Sandy victims get fair treatment

In evaluating structural disaster, I have seen where insurance companies were presented with an adverse engineering report only to embrace a subsequent report supportive of denying full or any insurance coverage.
 
Many times I have seen reports that were not prepared by a New Jersey Licensed Professional Engineer. An Asbury Park Press article  cited one of my reports where I indicated that, in my opinion, the insurance company engineering report was probably not entirely written by the engineer who signed the report.  My report was submitted to my client before an independent court case in New York became public, where it was found that the insurance company modified or had an engineering firm modify the original which was less than favorable to the insurance company report.  Just recently The New York Times  reported that FEMA will now investigate all Sandy claims to determine if an engineering report had been modified.
 
A structural engineering friend of mine who was low on work at the time of Sandy was offered insurance company work by a national engineering firm specializing in providing disaster evaluation coverage to insurance companies.  He was flown to Louisiana for an education program and presented with a procedure to perform some cursory observations and then was to select from a set of pre-written reports having only a few places for original opinion.  When he challenged the instructor with the idea that he might have a different opinion than one of the standard reports, he was sent home without a job.
 
Regrettably, I have learned that even the engineering profession can have some bad apples.  It appears that insurance companies may be offered the services of such biased people to reduce the insurance company payouts.  I am happy to learn about this FEMA development and hope it will be helpful to Sandy victims who were not given fair treatment.

Roof Warranty

Protecting your investment, your family and your home.

Obtaining a roof covering warranty is extremely important when having a new roof covering installed.  It can be a complicated process.  It does cost more for a better warranty.  No assumptions can be made during the process of learning about the warranty you are to receive.  It is so easy to be deceived into thinking that a manufacture’s published “material only” warranty is all you will need. In my experience most roof leaks are not caused by roof covering material failure.  Improperly installed or missing flashing systems are probably the greatest cause of roof leaks particularly with high slope roof surfaces. Poor workmanship is the largest cause of roof failure.  Workmanship issues and the labor to correct improper work are excluded from a basic material only warranty.

Assuming the contractor is providing a warranty when you are shown the manufacturer’s material warranty is not good enough. There are many materials used to apply a roof that are not necessarily supplied by the roof covering manufacturer plus there is the labor element.  Roof covering warranties are available that cover both material and labor even when the roof was not properly installed.  The warranty is often different for residential use then for commercial use.  In commercial applications it is possible to obtain a no-dollar-limit (NDL) warranty that covers both material and labor even when improper workmanship was found.  The NDL warranties typically range from 10 to 30 years.

The best roof warranties require inspection by the manufacturer’s factory representative.  It is recommended to have the roof material manufacturer’s representative participate in the specifications for the roof covering including a review of all associated materials that will be used.  This includes all flashing systems, fasteners, fastener locations, and edge conditions.  Some manufacturers also make flashing systems to be used with their roof covering products.  All roof to wall joints, all valleys, all penetrations, and all edge conditions require appropriate flashing systems.  Additional water penetration reduction materials such as ice and water shield may be needed in certain locations of the roof. How roof water drainage is being handled may affect how the roof covering should be applied. There may be the need to modify the roof deck before a new roof application is made which should also be reviewed with the manufacturer’s factory representative.  A third party such as an inspector cannot replace the manufacturer’s factory representative unless authorized by the manufacturer.

All warranties have exclusions so it is very important to understand what is being excluded when making your purchasing decision.  Warranties often have notification requirements that if not met will void the warranty. The initiation of the warranty may require certain notifications as typically would the transfer of a warranty, when covered.

Higher levels of warranties often require higher level certifications of the contractor by the manufacture.  Today you can expect to see warranty options published at the manufacturer’s website. A thorough review of the material manufacturer’s website is a necessary element of your homework when purchasing new roofing.

 

Schkeepr Inc.
130 Bodman Place, Suite 6
Red Bank, NJ 07701

Phone: 732-219-1965
Fax: 732-530-3703
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