Why documentation matters in a time of insurance market volatility

RCS Influencer Aaron Weinstein says it's important for contractors to have proper documentation and processes in place that are scalable outside of the leadership team.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Aaron Weinstein of Terial. You can Read the interview below, Listen to the podcast or Watch the recording.

Jenny Yu: Hey everyone, my name is Jenny Yu, and I am here with RoofersCoffeeShop®. Today, I'm here for an Influencer response with Aaron Weinstein of Terial. How's it going today, Aaron?

Aaron Weinstein: Going great, Jenny. Great to be here again. How are you?

Jenny Yu: Yay. I'm doing well, too. Thank you. Enjoying the spring weather. So, this month, we're talking about some volatility that's going on in the insurance market. We were wondering if you could share your thoughts specifically on some strategies for people to mitigate risks and control costs during this time.

Aaron Weinstein: Absolutely. I would say the first thing that I'll mention is that there are three buckets of cost that our customers — and we work with contractors all over the country — really care about and worry about, at least what we've heard. The first is going to be labor cost. The second will be material pricing and material cost. The third is going to be insurance. So those three buckets are always going to be top of mind, and that's going to really drive your margin and determine whether you end the year in the red or in profit.

So, what I would say around the strategies that are really helping drive better outcomes for some of our contractors who historically have had pretty variable insurance premia, those would all be around documentation and ensuring that you have the right kind of safety protocols in place. Know the industry standard or the insurance standard of EMR ratings and make sure that those ratings equate to the level of premium that you're you're paying — those are all indicators that you can improve as a business and as a contractor by having better documented safety processes. And doing weekly toolbox talks, having documentation that your team has actually gone and attended those meetings and then, of course, having inspectors on site and doing standard safety inspections — all of these things are really important and are essential for having a really compliant workforce.

But even more important is documenting all of that because at the end of the day, if you have a really great safety process in mind, we want to make sure everyone is safe on the job site, but we also want to make sure that you're communicating that to your insurance provider and to the folks who are underwriting the insurance for you. So, one of the ways that we help document that is through the safety module that we have in Terial and helping folks perform, save, store things like toolbox talks, perform daily, weekly safety inspections. And that's actually a whole part of the entire platform that we're investing really heavily in because, as we mentioned in the beginning, we know that the three buckets of costs that are largest typically on a roofing project are going to be labor, material and insurance.

So, how can we impact and drive better outcomes for our contractors? And how can you as a contractor strategize around this uncertain insurance environment? I think one of the biggest things you can do is just ensure that you have proper documentation and that you have processes in place that are scalable outside of yourself and the leadership team.

Jenny Yu: Amazing. Such a thorough answer and going to be super helpful for our audience. Thank you so much, Aaron, as always. Hope you have a great month.

Aaron Weinstein: Awesome. Thanks, Jenny.