Restoration Industry
Glossary

The AHAM rating standard quantifies dehumidifier capacity in pints per 24 hours under a controlled 80F/60% RH chamber. It is the foundational unit for IICRC S500 drying calculations. Restorers convert AHAM ratings into actual on-site performance using grain-depression math against ambient psychrometric readings, since real-world conditions rarely match the AHAM test chamber. Proof OS automatically converts manufacturer AHAM ratings into expected on-site pull rates by cross-referencing live psychrometric readings from job-site sensors, eliminating the manual conversion math that legacy restorers do by hand.

An IICRC certification (S520 standard) required to lead mold and microbial remediation projects. AMRTs are responsible for containment design, negative-pressure setup, HEPA filtration verification, and post-remediation verification (PRV) sampling protocols. The certification covers Condition 1/2/3 environments and the engineering controls needed to prevent cross-contamination. Proof OS tracks AMRT certification expiry per technician and prevents dispatch of S520-scoped jobs to non-AMRT crews — failing the work order at the routing layer before a non-certified tech can accept it.

The IICRC-codified process of drying water-damaged building materials in place using engineered airflow, dehumidification, and psychrometric monitoring. ASD replaces older 'rip and replace' approaches by measuring moisture content (MC), equilibrium moisture content (EMC), and grains per pound (GPP) to drive removal of standing water and trapped moisture. The goal is returning materials to a dry standard within 3 days. Proof OS runs ASD calculations continuously on every active loss, recalculating equipment requirements every 4 hours based on incoming sensor telemetry.

A subspecialty of Applied Structural Drying that uses CFD-modeled directional airflow (rather than ambient air movement) to accelerate evaporation from sub-floor cavities, wall assemblies, and stratified building components. EFA practitioners measure flow velocity at exit ports and adjust mover placement based on grain-pressure gradients. The technique requires more upfront engineering but cuts drying time 30-50% on Class 3 and 4 losses. Proof OS generates EFA airflow recommendations from photogrammetric room scans, calculating optimal mover placement before crews arrive on-site.

IICRC S500 classifies water intrusions into three categories by sanitation: Category 1 (clean water from a sanitary source — burst supply line, broken toilet tank), Category 2 (gray water with significant contamination — washing machine overflow, dishwasher discharge), and Category 3 (black water with grossly contaminated sources — sewage, ground-surface intrusion, rising flood water). Category can escalate over time as biological contamination grows. Proof OS auto-categorizes losses from intake call transcripts and photos, then locks the work order so that Cat 3 jobs require AMRT-certified responders before they can be dispatched.

IICRC S500 classifies losses by evaporation load: Class 1 (small area, minimum porous absorption), Class 2 (full room with carpet/cushion saturation), Class 3 (saturation reaching ceilings and walls — water came from above), Class 4 (deeply trapped water in low-permeance materials like hardwood, plaster, masonry). Class determines required dehu capacity in pints per day. Proof OS calculates Class automatically from room geometry plus moisture-mapping data and emits an AHAM-converted equipment list to the dispatch ticket.

The temperature at which the air becomes saturated and water vapor begins to condense onto surfaces. Dew point is the most reliable single indicator of how much moisture is in the air, because (unlike relative humidity) it is independent of temperature. During ASD, restorers target a dew point spread of at least 10F below the surface temperature of drying materials to maintain vapor pressure gradient toward the dehu coil. Proof OS plots dew-point trajectories on every active loss and alerts when the spread closes — the signal that drying has stalled.

The documented act of proving with instruments that a wet building material has returned to a dry standard before equipment is pulled. DV uses penetrating moisture meters, non-invasive meters, and thermal imaging compared against a baseline EMC reading from an unaffected reference material. IICRC S500 requires three consecutive flat readings 24 hours apart in some scenarios. Proof OS records every DV reading with timestamp, GPS, and technician identity, and refuses to close the work order until enough DV data is captured to satisfy the carrier's audit requirements.

The moisture content a hygroscopic material (wood, drywall, insulation) will reach when in equilibrium with the surrounding air at a given temperature and relative humidity. EMC tables let restorers know whether a material is wet relative to its expected baseline, not just wet by absolute moisture-meter reading. For example, hardwood floors at 8% MC in winter conditions may already be dry, while 8% in summer means they are still elevated. Proof OS auto-computes EMC targets per room based on local climate data and material type.

The proprietary XML interchange format used to move Xactimate estimates between contractors, adjusters, and TPAs. ESX files contain line-item scope, sketch geometry, photos, and price-list pointers. They are the de-facto handshake format for insurance restoration billing. Proof OS imports ESX files from carrier portals, parses the sketch and line items into structured data, and round-trips revisions back out as ESX — letting the platform reconcile against the carrier's estimate without forcing manual re-entry into Xactimate.

The absolute humidity unit used in psychrometric drying calculations: the weight of water vapor in grains (1 pound = 7,000 grains) per pound of dry air. GPP is preferred over relative humidity for ASD math because it represents an absolute moisture quantity, allowing direct comparison between supply air, ambient air, and dehu exhaust regardless of temperature. A 10 GPP differential between ambient and dehu intake is the working signal that drying is progressing. Proof OS samples GPP every 15 minutes from on-site sensors and flags the loss when the differential collapses.

The designated person on a restoration project responsible for personal protective equipment compliance, respiratory protection program enforcement, OSHA hazard communication, and confined-space entry approvals. On Cat 3 water and S520 mold projects the HSC role is non-delegable — they must be on site or reachable for any work order modification. The HSC also signs off on negative-pressure containment integrity. Proof OS gates Cat 3 and S520 work orders behind an HSC approval step that includes a checklist with mandatory photo evidence before crews can begin destructive work.

The independent non-profit certification body whose standards (S100 carpet cleaning, S500 water damage, S520 mold, S540 trauma, S700 fire & smoke) define professional practice for the restoration industry. IICRC certifications are technician-level (WRT, ASD, AMRT, FSRT) and the standards are the language insurance carriers and TPAs use to define scope of work. Proof OS encodes IICRC standards as machine-readable validation rules — every work order checkpoint maps to the specific S500 or S520 paragraph it satisfies, generating a defensible audit trail.

A refrigerant-cycle dehumidifier engineered to maintain efficient water-removal performance even when the ambient air is already at low grain levels (typically 55-60 GPP). LGRs achieve this with a pre-cooled coil and a re-heat circuit that elongates the residence time of air across the cold coil. Standard refrigerant dehus stall below ~80 GPP; LGRs keep pulling water down to 55 GPP. LGR rated AHAM capacity must be derated 30-40% in real-world drying conditions. Proof OS applies the correct LGR derating curve when computing equipment counts.

The insurance and restoration term for the physical address where a covered peril occurred. The loss site is the legal scope boundary for the claim — work performed off the loss site requires a separate claim or change order. Loss site documentation includes a perimeter sketch, photo evidence of every affected room, and any contents pack-out manifests. Proof OS generates the loss-site sketch automatically from the technician's mobile photo walk-through using photogrammetry, then geofences the work order so any equipment moved beyond the loss-site polygon is flagged.

Amounts the homeowner or property owner is obligated to pay directly rather than through their insurance payload — most commonly the deductible, betterment charges (upgrades beyond like-kind-and-quality), and non-covered scope items. OOP collection is the leading source of restoration AR delinquency because crews are typically not trained to collect at first contact. Proof OS sends the OOP authorization and payment link via SMS at the same moment dispatch is triggered, capturing the deductible before crews arrive on site and dramatically improving collection rates.

A document signed by the property owner acknowledging conditions present before the loss that are not part of the covered claim — prior water staining, existing mold, deteriorated materials, or non-code-compliant construction. PCS protects the restorer from carrier denial later in the claim cycle when the adjuster argues that observed damage is pre-existing. PCS should be paired with timestamped photographic evidence. Proof OS auto-generates a PCS draft from the intake photos using vision AI to detect prior conditions, then routes it for owner e-signature before mitigation begins.

An on-equipment IoT sensor that measures the actual gallons-per-hour water extraction rate of a dehumidifier in field conditions, as distinct from its rated AHAM capacity. Pull-rate sensors allow restorers to validate that equipment is performing to its derated curve and to detect refrigerant leaks, coil icing, or restricted airflow before they cause job delays. Proof OS ingests pull-rate telemetry every 60 seconds from instrumented equipment and triggers a dispatch alert when a unit's pull rate drops more than 25% below its derated baseline.

The pre-entry walkthrough performed by the lead technician to assess hazards specific to the loss site — structural integrity, electrical compromise, biohazards, slip and trip exposures, and respiratory contaminants. PSI must be documented per OSHA general duty clause and IICRC S500 §10. PSI conclusions drive PPE selection and may require additional engineering controls before work begins. Proof OS forces a PSI checklist into the mobile app at job arrival, blocking any time-clock punch-in for billable work until the PSI is signed off with photos and hazard ratings.

The applied science of moist-air physics that underpins all structural drying. Psychrometrics relates temperature, relative humidity, dew point, grain content, vapor pressure, and enthalpy on a psychrometric chart, letting restorers predict drying rates, dehu performance, and condensation risks. Mastery of psychrometrics distinguishes professional ASD from guesswork. Proof OS runs psychrometric calculations every 15 minutes per active loss, projecting the dry-by date forward and surfacing alerts when ambient conditions push the drying envelope out of range.

The IICRC's most-referenced standard, defining the procedures and processes for water damage restoration. S500 categorizes water (Cat 1/2/3), classifies the loss extent (Class 1/2/3/4), and prescribes documentation, equipment selection, monitoring, drying validation, and disposal procedures. It is the standard insurance carriers cite when reviewing claim scopes. Proof OS encodes every numbered paragraph of S500 as a machine-checkable rule — when a work order proceeds, it does so only after the relevant S500 checkpoint has been satisfied with evidence.

The IICRC standard governing mold remediation, defining Condition 1 (normal fungal ecology), Condition 2 (settled spores from a Condition 3 source), and Condition 3 (actual fungal growth). S520 prescribes containment, engineering controls, PPE, post-remediation verification, and the role-separation rule (the remediator cannot also be the assessor on the same project). Proof OS enforces S520 role separation by preventing the same vendor account from being assigned to both the assessment and remediation work orders on a single loss.

Network managers that sit between insurance carriers and restoration contractors, sourcing and assigning claims, managing SLAs, auditing scopes, and processing payments. Major TPAs include Alacrity, Sedgwick, Contractor Connection, ServiceMaster, and Crawford. Each TPA imposes specific photo, document, and reporting requirements that vary by carrier program. Proof OS maintains a per-TPA submission rule engine that auto-formats photo metadata, line-item scope, and supporting documents to match each TPA's portal requirements, eliminating first-pass rejection.

An independent inspection performed by a non-affiliated party (industrial hygienist, IEP, or carrier consultant) to validate that remediation work meets the standard before final payment is released. TPV is most common on S520 mold projects (post-remediation verification or PRV) and Cat 3 water losses. The TPV report is the gating document for the carrier's final payment authorization. Proof OS coordinates TPV scheduling and packages the work product as a downloadable evidence bundle the verifier can audit asynchronously.

The entry-level IICRC certification covering basic water damage restoration: psychrometric fundamentals, equipment operation, moisture measurement, antimicrobial application, and Cat 1/2/3 identification. WRT is a prerequisite for most carrier and TPA network panels. The certification expires every four years and requires continuing education. Proof OS tracks each technician's WRT certification number, issue date, and expiry, and prevents dispatch on water-damage work orders to crews whose WRT lapses within 30 days.

The dominant property-claims estimating software in the U.S. restoration industry, owned by Verisk Analytics. Xactimate's price-list database is updated quarterly per ZIP code and is the de-facto pricing reference for insurance carriers. Estimates are exchanged as .ESX files. Proof OS bridges to Xactimate via ESX import/export, pulling line-item details into the autonomous profitability calculator and round-tripping any scope revisions back into Xactimate without dual-entry, while flagging line items that fall below internal margin thresholds.