After a Fort Worth or DFW loss, the carrier or a third-party network may hand you a list of "preferred" or "program" contractors. That list is a vendor relationship. It is not a court order. An insurance program contractor signed up for a network — pricing agreements, dispatch rules, reporting formats. Some are solid. Some write thin scopes. Either way, in Texas you generally choose who works on your building. This page is that choice. Night-one work is first night and emergency.
If water is still running or the house is open, call the emergency line. Do not wait on the form. Coverage follows the policy. We document. We do not settle the claim.
What you see on arrival
The driveway: a preferred vendor with a one-page sheet, or nobody yet and water still moving. Stop the source if you can do it safely. Photograph the rooms. Hire for the house you have, not for the list in the email. You can file without a contractor in the drive. You should not wait on a claim number to extract or board-up.
The list in the email is a vendor relationship. It can be a good crew. It can be a thin scope. You still choose. Stop the water first either way.
What is wet or damaged that you cannot see
What the program sheet often does not include: cabinet voids, pad past the stain, HVAC after a fire, attic after hail, drying days. Those are the building. Estimate review checks the paper against the house. It is not claim negotiation.
Ask whether they will meter the house or price from the hallway. Hidden wet does not care which network sent the truck.
What comes out vs what stays
A program contractor may default to a vacant gut because the matrix is faster. Occupied millwork in Westover Hills is not a tract package. Category and meters decide what comes out. Salvage vs tear-out. Drying. Fire.
Occupied millwork and Level 5 planes are where program matrices go cheap. The house either had that finish or it did not. Write it.
What the log contains
Ask who keeps the moisture log. ANSI/IICRC S500 is the water process. ANSI/IICRC S700 is the fire residue process. If there is no log, there is no dry standard — only a calendar. What the meters do.
Who owns the daily log? If the answer is 'the software,' ask to see a page. No page, no dry standard.
When the family stays vs leaves
If they want you out 'because that is how the program works' while the wet band is containable, ask why. ALE is the carrier, not a vendor policy. ALE.
A program that requires vacancy for a containable leak is a logistics preference, not a building fact. Livability is still the carrier's ALE call.
What the first estimate usually misses
Read the policy. A preferred list is optional unless your contract says otherwise — and most homeowner policies do not force a single vendor. Texas Department of Insurance on getting your claim paid and TDI bulletin B-0017-17 are the official framing. You can use a program contractor. You can hire independently. You can change course if the first estimate misses rooms. Soft language only: coverage still follows the policy. PRC documents and talks with the adjuster. We do not settle the claim. We are not a public adjuster. PA vs contractor. Homeowners.
TDI tells consumers they generally choose the repair person. Read that, then hire. Coverage still follows the policy. We do not settle the claim.
When rebuild starts
Rebuild when the assembly is dry and the scope matches the house — whether the vendor was on a list or not. Reconstruction. Slow down. Fort Worth.
Independent or program, rebuild waits on a dry assembly and a scope that lists the rooms that exist. That is the whole point of the choice.
Call 817-632-2522">817-632-2522 if the building needs work now. Photos on contact once the source is stopped.