Do You Know Where the Water Shut Off Is?

When faced with plumbing emergencies, people don’t know how to shut off the water or where the shut off valve is even located.

And, the longer it takes to turn off the water, the more damage there will be to your property.

Take this scenario described by Chubb for example – A failed valve allowed water to flow freely for at least an hour in a high-rise office building causing extensive damage to 16 floors in the building.

Yikes!

Now imagine if someone was able to shut off the water within 10 minutes. How much less damage would there have been?

As you’re building out or updating your disaster response plans, make sure you:

• Create a map of the property or complex and label all zonal shut off control valves
• Designate several employees as having valve shut off authority and define what that authority means
• Ensure the employees with shut off authority have a copy of the map and know how/where to shut off the water in case of emergency

By the way, according to the same trends analysis published by Chubb in 2020, these four industries are experiencing a significant increase in interior water damage claims:

• Hospitality
• Health Services
• Multifamily
• Commercial Real Estate