Updated August 22, 2026. There is no published ANSI/IICRC S500 “August 2026 edition.” Current book is Fifth Edition, 2021. The 2026 delta is the Consensus Body position statement (February 10, 2026).
Top-down water ingress, wind-driven rain, and water from weather-related events are not automatically Category 3. Gross contamination is the test. Inspection → information gathering → preliminary determination by the restorer. Source: IICRC weather-related position statement (PDF). Also see the short post Wind-Driven Rain Is Not Automatically Category 3.
| What you found | Do not auto-call | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| Clean rain through a roof opening, no sewage/flood path, inspected | Cat 3 “because storm” | Preliminary determination from source + what it touched. Document the path. |
| Overland flood, seawater, waste-line beyond trap | Cat 1 because it “looks clear” | Those remain Cat 3 examples in the 2021 definition. The position statement does not wash those away. |
| Ambiguous path, high-risk occupants, suspected aerosolized contaminant | Guess | IEP considerations. Write why. |
The position statement is about category (contamination), not drying class (evaporation load). Do not mix them in the estimate header.
IICRC S500 water-damage categories and classes, for restoration professionals. More in the Vault and on the blog.
Live on Restoration Intel
- Water damage restoration: the complete professional guide
- Water damage video
- Storm and flood water intrusion: extraction and drying protocol
- IICRC standards evolution, technology, and emerging contaminants (2026)