The facts
A construction company was working on the construction of a new building—a ground-up, two-story business—which was close to completion.
The general contractor hired a plumber who was working late on a Friday night installing valves. As the plumber packed up and left the construction site, he mistakenly overlooked a small leak that was coming from one of the valves he had installed. Even though the leak was minor, it steadily spread through one of the walls and down to the first floor of the business. The construction site was left unattended over the weekend and when the general contractor arrived at the site early on the following Monday morning, he immediately noticed significant damage to the property.
The result
Water from the valve leak had covered the entirety of the upstairs washroom floor of the business. Further leakage was found inside one of the walls and in the business reception area located on the first floor. The damage was extensive with flooring, moulding, electrical fixtures and some of the structural aspects of the property affected by the leak. Fortunately, the general contractor had a Victor Builders Risk policy in place and the claim was covered.
Risk factor
Unfortunately, due to the specialized flooring required to replace some of the damage caused by the leak, there was a delay in finishing the construction of the new building.
This event could have been mitigated or completely prevented by having someone conduct daily checks on the construction site (even for work completed late in the day). Business owners should ensure that they have the general contractor or a project manager carefully checking the construction site after subcontractors have completed their work at the end of each day. A check over the weekend would have prevented a claim like this from being so extensive.
As an additional risk management practice, there are several automatic leak detection solutions available that project owners and contractors can consider. Reach out to a Victor construction underwriter for additional information.