Estimates
Standards rationale
Every completed estimate gets an auto-generated defensibility story: the job's category, class, and cause, plus a per-room rationale grounded in industry standards.
The hardest part of defending an estimate isn't the numbers — it's articulating why the scope is what it is. Wave writes that down for you. Wave is knowledgeable of the industry's water-damage restoration standards and applies proper drying science, so the rationale reads the way a seasoned estimator would justify the job.
What it is
When an estimate is completed, Wave generates a standards rationale:
- An estimate-level band — the job's water category, class, and cause of loss, stated plainly at the top of the canvas.
- A per-room rationale — a few sentences per room explaining why that room's scope follows from the conditions, grounded in industry drying standards.
Expand any room's band to read its rationale.
It's yours to shape
- Edit it — click into the text and adjust the wording. Your edit sticks: regenerating the rationale later won't overwrite what you wrote.
- Hide it — a room's rationale (or the whole thing) can be hidden from exported documents while staying visible to your team.
- Regenerate it — if the estimate changed materially, regenerate to get a fresh rationale for the new scope.
On the export
The rationale prints with the estimate, giving the adjuster the reasoning alongside the numbers — which is often the difference between a question and an approval.
Availability
Standards rationale is available on Basic and above, and included in the free trial. See Plans and limits.
Related
- Review guideline findings: auditing against a specific carrier program
- Defensive bidding: the philosophy this serves
- Plans and limits