Frequently Asked Questions

PB, founded in 1885, is one of the oldest continuously operating engineering firms in the world. Recognized as a leader in consulting, planning, engineering, program management, construction management, operations and maintenance, and design-build for all types of infrastructure. PB is employee-owned and has approximately 9,000 people in more that 250 offices on six continents. Alltech, Inc. is a PB subsidiary focused on inspection management. We provide a full range of inspection services that respond to the needs of today's public and private sector clients.

You will serve as an independent contractor subcontracted to Alltech, Inc.,  performing under a direct contract to FEMA. For each disaster Task Order that you are deployed, you will be provided a contract that will explain the reporting and negotiated compensation provisions for that particular deployment.

You will be asked to sign an Independent Contractor Agreement, which explains the conditions of your provision of inspection services. Each deployment for disaster housing inspections will require a Task Order be signed.

Over 200 companies responded to FEMA's Request for Proposal (RFP) in February of 1995. Based on our depth of experience and the technical approach of PB's proposal, FEMA selected Parsons Brinckerhoff to provide program services. In February 2001 and again in 2007, in a periodic contract re-compete to continue providing program services, PB was again selected to be FEMA's agent in providing housing inspection services. Our contract includes selecting and qualifying professional, independently contracted, field inspectors; completing the inspections; and providing administrative and management support services to FEMA.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is mandated to oversee the nation's emergency management systems. FEMA supports these programs by funding emergency planning, training emergency managers and local officials, conducting large-scale exercises, managing the National Flood Insurance Program, and sponsoring educational programs in disaster preparedness.

Local and state programs are principal providers of disaster recovery and are first to respond to emergency events. When it is determined that the disaster damages are beyond the capability of the state resources to respond, the Governor will call upon the President to make a determination of eligibility for federal disaster relief funds. Once the President has declared a disaster, FEMA coordinates the response to provide recovery assistance.

Inspections take an average of 30-45 minutes to complete; however, the type of disaster, size of the house, degree of damage sustained and experience of the inspector all contribute to variations in the amount of time per inspection.

PB utilizes a rapid-dialing communication system and e-mail notifications to communicate deployment needs. These systems will utilize all active/primary phone numbers and e-mail addresses on file for you in the PB database. It is imperative that inspectors keep their webpage information up to date to increase the effectiveness of deployment attempts. Our automated dialing system may ask the inspector to punch in a number for a "Yes" or "No" response, or it may ask the inspector to call PB for additional disaster deployment information. From time to time, PB will test this communication system to verify its operational capability. If you receive a test message, please respond as directed.

In most disaster call out cases, you will receive two calls. The first call is a "stand-by" notification for a possible activation. You will be asked to designate a specific number where you can be readily reached for any subsequent calls from PB in order for you to receive all the necessary information regarding a confirmed deployment. The second call activates you for deployment to the disaster site. In some cases, you may be deployed immediately on the first call. Since the nature and the extent of disasters is a dynamic, ever changing situation, and the number of inspectors needed thus can change rapidly, you may be advised that your "stand-by" status has been terminated and that you are no longer needed on an assignment. Should this occur or if you are not available for deployment, you will be called again for future disaster events.

In the future, we will be using electronic methods of deployment communication and notification. In order to be considered for these opportunities, we need a valid e-mail address on file. E-mail and all other personal contact information can be maintained through our Inspector Webpage. The first step in accessing the Inspector Webpage is to register for a login.

We welcome your disaster photos. Please submit your field disaster photographs for our photo gallery. You will be credited as the photographer. Complete a photograph release form (Download Form in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, or complete form electronically.) and send the form, along with your photographs to: 600 Pegasus Court, Suite 200, Winchester, VA  22602, Attention: Kate Shull or email shull@pbworld.com. For more information call 800-411-1177. Thank you!

PB Disaster Service’s contract falls under the directive of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency HSPD-12 directives.  In addition to having your fingerprints adjudicated, FEMA requires completion of an online Questionnaire through the e-QIP system.

No, please just notify us of this and we can confirm that it has been received by FEMA.

You will need to contact the Call Center (800-411-1177) so that they can provide you with your signature forms via email or fax.

No.

PB Disaster Services

600 Pegasus Ct. Suite 200

Winchester VA 22602

We also suggest you use some kind of tracking method.

At this time, FEMA is recognizing the results for 10 years.

Your packet must be received in its entirety and FEMA must add you to the "EQIP Favorable" list before you are eligible to work.

• The 3 signature forms from e-QIP
• The non-disclosure agreement
• The credit release form
• 2 FEMA fingerprint cards
• The FEMA 12-80 form

We are not in a position to advise you on this, as the review process is not conducted by PB. We suggest that you provide as much information as possible and if contacted by FEMA HQ, be sure to provide additional information in a timely manner.

Remember that your answers are case sensitive. If you have tried more than three times, you may have locked yourself out. You will need to call us and have your questions reset.

When entering your address history, for your PRESENT address, please list your MAILING address. If your physical address is different, please include that as well but put it in the comments section. HQ will contact you at the address you list as your present address.

• Remember to initial the first page of the non disclosure and have a witness sign the third page.  
• Make sure all data on the fingerprint cards is filled in.
• Make sure you use the FEMAOOZ fingerprint cards mailed to you.
• Make sure you print the e-QIP signature pages BEFORE you release your e-QIP to the Agency. You will not be able to log back in after you release it to the Agency. 

As an independent contractor, it is your responsibility to fulfill this requirement. However, we can tell you that there are many agencies that you can contact to have your fingerprints done. You can also go to the Post Office, FEMA Regional offices, the FBI, US Marshall, Customs and Immigration or a State Agency. You should always call first to make sure that the requested service is available.

No. Other fingerprint cards will not be accepted. FEMA only accepts those that they have issued.

The law enforcement officer may contact PB at 1-800-411-1177 and ask to speak to Vivian or Kristin.

No. The PB issued badge is not on the list of government approved documents (see I-9).

We need two cards and the completed I-9 form to be sent in.

Use your full legal name with no initials.

Your date of birth should be entered in the following format: mm/dd/yyyy.

Neither. For this, they are looking for the actual state you were born in. If you were born outside the US, please list the country.

If you are a US citizen, please put US. If you are not a US citizen, you do not need to proceed any further. You must be a US Citizen in order to be an independent contractor with FEMA. Please contact us if you have questions about this

We will notify you via email as soon as we receive your fingerprint results. The turn around time for this can vary greatly. Please be sure that your email address is up to date in the Inspector Webpage so that we will be able to reach you with the results.

Yes, the prints are managed through the same agency (FEMA). You will need to alert us that you have been printed by the other contract, so that we can obtain your results from FEMA.

To change your e-mail address before submitting and confirming your registration, you will need to navigate back to the Personal tab, which collects personal information. To return to this step hit the back button at the bottom of each screen, to return to previous steps.

To change your phone number before submitting and confirming your registration, navigate back to the phone tab. To return to this step, hit the back button at the bottom of each screen to return to the phone step. On the phone tab, select the phone number to be changed, make the change and click on update.

To change an address before submitting and confirming registration, navigate back to the address tab. To return to this step, hit the back button at the bottom of each screen to return to the address step. On the address screen, select the address to be changed, make the change and click on update. If an address needs to be deleted, select the address to be deleted, and click on delete.

All new inspectors are required to have a valid e-mail address as part of our registration process. Existing inspectors are also required to have an e-mail address on file with us in order to remain active in our system. When you register, you will be prompted to enter an e-mail address, which will be stored with your personal information and will be used for future communication with you. If you don't have an e-mail account, the tutorial below will assist in the setup of a free account with one of the major providers.

To change your e-mail address after registration, log on to the Inspector Webpage using your Inspector ID and password. Click on the e-mail tab, select the e-mail address to be changed, make the change and click on update.

To modify phone your phone number, after registration, log on to the Inspector Webpage using your Inspector ID and password. Click on the phone tab, select the phone number to be changed, make the change and click on update.

To modify business information after registration or after entering the information through our login request feature, you must contact our Accounting department to make this change. They can be reached at 1-888-443-2580.

Access to our eLearning system is now requested through our Inspector Webpage. If you have not received a login to this area, you must first register.

Your user name and password remain unchanged from our previous eLearning system. For inspectors, your user name is your inspector ID.

A separate login is not necessary to access eLearning. Once you have logged into your Inspector Webpage, you can now access eLearning directly from there.

You would have received a separate e-mail outside of the one to the Inspector Webpage. To request access to the eLearning system, please see detailed instructions on our main website.

Once you are in the eLearning system, we highly recommend you change your password routinely.

The only third party browser plug-in that needs to be installed is Macromedia/Adobe Flash and Shockwave players. Download the Flash player.

In addition to this software requirement, our course materials are best viewed on a high speed, broadband connection. With the introduction of rich media and interactivity, we highly encourage all users to locate a facility that offers high speed services.

Users must enable background printing in the browser in order to print the Certificate image.

In Internet Explorer

• Select the Tools menu -> Internet Options -> Advanced  -> enable "Print background colors and images"
  

In Netscape 6

• Select the File menu -> Page Setup -> enable "Print Background"

• You may be experiencing a connectivity problem to the server, or may have mistyped the URL. Please verify the URL and try again. http://www.pbelearning.com  
  
  
• If using a modem and dialing an Internet Service Provider, such as AOL or EarthLink, hang up and redial. 
  
  
• If connected via a company network, you may be experiencing a firewall or proxy server issue. Contact your network administrator in order to resolve issues related to proxy server configuration.

Certificates for required curricula expire 365 days after completion. Our eLearning materials serve as a good refresher and can always be retaken at any time.

 If you wish to retake courses before your certificate expires, you may do so by selecting 'retake curriculum' from the curriculum listing. If you don't see this button, it means your certificate has already expired. If expired, you may retake the courses without any additional action by selecting the curriculum (Inspector Orientation or ACE3 Overview) and completing all courses within each curriculum. A new certificate will be issued once all courses in the curriculum have been successfully completed.

Yes, you must complete each curriculum within 60 days from the date you begin in order to receive credit. If you do not complete all courses within this time period, your scores for any courses completed will be removed.

Yes, you proceed directly to the assessment without going through the course slides. To bypass course materials, click 'take the course assessment' link from the course menu. This will load just the assessment.

Due to security configurations, only one browser window to eLearning can be opened at one time. If you have two windows open during an assessment, you may be logged out of the assessment examination or receive an error message. If this occurs, close one window, log in again and ensure that you only have the one window open when completing the assessment portion of the course.