• Document the condition of your home by photo or video, prior to construction start or as soon after construction start as possible. Be sure to document locations where damage is most often found: corners of window and door wall penetrations, attached concrete slabs, and door frames. If, at the same time, you document the contents of the home, you can also use the images for insurance purposes in the event of an unrelated loss.
• Find out all you can about the construction and the contractor from any public web sites which have relevant information. Print everything you find. Attend any public meetings prior to construction start.
• Prepare to document construction by photo or video. If you have security cameras, you can add or redirect one or more to do part of this job, although security footage is not a complete substitute for your own photos or videos. You may also be able to use a neighbor's security footage, if one or more cameras are pointed toward the construction.
• Document the construction as much as you can by video or photos. You can even use a cell phone, tablet computer or your existing security cameras for this. Pay particular attention to those days when compaction and paving, demolition, pile driving or blasting may be done. Get photos and/or video of as many pieces of construction equipment in use as you can, making sure you capture the equipment model designations.
• Get recordings of the largest vibrations for documentation, using just about any iOS or Android tablet or cell phone having accelerometer sensors, along with free vibration monitoring apps for your device. In the unlikely event that any vibration monitoring is done for the contractor, you may want to get those data ultimately.
• Check your home regularly during the construction process for new or expanding cracks and other signs of damage, recording any changes on video or in photos. Pay particular attention to diagonal cracks extending from the corners of wall penetrations. Also check for concrete and slab cracking. You should document any other forms of damage, as well.
• Notify the contractor and the project sponsor as soon as possible of any damage which you believe can be directly associated with construction.
• Prepare for and conduct damage inspection visits by representatives of the contractor, insurers, project sponsors, etc.
• Contact an attorney, if your damage is sufficient and your case documented well enough to justify the cost.
• Talk to neighbors about possible damage in their homes. Document that damage with their permission.
• Talk with your attorney on an ongoing basis about other steps that you need to take.

More information describing how to carry out these steps can be found in the CVDG PDF, available for free download at https://vibrationdamage.com/download.htm, with comprehensive information in the CVDG Professional Edition at https://vibrationdamage.com/cvdg_pro__overview.htm. It needn't take more than a few hours work to do all the steps above, but it can put you in a far stronger position if you experience damage.

 

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