Questions to ask before hiring a water damage restoration company

Eight exact questions to read down the phone before you hire: the call-script version, word for word, not another list of things to think about.

Choosing a water damage restoration company usually happens under pressure, with water still spreading and a phone in your hand. This page is the fast version: eight specific questions to actually ask before you say yes, not just things to think about in the abstract. For the fuller reasoning behind each one, our guide on how to choose a water damage restoration company walks through it in depth; use this page as the call script. For a local starting point, our Sydney listings by region break down which companies we list where.

1. Ask who actually answers the emergency line

'24/7 emergency response' is one of the most repeated phrases in this industry, and one of the least checked. Call the number and ask directly whether someone is answering right now, today, or whether that just means a callback during business hours. Every hour water sits in carpet, plaster and subfloors makes the job bigger and shortens the window before mould takes hold; our first 24 hours checklist and mould risk guide cover what that clock actually looks like.

2. Ask about IICRC certification, and what it actually gets you

The IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) is a non-profit body that certifies individual technicians and firms, including against S500, its standard for professional water damage restoration. It is not an Australian government licence, so an uncertified local operator is not automatically unlicensed or unreliable. Ask what the certification actually buys you here: in practice it usually means better documentation for your insurer, moisture readings, drying logs, an assessment report. Our guide on claiming water damage on your insurance sets out what that paperwork should look like.

3. Ask for a contractor licence number if rebuild work is involved

Plenty of jobs go further than extraction and drying: replacing plasterboard, flooring, skirting or cabinetry. In NSW, a company or partnership must hold a contractor licence before it contracts, sub-contracts or advertises to do residential building work over $5,000, including GST. If your quote includes reinstatement above that amount, ask for the licence number and check it yourself with the Service NSW licence-check tool before you sign anything. That threshold applies to the rebuild; ask specifically which parts of the quote it covers.

4. Ask what water category applies, and how it changes the price

Clean, grey and black water, Category 1, 2 and 3, are treated very differently, and the category has a big effect on what a fair quote looks like. Ask the company to state the category on the quote itself, not just describe the job as 'water damage'. Our Australian cost guide and cost estimator give indicative ranges by category, so you have something real to compare the number against.

5. Ask for the scope and price in writing before work starts

A trustworthy quote itemises what is being done: extraction, dehumidification, antimicrobial treatment, any reinstatement, rather than a single line that just says 'water damage restoration, $X'. Get it in writing before work starts. A company asking for full payment upfront, in cash, before any work has begun, is one worth being cautious of.

6. Ask how they will prove the job is actually finished

A property can look and smell dry on the surface well before it actually is. Ask whether the company takes and records moisture readings inside wall cavities and subfloors, not just until it looks better, and ask whether you get a copy of that record. It is also what an insurer or loss adjuster will want to see if the drying job is ever disputed.

7. Ask what documentation you will get for your claim

Whatever certification the company holds, ask specifically what you will be handed at the end: moisture readings, drying logs, photos, an assessment report. That paperwork is what actually moves an insurance claim along; our guide to claiming water damage on your insurance covers what to do with it once you have it.

8. Ask whether they contacted you, or you contacted them

After widespread storm or flood damage, NSW's Building Commission has warned residents against accepting unsolicited offers of repairs from people who may be posing as builders or other tradespeople. If someone knocked on your door or called you before you went looking, that is a reason to slow down, not speed up: check their licence with the Service NSW licence-check tool before you agree to anything, and see our fuller guide on how to choose a water damage restoration company for the complete reasoning behind every check on this page.

Sources

• IICRC, About the IICRC
• IICRC, IICRC Standards
• NSW Government, Company and partnership licences
• NSW Building Commission, Consumers reminded to be on high alert for unlicensed trades and scams
• Service NSW, Verify a licence