Project No. 2017-02

Location: Multiple affected Parishes throughout the state of Louisiana

Contract Value: $1.8 M

Completion Date: 10/2017 - Present

Owner/POC: State of Louisiana, Office of Community Development via subcontract with IEM, 2801 Slater Road, Suite 110, Morrisville, NC 27560,  Ted Lemcke, COO, (571) 344-4172

Project Specific Disciplines

  • Program Management
  • Structural Assessments
  • Engineering
  • QA/QC
  • Field Inspections
  • Cost Estimating
  • Tracking and Reporting
  • Meeting Facilitation and Recording
  • Public Outreach and Communications

Royal holds multiple subcontracts for disaster recovery services in support of the State of Louisiana’s Restore Louisiana (ReLa) Homeowner’s Assistance Program, led by the State’s Office of Community Development. The Program is funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program (CDBG-DR) to assist in Louisiana’s long-term recovery from the severe flooding that occurred throughout much of the state in March and August of 2016. The ReLa Homeowner’s Assistance Program was implemented to provide relief and long-term recovery to homeowners in the form of assistance with rehabilitation, reconstruction, or reimbursement for damages sustained to homes as a result of the floods.

Royal’s services on this Program include Damage Assessment, Case Management, Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC), and Professional Engineering. Upon Program initiation, Royal recruited and mobilized staff for damage assessments, case management, and QA/QC services and was subsequently requested to conduct engineering assessments on homes believed to have structural deficiencies.

Damage Assessment Services - Damage Assessors were deployed to applicant homes to determine the level of damage experienced as a result of the flood(s). Damage assessors documented in great detail every component of the home’s interior and exterior so that Xactimate estimated cost of repairs (ECRs) could be developed from their assessment. Damage Assessors were also responsible for noting any structural damage to the home that may preclude or inhibit basic repair.

Case Management Services - Case Management staff were embedded in the client’s office and worked directly with applicants and other Program staff to help ensure timely and accurate submission and processing of homeowner applications. Royal personnel reviewed and tracked homeowner documentation for verification of benefits, eligibility, and application completion. Case Managers interacted with applicants daily via phone, email, and in person.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control Services - Royal performed QA/QC on the accuracy of damage assessor ECRs and environmental (lead-based paint) reports produced by the Program. ECRs were developed by damage assessors in Xactimate and transmitted to the Program QA/QC queue via Xactanalysis. Royal QA/QC personnel reviewed estimates for compliance with Program Guidelines. Royal QA/QC personnel are Level 2 Certified in Xactimate 28. Due to excellent performance in this area, Royal’s Project Manager was asked to serve as a QA/QC Lead for several departments (Lead-Based Paint/ Environmental, Engineering Services, and Scope Deferments), tasked with tracking thousands of files to completion.

Engineering Services - This component of the ReLa Program was requested by the Program once it was realized that many of the homes being assessed had significant structural deficiencies beyond the existing scope of assessment and repair services. Royal assisted the client with development and implementation of the Engineering Services element of the Program, and continues to support workflow and management efforts for these services. As part of this effort, Royal developed and maintains a tracking system for all activities performed by engineering services staff and to date has performed structural evaluations on hundreds of homes participating in the Program, identifying if structural damage identified is related to the flooding of 2016, presents Life-Safety concerns, and/or creates protection of Program investment concerns. Reports on findings and recommendations were completed, stamped by a licensed Professional Engineer, and submitted to the Program.