Common questions about industrial machinery assessment, insurance engineering, recovery, repair, and recovery cost estimation.
The answers below are general and educational. Because every machine and every claim is different, case-specific technical conclusions can only be established through a direct Engineering Assessment.
What is Insurance Engineering and when do I need it?
Read more on the Insurance Engineering Explained page or see our Insurance Engineering service.
SRT provides independent technical engineering opinion and is engaged by both insurance companies / loss adjusters and machine owners, depending on the case. Our assessment methodology and conclusions do not change based on who commissions the report — findings are based on physical evidence, engineering analysis, and applicable standards, not on the interests of the engaging party.
Duration depends on machine complexity, damage extent, site access, and how much evidence is available at the time of inspection. A single-machine assessment is typically faster than a multi-asset or complex electrical/mechanical failure investigation. An exact timeline is confirmed during intake, once the incident and machine details are known.
You can start intake through our Engineering Assessment tool.
SRT's reports are prepared following independent engineering documentation practice — evidence, methodology, findings, and technical basis — intended to be defensible under review. However, final acceptance of any technical report is determined by each insurer's or loss adjuster's own internal policy and claim requirements, so SRT does not guarantee acceptance by a specific insurer.
Whether an assessment fee is reimbursable depends on individual policy wording and the insurer's claims process. This is a policy question rather than an engineering one, so we recommend confirming reimbursement terms with your insurer or loss adjuster.
Repair restores a machine to working condition using its existing design and components where feasible. Recovery is SRT's broader engineering-led process spanning assessment, root cause analysis, recovery cost estimation, and execution strategy for a damaged asset. Replacement means removing the damaged asset from service and installing new equipment, typically when recovery cost approaches or exceeds replacement cost, or structural/safety integrity cannot be re-established.
In many cases, yes — but recoverability cannot be determined without inspection. It depends on water level relative to electrical and control components, duration of immersion, water contamination, corrosion progression since the incident, bearing and insulation condition, and availability of replacement parts. A structured Engineering Assessment is the only way to establish actual recoverability for a specific machine.
What you do first significantly affects the outcome — see our First 24 Hours guide and the Flood-Damaged Electric Motor Recovery example in our Engineering Handbook.
SRT does not publish a single generic recovery-success percentage, because recoverability is case-specific. It depends on water level and immersion duration, contamination type, machine architecture, extent of electrical/control system exposure, corrosion progression, bearing and insulation condition, and availability of replacement components needed to restore required performance. SRT determines recoverability through a structured technical assessment of the specific machine, not a generic figure.
Yes — this is one of the scenarios where SRT's reverse engineering capability is most relevant. When OEM support, spare parts, or documentation is no longer available, SRT can reverse-engineer critical components and systems from the physical asset to support repair, retrofit, or remanufacturing, without requiring the original manufacturer's drawings.
SRT prioritizes urgent industrial incidents, including flood, fire, electrical and mechanical emergencies. The fastest way to reach us for an urgent matter is via the WhatsApp emergency line on this website — actual response time depends on incident severity, location, and current workload.
Work generally begins with an incident report and intake, followed by a structured Engineering Assessment (site inspection and evidence collection), Root Cause Analysis where relevant, Recovery Cost Estimation using the BURCE methodology, a recovery strategy recommendation, and — if commissioned — execution and documented handover.
Useful preparation includes machine documentation or manuals if available, maintenance or service history, photos or video of the damage or incident, information on when and how the incident occurred, confirmation that the site and machine are safe to access, and any insurance claim reference number if applicable.
Yes. Beyond assessment and engineering analysis, SRT also carries out physical machine recovery work — repair, retrofit, remanufacturing, and reinstallation/commissioning — depending on what the technical assessment determines is the appropriate recovery strategy.
Assessment cost depends on machine type, complexity, location, and the scope of investigation required. SRT does not publish a fixed assessment fee because scope varies case by case — contact us with machine and incident details for a scope-based quotation.
SRT calculates Recovery Cost Estimation using BURCE (Bottom-Up Engineering Recovery Cost Estimation), a bottom-up methodology that builds the cost estimate from itemized, engineering-verified components tied to the actual damage found during assessment, rather than a top-down percentage-of-replacement-value guess.
Read the full BURCE methodology or get a preliminary, non-binding figure with the Recovery Scope Estimator.
Describe your machine situation and our engineering team will help directly.
