Shingles · Treasure Island, FL
1 / 8
Treasure Island, FL
Shingle roof and flooded interior rebuilt after a hurricane
Dry-in, documented from the air: ice and water shield across the entire deck and bundles staged before the first shingle went on.
Storm response plan for property managers, associations, and commercial owners
Storm response playbook for property managers
What to do in the first 2 hours, the first 24 hours, the first week, and the first 30 days after hail, wind, or hurricane damage. A building-by-building response plan for multifamily properties, condominium and homeowners associations, and commercial portfolios: life safety, documentation, emergency mitigation, vendor verification, permanent scope, and closeout.
Use this playbook whether or not you ever call K. Simon Construction.
Roof open or water coming in right now? Emergency roof mitigation or call 888-NOW-ROOF (888) 669-7663.
Reviewed August 14, 2026. General operational guidance, not legal or insurance advice; whether damage is covered is the insurer's decision under the policy. View sources.
The playbook at a glance
Five time windows, five objectives
Each row condenses a full section below. Mid-storm, find your time window and start there.
- 01Before the stormPrepare
Actions Roof inventory, baseline photos, vendors verified, tenant notices drafted
Record Roof inventory and baseline file
- 02Hours 0 to 2People, then triage
Actions Account for people, ground-level walk, rank buildings by water entry, start the log
Record Dated incident log
- 03Hours 2 to 24Document, then mitigate
Actions As-found photos wide to tight, temporary protection, carrier notified per the policy, first tenant notice
Record As-found photo set and mitigation record
- 04Days 1 to 7Dry, verify, inspect
Actions Drying started promptly, every vendor passes the five checks, documented inspection per building
Record Moisture record and inspection reports
- 05Days 7 to 30Scope and close
Actions Equal-scope bids, permits where required, second tenant notice, retrospective
Record Contract, permit, warranty, and closeout package
Phase 0
Before the storm: prepare while the weather is calm
Storm response is decided before the storm. Every item here is cheap in a calm week and expensive to improvise in a wet one.
- Build the roof inventory. One line per building: covering type, approximate age, last inspection date, known problem areas, and roof access notes. A portfolio manager who can answer "which buildings have 15-year-old shingle roofs" the morning after a storm triages in minutes instead of days.
- Capture the baseline. Dated wide photos of each roof and elevation in good weather, filed where the storm-day team can reach them. Post-storm documentation is substantially more useful when it can be compared against dated pre-storm views of the same building.
- Pre-qualify vendors now. Verify license and insurance for a roofer, a plumber, and a water-mitigation firm before you need them, using the verification steps in this playbook. The worst time to vet a contractor is while water is coming through a ceiling and the parking lot is full of out-of-state trucks.
- Draft the tenant notices in advance. Two templates: "we are aware and assessing" and "here is the repair plan and timeline." Filling in blanks under pressure beats composing under pressure.
- Know the policy basics. Deductibles, named-storm provisions, and notification requirements vary by policy. Knowing where the policy documents are and who the broker contact is belongs on the pre-season checklist; interpreting them belongs to the insurer and your broker.
- Check the public storm record for your addresses. A five-year lookback of reported hail and wind near each property, from the public record, is context worth holding before the next event. The storm history tool does this in seconds.
Phase 1: hours 0 to 2
Life safety first, then stop the loss from growing
Nothing on a roof matters until people are safe. The first two hours are triage, not repair.
- People before property. Account for tenants and staff, treat downed power lines and smell-of-gas situations as emergency calls, and keep everyone off roofs and away from hanging debris, standing water near electrical equipment, and damaged structures. Post-storm assessment introduces its own hazards, which is why emergency management guidance treats the hours after a storm as part of the dangerous period, not the end of it.
- Walk the ground, not the roof. A perimeter walk from stable ground can identify many urgent conditions: displaced covering visible from below, roofing material in the parking lot, water on interior ceilings. Ground-level observation is a management skill; roof access is a contractor task with fall protection.
- Triage by water, not by looks. Active interior water entry outranks dramatic-looking exterior damage that is not letting water in. Rank buildings by what is getting wet.
- Start the log. A running dated note of what was observed, decided, and called in, from hour zero. This log becomes the backbone of the claim file and the answer to every "when did you know" question that follows.
- The do-not list. Do not put staff on roofs. Do not sign anything presented at the door in the first afternoon. Do not discard damaged material before it is photographed. Do not promise tenants timelines nobody has scoped yet.
Phase 2: hours 2 to 24
Document before cleanup, then mitigate
The first day decides the quality of every record the property will hold about this storm.
- Photograph as found, wide to tight. For each building: the whole elevation, then the damaged area in context, then the detail, so every close-up can be placed on the property. Include interior ceilings and walls where water appeared, with something dated in the record. Photograph BEFORE debris is moved or tarps go on. The documentation tool structures this checklist and the sample inspection report shows what the professional version looks like.
- Mitigate to stop further damage. Temporary covering over active entry points, water extraction started, wet contents moved. Prompt mitigation limits how far the damage spreads; follow the policy's own terms on notification and coordinate with the insurer or broker. Mitigation is protection, not repair, and it should be documented like everything else. Emergency tarping is a professional task on anything beyond trivial access. How emergency tarping works.
- Notify on day one. The carrier or broker per the policy's notice terms, and tenants with the first template: what happened, what is being done now, how to report unit-level damage. Silence is what turns a wet week into a reputation problem.
- Collect tenant damage reports in one channel. One inbox or form for unit reports, each answered with what to photograph and whether to move contents. Twenty scattered phone messages is how a wet unit gets missed.
Active water entry or exposed roofing right now?
See how emergency roof mitigation works, or call 888-NOW-ROOF (888) 669-7663.
Phase 3: days 1 to 7
Dry it, verify everyone, and get the real scope
The week the property either takes control of the process or loses it to whoever knocks first.
- Treat moisture as its own emergency. US EPA guidance for commercial buildings says to dry water-damaged areas and materials within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth. Wet drywall, insulation, and flooring left untreated expand the scope of damage well beyond the roof opening that let the water in. Moisture assessment and drying run in parallel with the roof work, never after it.
- Verify every vendor before they touch the building. The full checklist is the next section. The one-sentence version: licensed, insured, physically real, willing to be looked up, and never asking for the claim itself.
- Commission a documented inspection per building. What was physically examined, photographs tied to each finding and location, and a written recommendation. That record is what the carrier conversation, the board conversation, and the budget conversation all run on. An aerial estimate can size the roof; only the documented inspection establishes its condition.
- Separate mitigation scope from permanent scope. Tarps and drying are one workstream with its own paper trail; the permanent roof scope is another, developed from the inspection record. Mixing them is how permanent work gets priced under emergency pressure.
- Have the file organized before the inspection. The dated log, the as-found photos, the mitigation record, and the inspection reports, kept in one place. A property that can answer questions from its records answers them better than one narrating from memory. The decision remains the insurer's under the policy; the record is simply what the property holds.
Need the professional inspection record described above?
Phase 4: days 7 to 30
Permanent scope, equal bids, and the closeout file
The storm ends twice: once when the water stops, and once when the records are complete.
- Compare bids on equal scope, never on the headline number. Same deck assumptions, same underlayment and flashing details, same edge metal, permits, disposal, and warranty terms. A bid that is cheaper because it quietly excludes flashing work is not cheaper. The inspection question set doubles as a bid-leveling sheet.
- Permits and inspections are features, not friction. Permitted work with passed inspections is what the building can prove later, at sale, at refinance, and at the next claim. For work that requires a permit, a contractor who suggests skipping it is creating a documentation gap the property inherits.
- Sequence tenants around the work. The second template goes out: the plan, the schedule, parking and noise expectations, and who to contact. On occupied multifamily work, communication is as much of the job as the roofing.
- Close the file. Completion photos of the same views the storm photos used, the signed-off permit record, material and workmanship warranties, final invoices against scope, and the carrier correspondence. File it with the roof inventory from Phase 0, which this event just updated.
- Run the retrospective. Thirty minutes with the team: what the property learned about its roofs, its vendors, its tenant channel, and its own playbook. The next storm inherits this one's lessons.
The gate every contractor passes, or does not
Vendor verification, in five checks
After every storm, real contractors and storm chasers arrive in the same trucks. Most of the difference can be checked in fifteen minutes.
- License, looked up by you. Ask for the state license number and check it on the applicable state's licensing portal yourself. Confirm the license is current, the class covers the work, and the license actually qualifies the exact business entity you are contracting with, not just a person with a similar name. In Florida, check both the individual qualifier and the business name through the DBPR licensee search at myfloridalicense.com; every state with contractor licensing runs an equivalent lookup.
- Insurance, certificate in hand. General liability and workers' compensation, with the certificate naming the contractor you are hiring and dates that are current. For larger work, confirm the certificate directly with the issuing agent or broker. Uninsured or improperly insured crews can expose the property to serious liability and uninsured-loss risk.
- A physical, findable business. A real address, a history under the same name, references from projects like yours that you may call. Manufacturer certification directories (GAF, Owens Corning, CertainTeed) are useful supplemental checks of a contractor's standing, alongside license, insurance, and references rather than instead of them.
- Nobody gets the claim signed over. Be wary of anyone leading with an assignment of benefits, a same-day signature, or a guaranteed claim outcome. An assignment of benefits is a legal document; do not sign one without independent review. No contractor controls a claim decision, and the honest ones say so. Florida properties: state law prohibits post-loss assignment of benefits under residential and commercial property insurance policies issued on or after January 1, 2023 (Fla. Stat. 627.7152; see the Florida CFO's consumer guidance at myfloridacfo.com), so an AOB form presented after a storm deserves particular scrutiny against the actual policy.
- The documentation test. Ask what their inspection produces. If the answer is not a written record with photographs tied to findings and locations, keep looking. Documentation quality is one of the most useful indicators of a contractor's operational discipline.
The through-line of the whole playbook
The documentation standard
Every phase above produces records because records are what a property actually holds when the trucks leave.
The standard is simple to state: dated, located, and layered. Dated, so the sequence of events is provable. Located, so every photo can be placed on a building and an elevation. Layered, wide to tight, so context and detail travel together. It applies to the manager's ground-level record on day one and to the professional inspection that follows, and it is the difference between an organized record and a folder of pictures.
What the professional version looks like is not a secret: the sample inspection report shows a documented inspection page by page, and the storm restoration process shows where that record fits in the larger sequence. K. Simon builds its inspection documentation to the standard above as a standing practice, which is a statement about record quality and nothing more.
Free PDF: eight working documents
The storm response toolkit
The working documents behind this playbook, formatted to print and file: hand them to the team before storm season starts.
- 01
Pre-storm readiness checklist
- 02
Active storm response checklist
- 03
Property storm incident log
- 04
Pre-storm roof inventory
- 05
Tenant notice: aware and assessing
- 06
Tenant notice: the repair plan
- 07
Vendor verification checklist
- 08
Board briefing template
Sending it to a colleague or a board instead? The share buttons at the top and bottom of this page post the playbook link directly.
Need the notice text right now?
Both tenant notices, ready to paste into an email or onto your letterhead. Replace every bracketed placeholder before sending; the bracket style makes a half-filled notice impossible to miss. Notice 2 asserts the contractor's license and insurance were verified, so run the vendor verification checks before it goes out.
Tenant notice 1: aware and assessing
Send within the first 24 hours.
Dear residents of [PROPERTY NAME],
On [DATE], our property was affected by [STORM NAME OR TYPE]. Our team has completed an initial ground-level assessment and is coordinating professional inspections of the affected buildings. Where temporary protection is needed, it is being put in place.
If your unit has water entry, ceiling or wall staining, or other storm damage, please report it to [REPORT CHANNEL] so nothing is missed. Photograph what you see, and do not enter any area that feels unsafe.
We will follow up with the repair plan and schedule as assessments are completed. For urgent, safety-related issues, contact [URGENT CONTACT] immediately.
Thank you for your patience,
[NAME AND TITLE]
Tenant notice 2: the repair plan
Send once the scope and schedule exist.
Dear residents of [PROPERTY NAME],
Following the storm on [DATE], inspections of the affected buildings are complete and repairs have been scheduled. Work on your building is expected to begin [START DATE] and finish [END DATE], weather permitting.
During the work you can expect crew activity and noise during the hours of [WORK HOURS], temporary parking changes near [LOT OR AREA], and protection measures around entrances and walkways. Please keep clear of work areas and follow posted signage.
The contractor performing the work is [CONTRACTOR NAME], license number [LICENSE NUMBER], whose license and insurance we have verified. Permits are pulled where required. Questions about the schedule can be directed to management at [MANAGEMENT CONTACT]; report any new leaks or damage through the same channel as before.
Thank you for your patience,
[NAME AND TITLE]
FAQ
Questions property managers ask after a storm
Should the roof be cleaned up before it has been inspected?
Document first, then mitigate, then clean. Photograph conditions as found, from wide establishing shots down to details, before anything is moved. Property policies commonly address temporary mitigation to prevent further damage, on the policy's own terms; discarding damaged material before it is documented is how evidence disappears. Whether damage is covered is always the insurer's decision under the policy.
Does a nearby hail or wind report prove the roof was damaged?
No. Public storm reports document what trained observers recorded near a point, and they are useful for establishing that an event occurred in the area. Damage to a specific roof is established by inspecting that roof and documenting what is found, which is why the inspection record matters more than the weather record.
What should a property manager ask a roofer who shows up after a storm?
Ask for the state license number and look it up yourself, ask for proof of insurance, ask for a physical business address and how long they have operated under this name, and ask who actually performs the work. Be wary of anyone who asks you to sign over an insurance claim, pressures a same-day signature, or guarantees a claim outcome. No one outside the insurer can guarantee a claim result.
How fast does drying need to start after water gets in?
Industry drying guidance treats the first 24 to 48 hours as the meaningful window before moisture problems compound in wet materials. The practical rule for a manager: stop active water entry as soon as it is safe, then get affected interior materials assessed and drying started promptly rather than waiting for the permanent roof scope to be settled.
What records should the property keep when the storm work is done?
The dated photo record from before mitigation through completion, the inspection reports, the scope and contract for each phase of work, permits and inspection results where applicable, warranty documents for material and workmanship, and the correspondence trail with the carrier. These are the records a future manager, buyer, lender, or adjuster is most likely to ask for.
From the job files
This playbook, run on a real property
A Treasure Island home after hurricane flooding: tarp, documentation, then the roof and the interior beneath it rebuilt under one documented scope.
For writers, boards, and researchers
Sources and citing this playbook
The framework above is built from standing public guidance and field practice. Where a section leans on a specific source, the source is named at the claim; the register below maps each one.
- Drying window: US EPA, mold prevention and remediation guidance for schools and commercial buildings (epa.gov/mold), the source of the 24-to-48-hour drying standard cited in days 1 to 7.
- Florida contractor verification: Florida DBPR licensee search (myfloridalicense.com), cited in vendor verification.
- Florida assignment of benefits: Florida Department of Financial Services consumer guidance on assignment of benefits (myfloridacfo.com), cited in vendor verification.
- Preparedness and post-storm safety: FEMA (fema.gov), ready.gov, the National Weather Service (weather.gov), and the Florida Division of Emergency Management (floridadisaster.org).
- Property resilience: the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (ibhs.org).
- Storm records: public National Weather Service local storm reports, as used by the storm history tool; the tool methodology page documents exactly how.
To cite this playbook: "The Storm Response Playbook for Property Managers, K. Simon Construction, ksimon.com/resources/storm-response-playbook/." Section anchors are stable and safe to deep-link. Reviewed August 14, 2026; substantive changes bump the date. Reuse with attribution is welcome; questions reach the team at (888) 669-7663 (888-NOW-ROOF).
Limitations: this is a general operational framework. It is not legal advice, not insurance advice, and not a substitute for the policy's own terms or for professional inspection of a specific building. Whether damage is covered is the insurer's decision under the policy.
When the portfolio needs eyes on roofs
A documented assessment, building by building.
Multifamily, association, and commercial roof assessments with the documentation standard this playbook describes: what was examined, photographs tied to findings, recommendations in writing. Commercial work runs nationwide.