Two important components of hazard mitigation are:

• Assessing the vulnerability of buildings, and
• Increasing building resistance to damage caused by hazard events.

This increased damage resistance is achieved through improvements in codes and standards, designs, methods, and materials used for new construction and post-disaster repair and recovery. The Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT) Program is an integral part of this process.

The MAT Program

Under the MAT Program, FEMA draws on the combined resources of a federal, state, local, and private sector partnership to assemble and quickly deploy teams of investigators. These investigators

• generally have a minimum 10 years experience in post-disaster field investigations, 
• evaluate the performance of buildings in response to the effects of natural and man-made hazards,
• conduct field investigations at disaster sites, and
• work closely with local and state officials to develop mitigation recommendations.

The recommendations address improvements in building design and construction, code development and enforcement, and mitigation activities that will lead to greater resistance to hazard events. The observations and recommendations of the MATs are presented in reports published by FEMA.

You Can Be Part of the MAT Program

FEMA is recruiting qualified investigators willing to serve as members of MATs. Qualified applicants are listed in FEMA's MAT Roster Database, from which team members are selected for future MATs. View the investigative fields.

Refer to the MAT Standard Operationg Procedure (SOP) for more information about the MAT. The SOP is a proactive all-hazards approach to the planning, pre-deployment, deployment, field assessment, and post-deployment functions of a MAT.