As we enter what is historically the most active part of hurricane season, we want to alert our clients and others who may be eligible for FEMA reimbursement of important steps to take before and right after a disaster with respect to damage to roofs. If an applicant does not have extensive documentation of the pre-disaster condition or the post-disaster damage of its roof (in some cases, more than FEMA's policy and program guidance requires), FEMA may deny eligibility of the costs of roof repair or replacement.

Under the Public Assistance program, FEMA is authorized to reimburse the cost to restore a disaster-damaged facility to its pre-disaster design, capacity, and function. Accordingly, an applicant will be required to provide documentation of the pre-disaster condition of the facility. For buildings, FEMA acknowledges that "distinguishing between damage caused by the incident and pre-existing damage may be difficult." To make this distinction, FEMA will consider evidence of regular maintenance – e.g., facility maintenance records, work orders, inspection reports, and safety reports. FEMA will not reimburse costs to remedy what it believes is damage from deterioration, deferred maintenance, or neglect.

Applicants should do everything they can to document pre-disaster condition and regular maintenance before a disaster. We recommend:

Never rely on FEMA to document damage for you. After a disaster, FEMA will conduct a site inspection in person, remotely via video conferencing, or as a table-top exercise. The stated purpose of the site inspection is "to validate, quantify, and document the cause, location, and details of the reported damage and debris impacts." The site inspection report (SIR) is supposed to include the damage description and dimensions (DDD) that FEMA and the applicant have agreed upon. Time and again, however, FEMA has rejected the SIR as evidence of anything other than the applicant's claimed damage and has argued that the damage listed in the DDD is either not specific enough or not disaster-related. To avoid this fate, we recommend the following:

To reiterate one last time: Never rely on FEMA to document your damage for you and expect FEMA to ask for more than what its policies and guidance require.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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