This refurbished block of apartments and townhouses had the original galvanised fire sprinkler system upgraded during refurbishment with the addition of CPVC (Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride) pipework. A leak occurred on the CPVC pipework that was not picked up until it was visible, by which time it had caused significant damage to the building fabric.
Leaksafe installed a WaterSwitch3 flow monitoring leak detection system on the sprinkler supply in the wet risers to each apartment. The WaterSwitch3 will detect continuous flow of water over time that would indicate a leak.
For obvious safety reasons, the leak detection system in this installation must not shut off the water supply, so as well as flow monitoring, Leaksafe installed a Leaksafe WaterComm device connected to each apartments’ system that sends an immediate message to the building managers if the flow period is exceeded so that the leak can be investigated quickly to reduce the extent of any damage.
Notifications are sent using IoT (Internet of Things) technology to avoid reliance on occupier or building WiFi.
Leaksafe worked closely with the building’s Managers and Fire Marshall to drain down the system, rework pipework to enable the installation of flow meters and re-instate the fire sprinkler system as quickly as possible.
Within 3 months of installation the insurance broker reported:
“We ultimately came to a positive landing with the insurer with a substantial reduction in the EOW excess under the policy from £100,000 to £25,000, in recognition of the client’s efforts to address the sprinkler system issues, including of course your installation.”
