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When a group of 10 major rug-cleaning companies came together in 1946 to form what they called the National Institute of Rug Cleaning (NIRC), the modern restoration industry as we know it today did not yet exist.

Water mitigation was not a science. Fire and smoke restoration had no standards. Mold remediation, content cleaning, structural drying, biohazard work—none of these specialties had a professional home, a credentialed workforce, or a unified voice. What those 10 companies started, however, would eventually become all of that, and more.

This year, the Restoration Industry Association (RIA) celebrates 80 years of leadership at a moment of extraordinary change. New leadership has stepped in. Advocacy efforts are reshaping legislation. A new task force is amplifying the independent restorer. And in a milestone fitting for the anniversary year, the RIA has launched RIA Beyond, a new multimedia program produced in collaboration with Cleanfax that brings the association’s work to members at scale through video and podcasts.

The 80th International Restoration Convention and Industry Expo ran April 27-29, 2026, in Savannah, Georgia—a fitting Southern setting to honor a long history while opening a new chapter.

Three rebrands, one mission

The association has not always been called the Restoration Industry Association. The name has changed three times over the decades; each rebrand reflecting how the work itself was evolving.

Founded in 1946, NIRC served what was then a tightly defined trade. In the late 1960s, it became the Association of Interior Décor Specialists, or AIDS, expanding to seven divisions: rug cleaning, drapery, carpet and upholstery cleaning, fire restoration, installation, cleaning and janitorial, and home decorating.

It was under the AIDS banner that the modern restoration sector first began to take shape. RIA education director and longtime industry adviser Pete Consigli, certified restorer (CR) and water loss specialist (WLS), has explained that under that earlier name, the association moved to operating divisions, but the divisions all meshed together. Over time, as Consigli has described, the decorating, janitorial, installation, and drapery divisions fell away, while the divisions closely tied to restoration—particularly fire restoration—survived and grew.

In 1971, the late Marty King, founder of the Certified Restorer® (CR) certification program and an industry pioneer, established the National Institute of Fire Restoration (NIFR), which formalized fire restoration as a discipline within the AIDS framework. Late in the 1990s, that group changed its name to the National Institute of Disaster Restoration (NIDR) as the scope of disaster work expanded.

In 1981, AIDS was renamed to the Association of Specialists in Cleaning and Restoration, or ASCR, for what Consigli has called “obvious reasons.” At the 50th annual convention in 1995, ASCR added a Water Loss Institute (WLI) division, recognizing the rapid emergence of water damage mitigation as a distinct specialty. Under the NIDR brand, ASCR also published the NIDR Guidelines for Smoke and Fire Damage Restoration in 1997, a document that, for two decades, served as the industry’s accepted best-practices reference and was later adapted for the United Kingdom market.

In 2007, the ASCR board announced the rebrand to today’s Restoration Industry Association (RIA). The new name reflected what the organization had become: a global voice for a profession that now spanned water, fire, mold, content, structural, and biohazard work.

Building the credentials that defined a profession

Long before the current era of advocacy and multimedia, the RIA—and the associations that preceded it—was quietly doing the work that made restoration a recognized profession in the first place: the certifications.

The Certified Restorer program, launched in 1980 under Marty King’s leadership, remains one of the most respected designations in the field. RIA education director Pete Consigli has likened the CR to a Ph.D. in restoration, and that comparison still holds. To earn the CR, a restorer must demonstrate a comprehensive body of knowledge through training and experience, including the scientific theory behind every facet of restoration and the realities of running a successful restoration business.

From roughly 1995 to 2000, several other advanced certifications were developed, including the Water Loss Specialist (WLS), Certified Rug Specialist (CRS), Certified Mechanical Hygienist (CMH), and Certified Fabric Specialist (CFS). The Certified Mold Professional (CMP) designation followed soon after. In recent years, RIA introduced the Fire Loss Specialist (FLS) certification, a credential that builds on decades of fire restoration experience and challenges experienced professionals to deepen their expertise even further.

Beyond credentials, the RIA has been instrumental in shaping the industry’s technical language. Since 2010, the association has partnered on the development and publication of the accredited ANSI/IICRC S700 Standard for Professional Fire and Smoke Damage Restoration, work originally done with the Indoor Environmental Standards Organization (IESO) and now under the management of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

From 70 to 75 to 80

Each major anniversary has marked a different chapter in the association’s history.

At the 70th anniversary celebration in 2016, then RIA executive director Marc Selvitelli described the CR program as the best example of how RIA had established itself as the thought leader and primary association for the restoration professional. That same year, RIA published its long-anticipated Certified Restorer Curriculum, a consensus-based body of knowledge that had undergone six years of industry-wide peer review.

The 75th Diamond Anniversary, celebrated in Orlando in 2021, came on the heels of the global pandemic and brought a different tone. The convention featured a town hall on how the industry had responded to COVID-19, a past presidents’ panel reflecting on lessons learned, and an intensified focus on the three issues facing contractors at that time: pricing, third-party administrators, and consultants. It was at that 75th milestone that the Advocacy and Government Affairs (AGA) committee, formed in 2019, stepped fully into its role as the industry’s unified advocacy team. Position statements, the Third Party Administrator (TPA) Scorecard, and the first Assignment of Benefits (AOB) resource document all became public-facing tools at that gathering.

Now, at 80, the association has reached another inflection point—and a different kind of one. Advocacy is no longer just being built. It is producing measurable wins in statehouses, in carrier negotiations, and in federal classification efforts.

The advocacy wins that are reshaping the industry

The RIA closed 2025 with a year of legislative and policy momentum that few trade associations of any size can match.

In New Jersey, RIA secured language in New Jersey Assembly Bill 551 (NJ A551) that allows consumers to waive the right to cancel for critical emergency work, protecting restorers who arrive on a homeowner’s worst day from being penalized for doing their jobs quickly. In Texas, the AGA team worked directly with bill sponsors to shut down and revise harmful legislation that would have created new burdens for restoration contractors. RIA also formally submitted a request to the federal government for a new six-digit NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) code—624231: Emergency Restoration Services—as part of the 2027 NAICS review, a move that, if approved, would for the first time give the industry its own classification distinct from general construction and remediation.

RIA also expanded its tools for members. The Cost of Doing Business (CODB) report, produced with KnowHow, provided restorers with the benchmarking data the industry has long lacked. The 2025 report surfaced direct signals on overhead, collections, and the dangers of scaling too quickly, and member leaders have embraced it. Josh Miller, president of Rainbow Restoration, said the industry’s long-held “10 and 10” model—10% overhead, 10% profit—was no longer realistic in the current environment, with the industry average overhead percentage now running far higher. Kristin Smith, president of Mooring USA, said companies that view data as a compass rather than a burden will be best equipped to navigate volatility.

Other 2025 milestones included the launch of the VoterVoice grassroots advocacy platform inside RIA’s Advocacy Action Hub, an updated End User License Agreement battle that produced changes from Cotality reinforcing that pricing data is only a starting point for estimates, and a wave of new educational resources, including the long-awaited RIA Asbestos Guide and a companion OSHA-compliant 2-hour course set for early 2026 release. Member-facing guides, such as How to Avoid Accidental Adjusting and AOB FAQs, were also released in Spanish and French-Canadian translations, broadening the association’s reach across North America.

Membership growth has matched the activity. RIA welcomed 542 new members in 2025 alone and added four major Enterprise partners. The association is now active in all 50 states.

New leadership for a new chapter

In January 2026, the RIA announced a planned leadership transition. Kristy Cohen, who had served as CEO during a period of organizational growth and expanded industry engagement, moved on to a new professional opportunity. Saima Hedrick was selected as the new CEO following a structured onboarding and transition process designed to ensure continuity.

Outgoing RIA Board President Jeff Moore, of ATI Restoration, said the board was grateful for Cohen’s leadership and the momentum she helped build. He added that the RIA enters this next chapter from a position of strength.

Hedrick brings more than 18 years of strategic association executive experience to the role and said she was honored to step into the position at such a pivotal and positive moment for the RIA. She has emphasized continued collaboration with the board, staff, and members to build on the association’s momentum.

On the volunteer leadership side, the baton passed from Moore to incoming president Justin Woodard of Woodard Cleaning and Restoration on April 28 at the convention in Savannah. Woodard represents a third-generation, family-founded, non-franchise, non-program operator from the St. Louis market—one of several recent presidents whose backgrounds reflect the deliberate diversity of business models RIA has worked to represent. In recent years, the presidency has rotated through a single-state operator from Montana, a single-office leader from North Carolina, a regional founder from the Southeast, a national, private-equity-backed family operator, and now a regional, family-led independent.

In February 2026, RIA also launched the Voice of the Independent Task Force, a strategic initiative composed exclusively of leaders from firms that are neither franchised nor backed by private equity. Hedrick said the task force brings an independent voice to leadership intentionally to help guide the association’s mission and strategy. Members include Brad Heise of Phoenix Renovation and Restoration, Doug Weatherman of RARE Restoration, Hunter Olmstead of Teasdale Fenton Cleaning & Property Restoration, Jim Kowalski of Kowalski Construction Inc., and Zac Curry of Rumsey Construction and Restoration.

On the advocacy side, Vince Scarfo continues to expand RIA’s government affairs reach. Scarfo brings more than two decades of senior executive experience, nearly two decades on Capitol Hill, and firsthand experience leading an independent restoration company. His role covers legislative strategy, grassroots engagement, carrier relations, and coalition partnerships. In his first year, he has already met with members and legislators at the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), attended INTRConnect and Verisk Elevate events, and tracked bills across all 50 states.

RIA Beyond: a new multimedia voice

Among the most visible additions in this anniversary year is RIA Beyond, a new multimedia program launched by the Restoration Industry Association in collaboration with Cleanfax. Built around video and podcast content at its core, RIA Beyond is designed to bring the association’s leadership, advocacy work, and member voices to restorers in formats they can consume on the road, in the truck, or between jobs.

The program covers the topics members care about most: ethics, advocacy, business operations, leadership transitions, and the evolving relationships between restorers, carriers, and consultants.

RIA Beyond reflects something the association has been building toward for some time: a way to meet members where they are. The convention is once a year. Position statements live on a website. Newsletters get scrolled past. But a podcast or a video plays everywhere, when restorers want to engage with the content they want and need. Pairing the RIA’s reach with the media infrastructure Cleanfax provides makes the program possible at scale.

Eighty years, and still building

Selvitelli, when reflecting on the future during the 70th anniversary, predicted RIA would increase its focus on reinforcing its position as the leading authority and resource for advancing the art, science, and management of the restoration profession. A decade later, the trajectory has held.

Eighty years in, the Restoration Industry Association looks less like a legacy organization protecting its history and more like an industry voice still finding new ways to fight for its members. The name has changed four times. The work has expanded from rug cleaning to disaster recovery to insurance advocacy to federal classification. The leaders have come and gone. But the original idea—restorers organized around the work, serving each other and the public—has held.

The convention in Savannah marked the milestone with the kind of celebration an 80th anniversary deserves. The work that follows, however, may matter even more.