RCT Webinar-Updated 03/18/12 This instructional write up/guide is for the RCT Form that is found on the Main Information screen. When do we do the RCT? The RCT is done when a full exterior or full interior inspection is requested. The RCT is not done for all accounts. It is not done when the following forms are requested: 14, 16, 414, 55,399 forms or for any Allstate or Encompass low value (non-high value) reports. Please make sure you look at the report form box on the main information screen to determine what type of report you should be doing for each case you have. Also consult the Account Guidelines on each account for more information. The following are the areas to be completed for an exterior only report: Building Exterior walls Roof Attached structures Detached structures Exterior features Heating and cooling Interior features* *Finished Attics are found in the Interior Features area and should be added to your exterior report (if applicable). Garages and attached carports. For a doorstep interview report, High Value report or Mid-Range report all sections above should be completed plus; Kitchens and baths For High Value Homes and Mid-Range reports add: Partition walls Wall finish Ceiling finish Floor finish areas Full interior features 1
Here is a quick guide: Categories Exterior Doorstep High Value/Mid- Range General Information Building Exterior Walls Roof Attached Structures Detached Structures Exterior Features Interior Partitions Wall Finish Ceiling Finish Floor Finish Heating & Cooling Interior Features Garages & Carports Kitchens & Baths Material Summary Calculation View & Verify Your Data Do Not Use In-house Use Only Completes Your Report Recalculate Send to File (internal) Click to have the RCT Created (if the account requires this) Click to add the RCT to your report (if the account requires this) Please get familiar with each entry screen on the RCT. By getting familiar with each entry screen, it will be easier for you to find where all pertinent information is. Note All information under each area is in alphabetical order. The Building link of the RCT must be completed first. If this is not filled out you will not be able to view the other links. 2
Let s Review each link. GENERAL INFORMATION: This screen has all pertinent information regarding the inspection. Policy number, name and address of the insured are typed in here by the in-house staff. The only area of this screen that you as an inspector can change is the number of families. (There is a helpful link regarding # of families available on the inspector s page. This link is located under Inspector Development training site) This area is defaulted at 1 family so if a change is needed, please change and click on the Apply changes box at the bottom left hand side of the RCT. DO NOT MODIFY ANY OTHER AREA ON THIS PAGE UNLESS YOU ARE INSTRUCTED TO DO SO. and remember that the number of families on the RCT should be the same on your Standard Report! BUILDING: This is the section where the Year Built, Style, Living Area & Wings of the dwelling is entered. Year Built- How to identify? Double check the Dec Page or Application (view images) if supplied. Look in the memo box on the Main Information screen. Be able to identify foundations and know your inspection territories to help estimate the date the home was built. Style Use the Number of Stories except for the following: Bi-Levels, Tri-Levels, Back-Splits & Town-Homes When the dwelling is one of these 4 types please use the specific type of dwelling. Note: When, when using town-home as the style, the program will only allow 2-stories. Therefore, if the town-home is not 2-stories, please use the number of stories feature. Total Living Area Total Living Area is provided by your Rapid Sketch Diagram. Dormers are considered half-stories and are included in this calculation. Finished Attics/Finished Basements are not included in this calculation (include Finished Attics in the Interior Features section). Wings You must click on the located in the upper right corner. FOR EXTERIOR (NON-HIGH VALUE/NON- MID RANGE) REPORTS ONLY ADD WINGS IF THE YEAR BUILT BETWEEN THE MAIN AND THE WING AREA(S) IS DIFFERENT. FOR HIGH VALUE REPORTS ALWAYS USE WINGS FOR AREAS THAT HAVE DIFFERENT STORY HEIGHTS AND/OR DIFFERENT YEAR BUILT. Note All wings MUST be at least 100 square feet. 1. If the wing is less than 100 square feet, please add this square footage to the main section square foot. 3
2. If you have 2 or more wings you may add these areas together if they are the same year built and that year is DIFFERENT than the main. 3. There is a limit of TWO wings. Building Use Required information all must be filled out. Construction type is always STANDARD unless specific account guidelines state differently. Foundation type must be filled out. Please note that if you have a GBU (built-in garage), the foundation type of this area would be a slab. Additional information must be filled out if there is a basement in the dwelling. Use STANDARD for basement finish type at all times when a finished basement exists. Make sure you put in the percentage of how much of the basement is finished. Do not fill out. Complete only for; High Values or Interior Inspections. Complete only for; High Values or Interior Inspections. Defaulted at 2x4 standard construction. 4
Defaulted at block. This should be changed only if you are sure that the foundation is different than the block. EXTERIOR WALLS: The total of the exterior wall area must be equal to 100%. Please stay away from using the custom selections for brick, brick veneer, stone & stone veneer, as these will only apply to a few select high value homes. There is a helpful link regarding types of exterior walls under Inspector Development Training site on the Upfro Inspector s Page. Please click on the replacement cost area. This area explains the differences between brick and brick veneer, stone and stone veneer and EIFS siding. You should be familiar with this. In the new RCT, you would use brick on frame and stone on frame for the siding, which we used to use veneer for. ROOF: The total of the roof area also must equal 100%. This is for the roof over the living area only. Do not include porch roofs or attached garage roofs. The only difference here in the new RCT is that architectural shingles is listed under shingles, architectural. ATTACHED STRUCTURES: This section deals with items such as: o Open Porches o Enclosed porches-the Enclosed Porch assemblies provide minimal finishes on the exterior porch walls, but does not include flooring or any services like HVAC or plumbing that would be incorporated in to the finished living area within a home. o Decks o Balconies o Breezeways Use the square footage entry ONLY for these types of items. DO NOT USE THE COUNT FEATURE/ENTRIES. Additional items include Hot Tubs, Greenhouses, Pools, & Solar Rooms. Please use this area only if the Hot Tub is located on the deck of the dwelling. DETACHED STRUCTURES: Only use this area if instructed to by the in-house staff. If the structure is not part of the dwelling or the deck then there is no need to use this section. There is no difference in this area with the new RCT. EXTERIOR FEATURES: If you see any item here from the exterior, you should be reporting it. 5
[The Skirting, Hillside area is only for mobile homes only.] Sliding glass doors, skylights, bay windows, bow windows, atrium doors/windows, picture windows, stained glass windows and solar panels are in this section and should be reported if seen. PLEASE USE THE DEFINITIONS OUTLINED HERE IN REPORTING THESE ITEMS: Atrium Windows - A large insulated glass window in a custom wood frame rounded at the top. Enter the number of atrium windows in the home. Picture Windows - A large framed window (typically 30-40 square feet) made of insulated glass (two layers of glass with a sealed air space between them). Cost includes picture window painted complete. Enter the number of picture windows. Bay Windows - A set of windows that project from the wall of a home, forming a bay inside the home. Enter the number of bay windows. Bow Windows - A set of several windows that project from the wall of a home in the form of an arc. Enter the number of bow windows. Small Stained Glass Windows- A small window (3 by 5 ), with pieces of glass of varying colors and shapes combined to form a pattern in the window. Pieces are held together using lead or epoxy. Enter the number of small stained glass windows. For 5 by 7 windows, use large stained glass windows. Large Stained Glass Windows - A large window (5 by 7 ), with pieces of glass of varying colors and shapes combined to form a pattern in the window. Pieces are held together using lead or epoxy. Enter the number of large stained glass windows. For 3 by 5 windows, use small stained glass windows. Exterior Storm Shutters - A movable cover for openings, especially windows, on the exterior wall. Enter the number of exterior shutters. Cost includes pre-finished, louvered, aluminum shutter. Atrium Doors- A set of high quality exterior French doors with a framed wood transom. Enter the number of atrium doors. Sliding Glass Doors- A glass door that opens by sliding horizontally in a track, including both the fixed and the sliding number of sliding glass doors in the home. Small Skylight - Small roof fixtures designed to allow sunlight into the building from the roof. May be glass or plastic in metal frame. Enter the number of small skylights in the home. Cost includes single-glazed, plastic dome 4 x4 skylight. Large Skylight - Large roof fixtures designed to allow sunlight into the building from the roof. May be glass or plastic in metal frame. Enter the number of large skylights in the home. Cost includes single-glazed, plastic dome 6 x6 skylight. Solar Panels - A collector used to provide supplemental heat or hot water to the residence using the sun as a Enter the number of solar panels in the home. 6
INTERIOR PARTITIONS, WALL FINISH, CEILING FINISH & FLOOR FINISH: These sections should be completed for high value reports. HEATING AND COOLING: Contact Made Determine the exact heating and cooling type and fill out the information accordingly No Contact Made o If you see the heating type from your exterior observation you should select on the RCT- Example- Gas meter seen then select Heating Gas- 100%. If you cannot determine heating type follow the instructions below: o IF NO Central Air Conditioning Unit found on the property: Use Heating System Avg. Cost 100%. o Central Air Conditioning Unit use; Heat/central air conditioning avg. cost 100%. o Never use the Evaporative Cooler entries. Fireplaces & Wood Burning Stoves are now located in this section. INTERIOR FEATURES: Finished Attic Square footage is entered here. This area is only accessed now if you have made contact or the finished attic needs to be entered. This area should be completed for Interior & High Value Reports. GARAGES AND CARPORTS: Do not use both the count entry and the square footage entry. Using both doubles up the entry and the cost. What should you use? Attached Garages - use the square footage area. Built-In Garages - use the count area NOT SQUARE FOOTAGE. Basement Garages use the count area NOT SQUARE FOOTAGE. [Again, if the dwelling has a GBU the foundation type of this area would be a slab ] Split Areas are permitted i.e. If you have a garage with some area attached and some of the area built-in then you can enter the square footage of the attached area and the square footage of the built-in area. Square footage should be used for carports also. Carports are only to be reported if they are ATTACHED to the dwelling. DO NOT enter any detached garages unless instructed to do so for a particular account. KITCHENS AND BATHS: For inspections where a doorstep interview is conducted, please use the builder s grade areas for full bath, ½ bath and kitchen. For High Values and Mid-Ranges use Builders Grade, Semi-Custom or Custom grades. For more information on these grade differences please contact the Upfro office. Please do not use designer this is for one of a kind kitchens or baths only. Please do not use basic as this would only be for substandard type construction or very small bungalow type dwellings. 7
MATERIAL SUMMARY When you are finished with your RCT form, please hit Material Summary. By hitting material summary, you can verify the information that you have entered into the RCT. APPLY CHANGES When you have an incomplete on your list and you have to make a correction to your RCT, make your correction and then hit the apply changes link. This will save the new information into the RCT. FINAL STEPS Please refer to your RCT calculation note. Please click on Recalculate (for the accounts that require it) and wait for the program to calculate the RCT. When this is done then click on Send to File. This may take a few seconds and the screen will flash. Look over your account guideline carefully so you know when to do this and when NOT to do this function as not all account need the RCT to be run. HELPFUL HINTS: Make sure you hit directly on the words to move through each different link. If you do not hit directly on the word than you cannot move to the next link. Only use numbers for the square footage. Do not use the feet sign, sq. ft., etc. There should not be anything used except for numbers in this area. If you are unsure of anything, please contact your manager. Please contact the Upfro home office for any assistance you need at 1-800-423-7099 ext:8375. Thank you, Upfro 8
E D U C A T I O N A L S E R I E S : T O T A L L I V I N G A R E A Wings The Wings feature offers the ability to capture unique parts of a home that may differ from the main section. The differences generally include additions, differences in number of stories or unique floor plans. RCT allows you to divide the home into the Main Home and up to three Wing Areas. Additions Only use if Additions has significant differences in age, types of materials or methods of construction. The following example illustrates how a home addition built 80 years after the original structure would likely use considerably different construction methods and therefore require different materials and skilled labor, which most often changes overall reconstruction costs. difference in style between the Main and Wing or a difference in construction, such as slab versus basement. While it can sometimes be subjective, the use of Wings should be justifiable as a result of a characteristic being substantially different. Unique Floor Plan Wings may also be an option for homes, usually High Value, with a very unique floor plan. The example below illustrates a 2-Story section, considered the Main Home, and a 1-Story Wing that is connected by a small amount of exterior wall and having a different roof type. Note: Wings offer the ability to capture unique parts of a home that may differ from the main section. Built 1900 1980 Interior Plaster Drywall Millwork Solid Wood Paint Grade Windows Wood Wood Clad Structure Rough Lumber Manufactured Exterior Brick Stucco A portion of the home based on Style that is clearly distinguishable may also be sectioned as a Wing. The advantage with this method is the ability to capture different story heights, if present, or type of construction. However, Wings are not intended for use on screened porches or enclosed patios. Number of Stories Wings may be used on homes that have a different number of stories, whether an addition or not, when the portion is clearly identifiable from the main home and contains differing attributes. This can apply when the home has a significant TLA should be entered individually for the Main Home as well as individually for each Wing, not as a summarized value in the Main Home section. ID: ES-TLA/Pg 5 of 6/Rev3.3/12.2011 p a g e 5