Water Damage & Flooded Basement Restoration Services

Consequences of Water Damage in Office Buildings

By the RestorationSOS Educational Staff

After water damage, office losses can arise from damage to office equipment and furniture, destruction of computer files and paper records and loss of income when the incident forces the operations to shut down. Any of these can have a serious impact on the finances of the company as well as create time-consuming tasks for some office personnel.

Financially, the cost of water damage includes repair or replacement of damaged items that are important to the operations of the office as well as the costs of water extraction, cleanup and renovation of the water-damaged building. If the company has proper and adequate insurance coverage, their plan will pay for the damage and restoration costs. Otherwise, the company will have to shoulder the burden of the financial loss.

Aside from financial consequences, secondary water damage in an office building such as poor indoor air quality and mold growth have also been known to have adverse effects on the health and well-being of employees, which can translate to more sick days or sluggish production.

One study done in the United States on occupational respiratory disease, which was published in April 2005 in a peer-reviewed journal, observed employees who were working in a building that experienced water damage from leaks over several years.

Compared with the general workforce, the subjected office workers were found to be two and three times more likely to develop respiratory symptoms like wheezing and adult-onset asthma, respectively. The authors of the study also calculated that about 12 percent of sick days that were taken by the said office workers were related to the heath effects of the water-damaged building.

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