News Article

Protecting your business property from water damage

Every year insurers pay out a significant amount of money for escape of water claims in business properties.

And the impact of water leaks goes beyond the damage to your actual physical assets such as buildings, fixtures and fittings, furnishings, equipment and IT systems.

As a business owner you are also likely to be affected by further costs such as interruption to your business, maybe by relocation costs or a negative impact on your reputation as a business.

Sources of water leaks include burst pipes, blocked guttering, roof leaks, overflowing toilets, faulty equipment and leaking appliances or plumbing fittings.

And it’s not always large burst pipes that cause problems!

Some leaks are small and not noticeable for maybe months and have the potential to cause significant damage to properties before they are identified.

Understanding and assessing your exposure to water damage, and implementing an effective risk management approach to help reduce this risk, could be just as important as a fire risk assessment – in terms of your business’ capability to continue to operate should you suffer water damage.

Some business premises are more susceptible to water damage than others, for example

• Premises with IT suites and server rooms
• Hotels, residential flats, student accommodation and shared houses
• Unoccupied or intermittently occupied properties
• Older properties or those with older pipework

Carrying out a risk assessment and mitigation, together with a comprehensive emergency response plan are key elements of a water-damage risk- management plan.

Some common risk mitigation measures you should consider include:

• Having procedures in place to notify key personnel when issues arise.
• Training key staff at least annually on how to shut down and isolate systems in an emergency event.
• Carrying out regular inspections of the building roof area and exterior walls, below grade areas and drainage infrastructure.
• Undertaking regular inspections of your building equipment and piping systems such as your plumbing, water leak detection equipment, fire hydrant and sprinkler systems, etc.
• Having effective leakage response procedures to ensure prompt notification, isolation/containment and clean- up of any leakage

Once in place, remember to regularly review, test and update your water-damage risk-management plan!

Remember “Prevention is better than cure!”

Please contact Nigel Kennedy on 07951 120328 if you would like help with your water -damage risk management plan.

 

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