BELFOR Property Restoration is one of the largest disaster restoration companies in the world. When BELFOR builds a franchise family, it builds it around damage. Every brand in the BELFOR Franchise Group portfolio touches some version of what happens after something goes wrong in a building: water damage, duct contamination, kitchen exhaust failure, pest infestation, content damage, structural breach.

Completed operations tail risk is long in restoration and remediation work. A job that closes today can produce a claim 18 months from now. A Chem-Dry carpet treatment that triggers an allergic reaction. A 1-800 Water Damage remediation that missed mold behind the drywall. A DUCTZ cleaning where a duct seal failed and the contamination returned. These are the claim patterns that follow damage-adjacent work, and they follow every BELFOR brand.

Here is what the FDDs require. And here is where the requirement ends before your real tail risk begins.

What BELFOR Franchise Group requires of its franchisees

BELFOR Franchise Group does not issue a single franchise agreement across all brands. Each brand operates under its own FDD and its own franchisor legal entity. The confirmed entities:

Z PLUMBERZ: PLUMBERZ International, LLC. DUCTZ: DUCTZ International, LLC. Chem-Dry: Chem-Dry, Inc. HOODZ: HOODZ International, LLC. Clear Pest Pros: Safer Home Services International, LLC. 1-800 Water Damage: 1-800 WATER DAMAGE International, LLC. Blue Kangaroo Packoutz: PACKOUTZ International, LLC. The Patch Boys: Patch Boys International, LLC.

The shared pattern: General liability at $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, including Products/Completed Operations. Commercial auto at $1,000,000 CSL. Workers' compensation at state-required minimums. Additional insured in favor of the brand-specific entity, primary and non-contributory, waiver of subrogation. Carrier rating requirements consistent with the home services standard.

Naming "BELFOR Franchise Group" or "BELFOR Property Restoration" on a certificate is non-compliant for any BELFOR brand. The requirement is always the brand-specific entity.

Requirements diverge significantly between Z PLUMBERZ (plumbing service), Chem-Dry (carpet cleaning), and 1-800 Water Damage (large-loss restoration). Each brand's full requirements are in the individual brand guides.

How BELFOR Franchise Group insurance requirements vary by brand

The most important divergence in the BELFOR portfolio is the completed operations tail. All BELFOR brands touch some version of post-loss or remediation work. But the length and severity of the completed operations tail is not the same across every brand.

Z PLUMBERZ sends plumbers into homes for drain, pipe, and water service calls. The completed operations exposure is real — a pipe repair that fails six months later produces a water loss claim — but the single-job exposure ceiling is moderate. A plumbing service call gone wrong rarely produces a six-figure loss.

1-800 Water Damage and Blue Kangaroo Packoutz operate at the opposite end of the spectrum. A Category 3 water loss remediation is a multi-day, multi-phase job that touches structural components, contents, and potentially mold remediation. The completed operations tail runs two to three years. A claim that the remediation was incomplete can produce six-figure losses. The same GL limit that is adequate for a plumbing service franchise is inadequate for a large-loss restoration franchise at the same revenue.

HOODZ presents a distinct completed operations exposure: commercial kitchen exhaust cleaning. A grease fire that follows an incomplete HOODZ service is a property damage claim, a business interruption claim, and potentially a life safety claim. The completed operations tail is shorter than restoration work, but the single-claim severity can be much higher.

Claim Scenario — The Returned Mold

A 1-800 Water Damage franchisee remediated a basement water intrusion following a Category 2 event. The job was completed, signed off, and closed. Twenty-six months later, the homeowner discovered extensive mold behind finished wall panels reinstalled after the remediation.

The mold remediation specialist opined the original remediation failed to fully dry the wall cavity. A claim was filed. The completed operations coverage on the franchisee's GL policy responded — occurrence form coverage follows the work, not the calendar. Defense and investigation costs reached $41,000 before a $68,000 settlement was reached. The franchisee's out-of-pocket was minimal.

What the franchisee was not prepared for: their completed operations sub-limit was $500,000 — adequate for this claim, but not for a large-loss commercial remediation gone wrong at the same scale. Prevention for large-loss operators: confirm your completed operations sub-limit against the largest single job you would accept, not the average job.

The BELFOR Franchise Group brands we cover

Z PLUMBERZ | Plumbing | FDD Extracted | Coming soon

DUCTZ | HVAC | FDD Extracted | Coming soon

Chem-Dry | Cleaning | FDD Extracted | Coming soon

HOODZ | Cleaning | FDD Extracted | Coming soon

Clear Pest Pros | Pest Control | FDD Extracted | Coming soon

1-800 Water Damage | Restoration | FDD Extracted | Coming soon

1-800-Boardup | Restoration | Coming soon

Blue Kangaroo Packoutz | Restoration | FDD Extracted | Coming soon

WINMAR | Restoration | FDD Extracted | Coming soon

Helpful Heroes | Handyman & Repair | Coming soon

The Patch Boys | Handyman & Repair | FDD Extracted | Coming soon

What BELFOR Franchise Group franchisees get wrong about insurance

The most common error for BELFOR franchise operators is treating every brand in the family as a restoration franchise and pricing insurance accordingly when several brands have materially different risk profiles.

Chem-Dry is a carpet and upholstery cleaning franchise. It does not perform structural remediation. Its GL rating basis is primarily janitorial classification. A Chem-Dry franchisee who buys a restoration-grade policy pays for coverage they do not need while potentially missing the chemical sensitivity and pollution-adjacent exposures relevant to their actual work. Conversely, a HOODZ operator who buys a basic cleaning policy and forgets about commercial kitchen fire liability is dangerously underinsured.

The second error is underestimating the completed operations sub-limit for large-loss restoration brands. Blue Kangaroo Packoutz handles contents from damaged homes — furniture, electronics, personal property. The bailee's liability exposure requires a separate coverage line that most standard GL policies exclude.

The GL policy covers the franchisee's own operational negligence. It does not automatically cover damage to a customer's $40,000 bedroom set while it is in a climate-controlled storage vault.

The third error is workers' compensation misclassification. Restoration and remediation work carries some of the highest NCCI WC rates in home services. A BELFOR franchisee who codes restoration crews under a cleaning or general labor classification will face a significant audit adjustment at year end.

What does BELFOR Franchise Group franchise insurance cost?

BELFOR's brands span a wide cost range because they span a wide risk range. Chem-Dry's FDD Item 7 estimates insurance at $600 to $7,000 annually. HOODZ Item 7 estimates run $2,300 to $4,750. Z PLUMBERZ Item 7 estimates run $2,500 to $10,000. 1-800 Water Damage Item 7 estimates run $4,500 to $8,750.

Those are starting numbers for initial-year operations. An established 1-800 Water Damage franchise performing large-loss commercial remediation work, with four service vehicles and a crew handling Category 3 losses, carries meaningfully higher actual insurance cost than the Item 7 range suggests.

For Blue Kangaroo Packoutz, the bailee's liability exposure adds a coverage line that does not appear in most FDD Item 7 estimates at all.

The five variables that determine actual cost: the trade and risk profile of the specific brand, the state you operate in, your revenue and payroll, your fleet, and your completed operations sub-limit relative to the largest single job you perform.

Before your next BELFOR Franchise Group renewal, confirm these six things. The additional insured name is the exact legal entity for your specific brand. Your GL policy is written on an occurrence form. Your completed operations sub-limit reflects the largest single job you accept — not your average job. Your workers' compensation policy shows the correct NCCI classification for your trade's actual work. If you operate Blue Kangaroo Packoutz, your bailee's coverage is sized to the maximum value of contents you hold at any time. And if you carry two or more BELFOR brands, your agent has reviewed each brand's completed operations exposure separately.