Laboratory Equipment Restoration After University Flood

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Incident

A major explosion caused by trapped gases occurred on the 7th floor of a university, leading to a water pipe bursting. The resulting flood severely impacted the top four floors, including the 7th, 6th, 5th, and 4th floors. Water cascaded from the 7th floor, flooding the floors below and affecting vital laboratory equipment. Due to the need for an extensive cause and origin investigation, access to the 7th floor was restricted for three weeks, further complicating the situation.

Challenges

The main challenge was the restricted access to the 7th floor for three weeks, preventing immediate damage assessment and delaying recovery efforts. AREPA faced difficulty in addressing the widespread damage across the top four floors, especially in restoring laboratory equipment on the 7th, 6th, and 4th floors. The delay in accessing the site and the time-sensitive nature of the school’s operations heightened the complexity. Further, the inability of the university’s workforce to conduct experiments during the downtime severely impacted productivity. While the exact time savings of restoring versus replacing equipment remained unknown, AREPA’s intervention resulted in significant cost savings.

Outcome

Despite the challenges, AREPA was able to restore the majority of the affected laboratory equipment, minimizing the need for replacements and saving approximately $1,000,000. The restoration allowed the university to resume its experiments and operations, significantly reducing downtime. AREPA’s involvement provided immense value to the insured by getting most of the critical equipment back in service and helping the school recover from the disaster.