An Emergency Response Agreement (ERA) is a pre-loss commercial contract that gives a restoration company first-call rights on a facility and defines response time, rates, scope, insurance, and termination before water is on the floor. It is not a work authorization. It is not an assignment of benefits. It is not an Emergency Readiness Plan brochure.
ERA vs ERP vs MSA vs work auth
- ERP — property intel: shutoffs, contacts, photos. Opens the door. Does not put you first on the call sheet by itself.
- ERA / ESA — the contract: who can call, how fast you arrive, what you may start, what it costs, how it ends.
- MSA — procurement wrapper for a portfolio. Longer cycle. Use when one FM controls many doors.
- Work authorization — signed after the loss. If this is your first document, you already lost the preferred position.
- AOB — a claims instrument, not a commercial relationship. Do not confuse the two in front of an FM.
Eight provisions that have to be in writing
- Parties and who is allowed to activate you — FM, chief engineer, GM, after-hours answering service.
- Response time in three parts: callback, on-site, and a CAT carve-out when the whole city is wet.
- Rate schedule as an exhibit. If you cannot price a midnight extraction from the exhibit, it is not a rate schedule.
- Emergency scope only — stabilize, extract, document. Reconstruction is a separate authorization.
- Not-to-exceed pre-authorization so work starts before the adjuster is assigned.
- Insurance, licenses, and the standards you work to (S500, S520, S700).
- Term, auto-renew, and a QBR date. Cintas does not win on the first sale. They win on the renewal.
- Communication cadence — who gets the first photo set and how often the FM hears from you.
Have a lawyer write the words. This page is the operating system, not a template to paste onto letterhead.
How nationals sell this — and how you beat it
Nationals sell a coverage map. Independents win the building-specific packet: a walked property, labeled shutoffs, a rate exhibit the FM can defend, and a person who will be on site in the SLA. The FM keeps the national name on the list for the board packet. They call you if you already know the riser. The wedge that is not already in the binder is specialty recovery — documents, electronics, art, medical — sold as an exhibit on the same ERA.
Objections
“We already have a vendor.” Good. Ask to be second on the sheet with an ERA. Second becomes first the night the primary is on another loss.
“Legal will not sign a lock-in.” Then the ERA needs a termination clause. If it cannot be exited, a good FM will not sign it.
“The carrier will send their vendor anyway.” The owner still chooses the contractor in most states. Being on site with pre-authorization is the practical advantage.
This week
- Pick ten doors in one vertical — multifamily or hospitality, not both.
- Offer a 45-minute walk and a one-page readiness sheet.
- Leave a draft ERA, not a promise to “put something together.”
- Follow up on the quarter, not the next storm.
Get the ERA Kit
The Commercial Restoration Vault includes the Emergency Response Agreement Kit and the sales sequence from first FM coffee to a signed account. One email. No sales call.
The Vault · Specialty recovery door · ERP as a sales tool · How FMs choose a vendor · Field App