Ways to Prevent Water Damage at Your Business Premises

As precious a resource as water is, it can also be a force to be reckoned with. Pooling or leaking water can get through a variety of different materials and ultimately lead to many issues. So, what can you do about this, to help keep your business safe?

Potential Issues

As a business you could experience the following issues or problems should you suffer a water leak:

• Damage to your products or the tools/machinery
• Subsequent hold ups in the delivery of your products or services
• Hazardous mould growths
• Injury to staff, clients or visitors
• Unstable walls and roofing or potential subsidence
• You waste water which can be expensive but also portray your business as not particularly eco-friendly

Common Causes of Water Damage

There are several ways water damage can occur and this can of course vary depending on your type of business, however some more common reasons are:

• Your Roofing – eventually your roofing can succumb to the weather and cracks or holes can appear in tiles, in flashings or even around any Velux windows you might have. Water can then get in through these gaps and make them worse.
• Plumbing and Appliances – any appliance you have in your buildings, from boilers, to dishwashers and taps can potentially be a source of leaks from wear and tear; especially if these get a lot of use every day.
• General Piping – much like in a house or flat, piping can also break and cause leaks. In the winter months for instance, pipes could freeze and crack.

Outside of these examples, you might have on-site storage tanks that have corroded and started leaking. Or your external drains might have failed and water has collected underground without you even realising.

Prevention Tactics

As you can work out from the above, sometimes there’s no accounting for such leaks but there are preventative measures and steps you can put into place to help reduce the risks, or at least limit the damage.

• Carry out a full survey of your buildings to check for superficial damage that could later lead to bigger issues and have these repaired
• Wrap and protect external pipes to prevent freezing
• Regularly check for blockages or problems with important appliances or fixtures
• Install ‘passive leak detection’ systems that can sense moisture build-ups
• Having water pumps on site to stem the flow or drain major leaks is a good idea
• Review your indemnity insurance policy to ensure you are covered against accidental injury

So, make sure you use some of this advice and help keep your business safer and more secure from the potential problems water damage can bring.