These three words get used interchangeably, including by contractors, and the confusion costs building owners money. They describe different phases, with different goals and different billing.
Mitigation is emergency work in the first hours and days. Its only goal is to limit the damage, not to make the building look finished.
Most policies expect the owner to mitigate promptly. Delay can reduce what is ultimately paid.
Restoration covers the whole recovery, including the mitigation work. Its goal is to return the property to its pre-loss condition while saving as much as possible.
In practice restoration is the word for the project as a whole.
Repair is the construction phase inside restoration: replacing drywall, flooring, ceilings, millwork and systems that were removed or damaged.
If work starts here and skips the earlier phases, damage tends to reappear. See commercial water damage repair for what this phase covers.
Emergency mitigation is often handled and billed separately from the rebuild, and adjusters review them differently.
Many do. Ask specifically who verifies drying and how, because that is the step most often skipped.
Repair, usually. Mitigation is hours to days, drying is days, and repair can run weeks depending on scope.
Keep one continuous record. Photos, readings and scope notes should run from the first hour through the final repair.
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