Browse the full Resources Index
A large commercial loss rarely involves just an adjuster and a building owner working things out directly. Depending on the size and complexity of the damage, a large loss can bring in structural or forensic engineers to assess the building envelope, environmental consultants to address hazardous materials such as asbestos or lead paint disturbed during repairs, forensic accountants to evaluate business income and extra expense calculations, and general contractors or restoration firms to develop repair scope and pricing. Each of these professionals contributes a different piece of the overall picture, and coordinating their input is its own project management task.
Insurance carriers handling large or complex losses sometimes work with preferred vendor panels, meaning a roster of contractors, engineers, or consultants the carrier has pre-vetted for large loss work. Building owners are not typically required to use panel vendors and often retain their own consultants or contractors to represent their interests in parallel. This can result in two independent scopes of repair being developed for the same damage, one from each side, which is part of why large commercial losses sometimes proceed to appraisal when the two scopes cannot be reconciled through direct negotiation.
An appraiser stepping into a large loss inherits a substantial amount of existing documentation: engineering reports, moisture surveys, contractor estimates built in specialized software, and sometimes competing opinions about scope or methodology from consultants on both sides. Part of the appraiser’s work is reviewing that material, understanding where the two positions actually diverge, whether it is a difference in measured quantities, in unit pricing, in repair methodology, or in the extent of damage itself, and then applying independent judgment supported by physical inspection and industry-standard estimating practices.
Because so many specialists may already be involved by the time an appraisal begins, it can be tempting to treat their reports as settled fact. An appraiser’s obligation, however, is to form an independent opinion based on the physical evidence and applicable estimating standards, giving appropriate weight to prior expert work without simply adopting either side’s conclusions wholesale. This independence is part of what makes the appraisal process useful in large, multi-party losses where a great deal of technical material has already accumulated before the appraiser ever steps onto the property. Large losses of this kind can extend over many months from the initial date of loss to a final resolution, simply given the volume of documentation, the number of specialists involved, and the scale of the repair or rebuilding work being scoped, and that extended timeline is a realistic expectation for everyone involved rather than a sign that something has gone wrong with the process.
Coordinating multiple consultants also means coordinating the units and reference points everyone is using. An engineer’s structural report, a contractor’s line-item estimate, and a forensic accountant’s income calculation are often prepared independently, sometimes using different measurement conventions or different roof plans entirely, and reconciling those documents into a coherent record takes deliberate effort rather than happening automatically. Large losses sometimes involve separate appraisal proceedings for building coverage and for business income coverage under the same policy, each with its own timeline, which adds another layer of scheduling that the parties and their consultants need to track alongside the underlying technical work.
This article is general education about how the appraisal process commonly works. It is not legal advice, and specific procedures can vary by state and policy.
Russ Lis is a working property insurance appraiser and umpire based in Minnesota, serving clients nationwide. Contact Appraisal Resolution.