Services
We document your building’s value, protecting your investment if you face a catastrophic loss.
A building valuation is the amount for which your building and its contents are insured.
This definition separates it from better-known measures such as resale value (a real estate term) or assessed value (a taxation term). Our work is 100% concerned with the value an insurer assigns to your property.
Many people assume a building’s insurance value is a fixed number. It is not. Because of fluctuating variables such as inflation, labor costs and building codes, assigning a strict dollar amount would be arbitrary and unfair to the policy holder.
As a result, a building’s insurance value is determined by multiple factors. These include the building’s size, age, number of stories and unique architectural features. If the building was expanded or renovated, this also impacts its insured value.
In addition, building value calculations incorporate property that’s not part of the building itself (often called business equipment). You could also refer to these as “non-structural items.” These are components integral and connected to your facility such as stained glass windows, pipe organs, pews, audio visual systems and solar panels.
A building valuation is an evolving number that should be revisited every two years. If your house of worship or nonprofit expands, then its valuation needs to be updated to reflect the change. In addition, market factors such as the cost of materials and labor impact a building’s replacement value.
At AccuValuations, our job is documenting:
The history of your facility
Its size and condition
Updates, repairs and renovations
Projected costs for reconstruction including demolition and debris removal.
It’s not enough to document this information and put it in a safe. It must be communicated to your property insurers, who will incorporate it into your contract.
What does a building valuation look like?
AccuValuations creates a building value based on data including satellite imagery, weather patterns, geographic impacts, photos of the property, county assessor records, construction documents and information provided by the client.
Our process includes:
Surveying and mapping your property
Analyzing your property’s interior spaces
Creating a digital model of your property
Compiling data
Sharing data with the client and receiving feedback
Finalizing and delivering the report
When disaster strikes, documentation makes the difference.
Science-based vs. sales-based methodology
Our research and technology-based approach sets us apart from insurance sales reps, the vast majority of whom are not trained or qualified to determine property values. Why does this matter?
If your property is not adequately valued for insurance purposes, your settlement check will not be adequate to fund reconstruction. This means your rebuilding budget will run into the red, requiring you to curtail your rebuilding plans, borrow money or engage in crisis fund-raising (and perhaps all three).
Sales reps are not trained in the technical, research-oriented field of building valuation. Unless they have commissioned an independent study of your facility, their work is likely based on “guesstimating” or pulling data from your previous insurance policy. Since 100% of your settlement will be determined by their work, this should give a serious pause to anyone concerned about the legacy of their organization.
