How to choose a restoration company: ten checks

1. Which technicians hold IICRC certification, not whether the company does

The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification is the standards body for this trade in the United States. It publishes the ANSI-approved standards the work is written against, including S500 for water damage restoration and S520 for mould remediation, and it certifies individual technicians.

That distinction is the whole check. A firm can accurately describe itself as an IICRC-certified firm on the basis of its registration and still send a van with nobody certified in it. The certification travels with the person.

Ask:

• Which certifications do the technicians who will attend my property hold?
• Will someone holding the water damage restoration certification be on site, and on which visits?
• Will you put their names on the scope of work?

A good answer names people and certifications without hesitation and has no problem writing them down. A poor answer stays at the level of the company. This is not a hostile question — a firm that invests in certification is generally pleased to be asked about it.

You do not need to memorise the standards. Knowing they exist changes the conversation, and a company that cannot tell you which category of water and which class of intrusion it is working to is guessing. See water damage restoration for what those two classifications govern.

2. State licensing — and the mould split in particular

There is no single national licence for restoration, and the requirements genuinely differ by state and by the work being done.

The mould split is the one worth understanding properly. Where a state separates assessment from remediation, the reason is a conflict of interest: a company paid to remediate has a commercial interest in finding that remediation is needed and in the size of the scope. An independent assessment, remediation performed to that scope, and independent clearance testing afterwards removes it. Some states require that separation by law. Others do not, and the conflict is still there.

Ask: what licences do you hold in this state, under what number, and in whose name? Then check the number yourself with the state licensing board rather than accepting a photograph of a card. Our assessor or remediator guide explains the split, and mould remediation covers the work itself. Mould and contaminated-water health questions belong with the EPA and CDC material linked at the foot of this page, not with a contractor selling the remedy.

3. Insurance and bonding

People will be cutting into your building, running equipment in it for days, and in many cases removing your belongings from it.

• General liability. Damage they cause to your property while working.
• Workers compensation for everyone on site, including subcontractors. Without it, an injury on your property can become your problem.
• Care, custody and control cover if there is a contents pack-out. Ordinary general liability commonly does not cover damage to property in the contractor’s own custody, which is exactly what your belongings in their warehouse are. See contents restoration.
• Bonding, where your state requires it for the licence in question. It is not a quality guarantee; it is a limited financial recourse, and it is worth knowing which of those you are being offered.

Ask for a certificate of insurance sent directly by the insurer or the broker, not a scan forwarded by the company. Check three things on it: the named insured matches the legal entity on your contract, the policy dates cover your job, and the cover types are the ones above.

4. A written scope before work begins

Emergency mitigation can start on a limited written authorisation. Anything beyond that should wait for a scope you have read.

A scope worth signing contains:

• Rooms and affected areas, with quantities, tied to a sketch.
• What is being removed and what is being dried in place, and why each.
• Equipment type and count, and the basis on which it is charged.
• Labour basis, including daily monitoring visits.
• The drying goal and where the reading locations are.
• What documentation you will be given, and when.
• What happens if hidden damage is found — the change order process.
• Who is responsible for disposal, and how it is charged.

A paragraph of general description is not a scope. Neither is a line reading "water mitigation as required". The cost page sets out every line group a mitigation invoice legitimately contains, which is the same list a scope should be written against.

5. Moisture documentation you are given, not told about

Moisture documentation handed to you is the single clearest signal of a professional operation, and it is easy to check.

Drying is a measured process. A dry standard is established from undamaged material of the same type elsewhere in the building. Readings are taken at fixed, marked locations, daily, and recorded. Drying finishes when the affected material reaches that goal and holds it — not when the equipment has been on site a week.

Ask:

• What is the dry standard for this building, and where did you take it from?
• Where are the reading locations, and are they marked?
• Will I get the daily log, in writing, at the end?
• Are you documenting with a moisture meter, and where relevant a thermal camera?

A company that cannot produce daily readings per location cannot demonstrate that the building is dry, and cannot justify the equipment days it is billing. Those are the same failure viewed from the technical and the commercial side. See structural drying and the drying time guide.

6. The billing arrangement: work authorisation or assignment of benefits

Establish this before anything is signed, because it decides who controls your claim.

Neither document is inherently improper. Signing one without knowing which it is, is the failure. If a form is presented at the door with the explanation that it is "just so we can bill your insurance", that is a description of an assignment of benefits, and it deserves a slower reading rather than a faster signature. The assignment of benefits page sets out what to look for.

Also establish: what is charged if the insurer declines the claim, or pays less than the invoice. You want that answer before the work, not after.

7. No pressure to sign on the spot

Urgency about the building is legitimate. Urgency about your signature is not the same thing, and the difference is the most reliable single tell in this trade.

Treat these as reasons to slow down:

• A contract for the full rebuild presented before the building is dry.
• A discount that expires today, or at the end of the visit.
• An offer to waive or absorb your deductible.
• Any explanation of a document that is shorter than the document.
• Refusal to leave a copy with you to read.
• A deposit demanded in cash, by wire, or by any method with no recourse.

Emergency mitigation can begin on a limited authorisation naming the work and the rate basis. Nothing about a wet building requires a full-scope contract at the door. Avoiding restoration scams covers the patterns in detail.

8. Local presence

After a widespread storm or freeze event, a market fills with crews from elsewhere. Some are established firms genuinely supporting a surge. Some will not be reachable in six months when a floor cups.

Ask and verify:

• What is the legal entity name, and what is the physical address? Then look at it.
• How long has it operated in this market under this name?
• Is it licensed in this state, where the work requires a licence?
• Who do I call in twelve months, and on what number?
• Where is the equipment coming from, and where is my contents storage?

A post-office box, a phone number with no local presence behind it, and an entity registered elsewhere are not automatically fraud. They do mean the warranty is only as durable as the company’s interest in returning, and that is worth weighing before signing rather than afterwards. Storm damage restoration covers what a regional surge does to a project.

9. Reconstruction: handled, or referred?

Mitigation and reconstruction are separate jobs, usually separate invoices and frequently separate companies. You are generally not required to use the drying company for the rebuild.

Ask:

• Do you perform reconstruction yourselves, and under which licence?
• If you refer it out, to whom, and what is your relationship with them?
• Does anything I am signing now commit me to using you for the rebuild?
• Will your mitigation scope and your reconstruction estimate be separate documents?

The reason to be clear on this is commercial. Mitigation happens under time pressure and is rarely practical to shop. Reconstruction is an ordinary building job, usually carries the larger share of the money, and is where comparing two bids against one written scope is both possible and worth doing. See reconstruction and the cost page.

10. Communication

Communication sounds like the soft check and is not. A restoration project runs for weeks across four parties, and almost every dispute in it is a documentation dispute.

• One named point of contact, with a direct number, rather than a general line.
• A stated update rhythm — what you will be told, and when.
• Written confirmation of verbal decisions, including yours.
• Change orders in writing, priced, before the work, every time.
• Photographs at each stage, supplied to you, not only kept internally.
• A clear statement of who talks to your adjuster and what you will be copied on.

Keep your own log alongside theirs. Date, time, who, what was said. The reconciliation stage of the claim is decided by documentation, and half of the useful documentation is yours. See working with an adjuster.

What HyreRestore checks, and what it does not

A site that publishes ten checks owes you a straight statement of which of them it performs itself. Here it is.

HyreRestore is not a restoration contractor, not an insurer and not a public adjuster. It dries nothing, remediates nothing and rebuilds nothing. The checks above are yours to make, and no directory listing substitutes for them — including this one. How we vet sets out the platform’s limits in full, and about explains how the site is paid for.

The fifteen-minute version

1. Get the legal entity name and the physical address.
2. Check any required trade licence with the state licensing board, by number.
3. Ask for the certificate of insurance from the insurer or broker.
4. Ask which technicians hold which IICRC certifications, and get the names on the scope.
5. Ask what the drying goal is and confirm you will receive the daily log.
6. Ask whether the document in front of you is a work authorisation or an assignment of benefits.
7. Ask whether reconstruction is in-house or referred, and whether you are committed to it.
8. Refuse any signature that has to happen right now.

Sources

• IICRC standards, including ANSI/IICRC S500 and S520, Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification. Checked September 18, 2026.
• IICRC certifications, Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification — certification is held by individual technicians. Checked September 18, 2026.
• Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — assessment, containment and clearance principles. Checked September 18, 2026.
• About Mold, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Checked September 18, 2026.
• What to do if you have a homeowners claim, Insurance Information Institute — the policyholder’s role in the claim. Checked September 18, 2026.
• Consumer information and state insurance department directory, National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Checked September 18, 2026.

General information about hiring practice and the licensing structures that commonly apply. Licensing requirements differ by state and change; verify with your own state licensing board. Not legal advice.

Keep researching

Avoiding restoration scams covers what happens when these checks are skipped. How restoration works explains where in the project each check matters, and what drives the cost covers the invoice you are agreeing the basis for.