As management, one may be concerned about the amount of insurance that is carried on your plant or commercial facilities. Or, your insurance carrier or insurance broker may suggest or demand that an appraisal be purchased. Some insurance companies still provide this service, but generally such is not the case. So the question arises, who offers the necessary service, what is there to purchase and what are the differences in what is offered. The uninformed services purchaser is at a disadvantage. The purpose of this brief paper is to offer assistance to the buyer concerning the levels of service being offered or considered, and the service needs fulfilled by the varying service levels. Being very direct, an insurance appraisal fulfills three service needs (nothing more), these are: 1. Independence, 2. Value information, and 3. Preparedness for a loss situation. Further, these service levels fulfill the above service needs to differing degrees. To simplify the information a bit, let’s assume that any service being offered is independent in nature, not being offered by an insurance carrier, broker, or a conflicting interest provider. SERVICE LEVEL EXAMPLES FOR BUILDING STRUCTURES Comment: Generally, the best balance of accuracy and loss preparedness is fulfilled by selecting either the professional appraiser’s Calculator Method or the professional appraiser’s Segregated Cost Approach. The primary construction cost services used by appraisers are Means, Boekch, and Marshall Valuation, with all three being generally adequate but each having particular advantages / disadvantages in use. And please get a set of plans out of the building, and take overlapping photos of the interior and exterior, or make a video, and get this also out of the building. Therefore if there is a loss one has certain elements of information necessary to prove to the adjuster / value expert what there was. SERVICE LEVEL EXAMPLES FOR CONTENTS (FURNITURE AND FIXTURES, MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT) Comment: Generally, the best balance of accuracy and loss preparedness is fulfilled by selecting either the experienced appraisers walk through or the fair / excellent detailed levels of service. For the difference of 15% the excellent detailed level of service is prudent, unless the company has other proof of loss information that is, very good fixed asset records, engineering detail, etc. (off-site copies please to protect the data). And please have overlapping photos of the contents, and particularly photos of each major asset. A personal note, do this for your residence as well.