Commercial leak detection that finds the leak before anyone sees the water.
SMART's Indoor Water Management division watches commercial buildings continuously with leak sensors and flow monitoring, sends 24/7 automated alerts and backs them with a staffed water team. Where a valve is installed, the water is shut off remotely or automatically.
Leak detection for commercial buildings: what we monitor and how.
Leak sensors at the risk points
During the water assessment we walk the building and place sensors where water does damage: mechanical rooms, hot-water tanks, risers and valve stations, washroom stacks, vacant suites, kitchen and laundry connections. A sensor reports the moment it is wet.
Flow monitoring at the meter
A flow monitor on the incoming service records the building's water use minute by minute and learns its normal pattern. A toilet running in an empty suite at 3 a.m. shows up as an anomaly even when no sensor is standing in the water.
24/7 automated alerts
When a sensor trips or flow leaves its normal range, alerts go out automatically, at any hour, to the contact chain you set: your on-site staff, your after-hours contacts and our water team.
A staffed water team, and shutoff where installed
Our Water Management team works Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET: a person confirms the alert and works with your contacts to stop the water, remotely where a controllable valve is installed. Overnight and on weekends, alerts go straight to your property's designated contacts, and automatic shutoff, where installed and configured, closes the valve on its own when a defined threshold is reached. It does not wait for anyone to read a message.
Every event closes with a written record: when it started, when it was detected, how much water was involved and how it was resolved. Every building gets a client dashboard and an annual Water Intelligence Report. The full service is on our indoor water management page.
What this service is not.
We do not locate leaks you already suspect. If water is coming through a ceiling today and you need acoustic or thermal equipment to find a break in a slab or behind a wall, that is leak locating, and a licensed plumber or leak-locating specialist is the right call. We do not carry out plumbing repairs either. SMART's service is the other half of the problem: continuous monitoring, so the next leak is caught while it is small and the repair is a short visit rather than an investigation.
Where leaks start in commercial buildings.
The leaks that cost money are rarely dramatic. They start in four kinds of places and run because nobody is there.
- Mechanical rooms. Tank and boiler fittings, pump seals and valve packing, behind a locked door.
- Suites and tenant spaces. Supply lines, toilets, dishwashers and in-suite water heaters, especially in vacant units nobody walks.
- Roof drains and rooftop equipment. Blocked drains, make-up water on cooling equipment, lines that freeze and split.
- Irrigation points of connection. Where the landscape system meets the building supply, a stuck valve can run outdoor water all night. Our Irrigation division monitors that side too.
How long a leak runs matters more than how big it is.
of confirmed leaks were still running at 2 a.m., including most of the ones that started during the working day.
of the leak water we metered came from leaks that ran for a day or longer.
of that water came from leaks that were stopped within 12 hours.
Source: SWS indoor leak monitoring records, January to December 2025. 66%: 174 of 262 confirmed leaks with a logged start time and duration. 90% and under 3%: share of metered volume across 216 confirmed leaks with a metered volume and logged duration. See three documented indoor water incidents.
The questions a condo board or insurer asks.
The questions usually arrive after an incident, at renewal or before a board meeting:
- What is our deductible on a water claim, and how many water claims has the building had?
- When the last leak happened, how long did it run before anyone knew?
- If it happens at 2 a.m. on a Saturday, who gets the call, and what actually stops the water?
- What can we show our insurer or broker at renewal, and what will the board see each year?
Our answers: a contact chain you approve, shutoff where installed, a written record of every event, a client dashboard, and an annual Water Intelligence Report written for a board or an owner. Whether monitoring changes your premium or deductible is your carrier's decision.
Three ways to set it up, and what "where installed" means.
Every setup includes leak sensors, flow monitoring, 24/7 automated alerts, the staffed water team, the dashboard and the annual report. What changes is what happens to the water.
Detect and alert
Sensors and flow monitoring with alerts to your contact chain, for buildings where a shutoff valve is not practical.
Detect and remote shutoff
Adds a controllable valve on the service or a branch; authorized users, your team or ours, close it from the dashboard.
Detect and automatic shutoff
The valve closes on its own when a defined threshold is reached. Fire protection systems are excluded from automatic shutoff.
"Where installed" is not small print: remote and automatic shutoff exist only on lines where a controllable valve has been installed and configured. The water assessment tells you which lines justify one; the service is quoted per building after it.
Coverage: Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.
SMART delivers indoor water management across Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec from our Milton, Ontario base, on Eastern hours. Toronto and the surrounding region is home ground, with office towers, condominium corporations and industrial sites among the 750+ commercial properties we work with.
Buildings in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland have their own page: indoor water management in Vancouver. Irrigation services are offered across Ontario.
Commercial leak detection: common questions.
What does a commercial leak detection service include?
Leak sensors at the risk points, flow monitoring on the incoming service, 24/7 automated alerts, a staffed water team (Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET), a written record of every event, a client dashboard and an annual Water Intelligence Report. Shutoff is added where a valve is installed.
Do you find leaks in slabs or walls?
No. Locating a leak you already suspect, in a slab, behind a wall or underground, is a plumbing or leak-locating service, and we will point you to one. Our service is continuous monitoring, so the next leak is flagged while it is small.
How fast is a leak detected?
A sensor reports the moment it is wet and the flow monitor flags unusual use as it happens, so the alert goes out when the system sees the change, not when someone notices a stain. How quickly the water stops depends on your contact chain and whether a valve is installed on that line.
Is someone watching 24/7?
Alerts are automated and run 24/7. Our Water Management team is staffed Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET. Overnight and on weekends, alerts go to your designated contacts, and automatic shutoff, where installed, does not need anyone awake.
Do you offer leak detection in Toronto and Mississauga?
Yes. Toronto, Mississauga and the surrounding region are served from our Milton base; indoor water management is available across Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.
Find out where your building
needs monitoring.
Tell us about the building; we will walk it, rank the risk points and send written findings.
Book a water assessment→Connect with us
Want to talk through monitoring for one building or a whole portfolio? Call or email our indoor water team. Existing clients: alerts reach your contact chain automatically, 24/7.