Water in a commercial building is stressful partly because so many people are involved: staff or tenants, the property manager, the owner, the insurer and whoever turns up to deal with it. The first day sets up everything after it. This is a general checklist for the first 24 hours. It isn't a substitute for the licensed professionals named below, and whenever there's any doubt, put safety ahead of everything else on it.
1. Make it safe first
- Water and electricity don't mix. If water is near outlets, power bars, equipment or an electrical panel, or a wet ceiling is dripping near light fixtures, keep everyone out of the area. Only switch off power at the panel if you can reach it without standing in or near water. Otherwise, call a licensed electrician or your utility.
- If you smell gas, leave.Get everyone out and call 911 or your gas utility's emergency line from outside the building.
- Watch the ceiling. A bulging, water-stained ceiling can come down. Clear the space underneath it.
- Treat the water as contaminatedif it came from a drain, a sewer backup or outside. Keep people out of it and don't try to clean it up yourself.
2. Stop the source, if it's safe to
Find the shut-off for the building or the affected line and close it if you can do that safely. For a failed fixture or supply line, the local shut-off is often right behind or under it. Then call a licensed plumber to fix the cause. If the water is coming from outside the building, from a City water main for example, call 311. If a fire sprinkler has discharged, call your fire protection contractor and follow the building's procedures; a sprinkler system is life-safety equipment, so it isn't something to shut down yourself.
3. Document everything before cleanup starts
- Photos and video of the water, the source and every affected room, before anything is moved.
- Close-ups of damaged stock, equipment, furniture and finishes.
- A note of when it was found, what was done and by whom.
- Damaged items kept, where you can, until your insurer says otherwise.
This is the step people skip in the rush, and it's the one an insurance claim depends on.
4. Tell the right people
- The property manager or landlord, if you're a tenant. Most leases require prompt notice, and the building may have its own response process.
- Your insurer, and the building's if that's a different policy. Ask what they need from you and whether they want to approve contractors.
- Neighbouring tenants or units, if the water may have travelled. In a multi-tenant building, it usually has.
- Your staff, about which areas are off limits.
5. Get the water out
Standing water does more damage the longer it sits. It wicks into carpet underlay, drywall, baseboards and subfloor, and every hour adds to the drying the building will need later. Once the area is safe and the source is stopped, extraction is the next priority, and that's the point to call a commercial water extraction crew.
In the meantime, move what you safely can off wet floors: stock, files, electronics. Don't use an ordinary vacuum on standing water, and don't switch on lights or ceiling fans in an area with a wet ceiling.
6. Know when it's a job for restoration specialists
Extraction and cleanup are only part of a larger water loss. Bring in a qualified restoration contractor when:
- water has soaked into walls, ceilings or insulation and the building needs structural drying and moisture verification;
- the water is contaminated, such as a sewage backup or floodwater from outside;
- you can see or smell mould;
- the structure itself is damaged.
Licensed plumbers deal with the source, licensed electricians with anything electrical, and restoration contractors with structural drying and remediation. A good extraction crew will tell you honestly which parts of the job are theirs. Ours are set out, limits included, on our water extraction and flood cleanup page.
If you manage a multi-tenant building
When water crosses from one unit into common property, several parties end up responsible for different parts of the same mess. Agree early who is directing the response (usually the manager or the board's representative) and have every contractor take instructions from that person. Our page for property managers and condo boards covers how that works in practice, and if you're lining up vendors before anything goes wrong, what to ask a commercial cleaning company is worth a read.
The short version
- Safety first: electricity, gas, ceilings, contaminated water.
- Stop the source if it's safe; call a plumber, or 311 for a City main.
- Photograph everything before cleanup starts.
- Notify the property manager and your insurer.
- Get the water out quickly.
- Call restoration specialists for structural drying, contamination and mould.
Planning ahead rather than mopping up? Everything we do for commercial buildings is on one page.