The industry wants its own federal code, RIA files for NAICS 624231
RIA formally submitted a request to establish a new six-digit code (624231, Emergency Restoration Services) in the 2027 NAICS review, covering water extraction, structural drying, odor control, fire/smoke restoration, microbial and mold remediation, trauma/crime-scene cleanup, and contents. IICRC filed supporting comments; RIA's Darren Hudema is fronting the push. The Economic Classification Policy Committee makes recommendations to OMB by March 2026, with updated codes published January 2027. Today the work is scattered across construction and remediation buckets that capture neither the specialty nor the emergency nature.
Why it matters
A real code means real data (verifiable industry size, revenue, and margin benchmarks instead of guesses) plus a cleaner path to disaster-response recognition, field-specific safety data, and lobbying weight. It's plumbing, but it's the plumbing that every "what's a fair multiple" and "who counts as essential in a disaster" conversation eventually needs.
The read
A classification request reads as bureaucratic noise, and it will not make one carrier pay a dollar more. It is the plumbing under every argument that follows. A federal code produces real revenue and margin data, which is what valuations, disaster contracting and insurance recognition all end up leaning on. File a supporting comment during the review window, and keep your own numbers in a shape you can benchmark.
Read next
Sources Cleanfax, Industry Leaders Urge Federal Recognition of Emergency Restoration Services in 2027 NAICS Update () and Inside RIA's Fight for Restoration Recognition (); also carried by R&R and C&R Magazine ().
Association / Trade press High confidence
Terms in this story: IICRC