Richfords Fire and Flood have completed a five-year programme of stress-testing a new system designed to monitor the drying of buildings. The remote monitoring kit has been put through its paces after recent flooding in Coverack in Cornwall as well as Cumbria, Yorkshire, Somerset and Surrey.
The system uses a combination of a mobile phone network connection and humidity sensors to send a stream of data back to a technician’s work-station or tablet. This means that, after installing drying equipment in a home, church, school or commercial building, it is not necessary for someone to continually call around to check readings.
It has cut the time and mileage involved in an insurance project and has also meant that people’s lives are not constantly being disturbed as they try and recover from an extreme event.
MD, Steven Richford, said: “Damage restoration is about getting people’s lives back. I believe that if we can use technology in clever ways then we can make a traumatic experience less painful for them.
“It is also important that, as we repair the effects of climate change on property, we do not do things that have adverse impacts ourselves. Thereby, it is only logical that we should endeavour to cut our own carbon emissions by using such innovations.”
Richfords Fire and Flood has also innovated on stock control systems by creating its own bespoke smartphone-based solutions to keeping track of people’s property if it has to be removed from a property for restoration or cleaning. This means that clients can be sure what has happened to every item and what stage they are at.
