A business personal property inventory is a room-by-room, item-by-item record of the contents involved in a loss. US Claims Solutions consultants photograph each area before anything moves, then record every item by manufacturer, model, serial number, quantity and condition. The resulting inventory is the evidentiary basis for measuring the claim and the starting point for any salvage recovery.
The site walk comes before anything is touched
The first pass is documentary, not productive. Consultants photograph each room, aisle and rack in its as-found state, note the extent of fire, water, smoke or impact damage by area, and identify hazards that will govern how the work proceeds. Once contents are moved for mitigation or demolition, the spatial record of what was where is gone permanently, and with it the ability to tie an item to the area of the building that damaged it. On a multi-building loss the walk also establishes sequence: which structures are safe, which are scheduled for demolition, and which must be inventoried first.
Every item is identified, not just counted
A count is not an inventory. Each unit is recorded by manufacturer, model number, serial number, capacity or rating, and year where a nameplate or label survives. Consultants photograph the nameplate itself alongside the damage, because a model number transcribed into a spreadsheet without a supporting image is a claim line that can be questioned later. For consumable and fungible stock — cases of product, pallets of raw material, boxed retail inventory — the unit of record shifts to SKU, lot and case count, with representative photographs rather than an image of every box.
Condition is recorded separately from quantity
Quantity answers how much; condition answers how much is recoverable. Consultants grade each item or lot as undamaged, cleanable, repairable, or a total loss, and record the basis for that grade: soot deposition, water line height, heat exposure, contamination, or mechanical damage. This is the distinction that decides whether property goes to restoration, to salvage, or to certified destruction. Grading at the time of inspection also protects the file, because condition changes after a loss — corrosion advances, mould develops, and a machine that ran on the day of the walk may not run a month later.
Out-of-sight contents are opened, not estimated
Cabinets, drawers, closed tool chests, back rooms, mezzanines and storage trailers hold property that never appears in a walkthrough photograph. Consultants open and record them. Out-of-sight contents are one of the most common reasons a commercial contents claim is measured short, because nothing about a closed cabinet suggests it holds eleven thousand dollars of hand tools. The same applies to items held off-site at the time of loss — equipment out for repair, stock in a leased storage unit, or a vehicle-mounted tool inventory.
Valuation research follows the inventory, not the other way round
Once items are identified, replacement cost is researched against current dealer, rebuilder and secondary markets rather than applied as a blanket factor. Where an original model is discontinued, Like Kind & Quality research identifies a current product matching it in type, capacity, features and grade. Machinery, electronics and restaurant equipment each have distinct markets, and pricing one against the wrong market produces a number nobody can defend. Each figure is recorded against the item it supports, so the valuation can be traced back to its source.
What US Claims Solutions delivers
USCS returns one organized inventory and reporting package covering every building on the assignment: the item record, supporting photography, condition grading, valuation research, and a salvage evaluation where recoverable property was identified. Consultants work at the direction of the carrier, adjuster or insured. The company does not negotiate, adjust or settle claims — it produces the documentation those decisions are made from. Reporting is delivered in one package rather than as a stream of partial schedules, so a reviewer can work through it in a single pass. Where an assignment covers several buildings, the item numbering reconciles across all of them.