Category E: Buildings and Equipment Category E includes the repair or replacement of buildings and equipment damaged during a disaster. This covers:

• Buildings:

  • All structural and non-structural components

  • Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems

  • Contents such as furnishings and equipment

• Equipment:

  • Vehicles

  • Construction tools and machinery

FEMA also addresses:

• Equipment and supplies

• Files and records

• Research-related contents

• Animals

• Irreplaceable collections and individual objects

• Library books and publications

Buildings: Determining eligibility for building repairs involves:

• Evaluating the building's age and maintenance history

• Assessing the severity and impacts of the disaster

• Differentiating between incident-caused damage and pre-existing issues

Eligible restoration activities may include:

• Mold remediation

• Removal of mud, silt, or debris

• Repairs following FEMA 352 criteria for steel moment-frame buildings

Equipment and Supplies: Eligible repair or replacement includes:

• Damaged or destroyed equipment and supplies with equivalent items

• Market valuation tools to estimate replacement costs

• Approval of alternate replacements within cost limits

Files: Eligible file recovery activities include:

• Recovery and stabilization of damaged hard copies

• Sanitizing, photocopying, or scanning files

• Recovering data from damaged computer hard drives

Research-Related Contents: Replacement of lost reagents or specimen collections is eligible when:

• Items are necessary to restore basic research activities

• Items are commercially available for purchase

Animals: Replacement of eligible animals includes:

• Police animals, rescue dogs, and zoo specimens

• Laboratory animals used in active research programs

• Animals destroyed or injured during the incident

Eligible costs for replacement are determined through market surveys.

Irreplaceable Collections and Individual Objects: Eligible stabilization efforts include:

• Treating damaged items with environmental controls (e.g., temperature, humidity)

• Chemical or mechanical cleaning to preserve items and prolong their existence

Restoration of associated materials and equipment is also eligible, such as:

• Temperature or humidity regulation equipment

• Exhibition furnishings (e.g., panels, models, video/audio equipment)

Library Books and Publications: Eligible restoration or replacement is based on pre-disaster inventory records and includes:

• Re-shelving, cataloging, and incidental work related to replacement

• Treatment of rare materials such as manuscripts and fragile items