Substantial Damage Estimate Inspections

Overview

To streamline disaster recovery efforts, users can now assess property damages directly within Forerunner using the Substantial Damage Estimate feature. By collecting detailed damage information via inspection and generating estimates, users can quickly determine whether a structure is substantially damaged.

Note: Forerunner's substantial damage estimates are designed to provide preliminary estimates based on the information provided by the user and Forerunner's embedded algorithms. These estimates are intended for general guidance purposes only and should not be construed as definitive or accurate assessments of actual damage costs.

How to create a Substantial Damage Estimate

Note: Substantial Damage Estimates need to be added to your account by the Forerunner team, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager for more information on Forerunner's SDE feature.

To create a Substantial Damage Estimate, navigate to the Inspections tab on the desired property.
Because the information necessary to collect for the substantial damage estimate is different based on whether the structure is residential or non-residential, select the SDE inspection that applies to the property.
Fill out all the information on the form
After clicking Submit on the form, Forerunner will generate an SDE summary for each inspection to provide a breakdown

Explanation of Form Fields

This section explains specific fields in the Substantial Damage Estimate (SDE) forms and provides information on the purpose and meaning of each section:

General information

The General Information section of the SDE form is fully customizable to align with your team’s workflows and needs during inspections. While Forerunner provides default fields like Assigned To and Inspector/Team, additional fields can be added to capture any other critical information that supports your team’s efforts on the ground.

Structure information

This section collects details about the structure and its materials, enabling Forerunner’s logic engine to calculate how much each element contributes to the overall replacement/repair cost of the building.
Users should also input the depreciation rating and construction quality of the structure before it sustained damage.
Note: The structure information fields vary between residential and non-residential SDEs, as the elements assessed differ depending on the building type.

Replacement cost

This section requires users to input the estimated cost to replace the structure based on current local labor and material costs. This value should reflect the non-depreciated replacement cost, calculated using cost-per-square-foot data.
The replacement cost is important for calculating the total repair costs. Forerunner uses this value in combination with the structure information and element damage percentages to determine the estimated cost of repairs.
Users can also specify the source of the replacement cost data in the designated field.

Element damages

In this section, users input the percentage of damage for each structural component. These percentages vary between residential and non-residential structures and are integral to calculating the total estimated damage to the property.

Market value of building

This field is used to input the total market value of the structure. The market value is compared to the estimated damage/repair cost to determine whether the structure qualifies as substantially damaged.

Notes

This field provides space for users to include additional information or context about the structure that may not be covered in the predefined fields. These notes will be included in the SDE summary.

Upload images

Users can upload photos of the structure to visually document the extent of the damage. These images will be included in the SDE summary.

SDE summary values

The SDE summary will produce Forerunner-calculated values based on: the structure information provided in the inspection form, the replacement cost of the structure defined in the inspection form, the market value defined in the inspection form and the element damage percentages. This page is produced after a user creates an SDE inspection and displays the following values along with any images collected, and a table with the path to getting to the calculations.

Percent damaged (Estimated damage cost / Market value): This field represents the percentage of the structure’s market value that is attributed to the estimated damage cost. It is a key metric in determining whether the structure is estimated to qualify as substantially damaged.
- This value will surface on the corresponding SDE value
Basis for replacement cost: The methodology used to calculate the replacement cost of the structure, this will either be Square footage estimate or Other replacement cost estimate.
Replacement cost: This field is the total non-depreciated value required to replace the structure, calculated based on the local cost of labor and materials. It forms the foundation for estimating repair costs.
Basis for market value: The methodology used to calculate the market value of the structure, this will either be Automated assessed value, Square footage estimate or Other value estimate (such as an appraisal etc.)
Estimated damage cost: This is the total monetary value of all damages to the structure, calculated as the sum of the damage percentages for each structural element multiplied by its respective contribution to the replacement cost.

How to export an SDE

You can export SDEs and their summary values via the Export button in the upper righthand corner of your dashboard map or on the upper righthand corner of your Inspections table view!