Commercial water leak detection. Catch it early, keep it under control.
Indoor water monitoring, leak detection and shutoff for commercial buildings and condominiums in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.
Most water damage in a commercial building is not a burst pipe. It is a small leak that ran all night. In 2025, two-thirds of the confirmed leaks our monitoring recorded were still running at 2 a.m., and nine-tenths of the metered leak water came from leaks that ran a day or longer.
SMART's indoor water management puts sensors and flow monitoring at the points where a leak would matter most, sends alerts the moment something changes, and backs them with a staffed water team during stated hours. Where the building has a controllable valve, we can close it remotely; where you want it, the valve can close itself. Every event ends with a written record you can hand to your board, your owner or your insurer.
A water leak detection system built around your building.
Your building needs more than sensors. It needs a plan for what to monitor, when to act and who responds. We work that out with your team before an incident, not during one.
Walk the building and mark the risks
We walk the property with you and identify where water tends to fail: mechanical rooms, risers, water heaters, washroom stacks, cooling towers and vacant units.
Monitoring and control, where it counts
Leak sensors at the risk points, flow monitoring at the meter, and automatic shutoff valves where they are appropriate. Fire mains and sprinkler systems are never placed on automatic shutoff.
Thresholds and a contact chain
We set alert and shutoff thresholds against your building's normal use, and agree with you who is notified, in what order, at any hour.
Help when it happens, a record after
During team hours, our Water Management team works through alerts with your staff. Every event closes with a written record of what happened and how it was resolved.
Clear coverage. Clear responsibilities.
What the system does, what we do, and what stays with your team.
- Automated alerts and escalation run around the clock. Alerts follow the contact chain you set, at any hour.
- Automatic shutoff acts on its own where a valve is installed and configured, as soon as a defined threshold is reached. It does not wait for anyone to read an alert. Authorized users can also close a valve remotely.
- Our Water Management team works Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET. Overnight and on weekends, alerts go straight to your property's designated contacts.
- Your team stays in charge on site. You decide who is notified and who attends; we help you plan that response and review it afterwards.
Water monitoring system: sensors, flow and 24/7 automated alerts.
The water monitoring system behind SMART's indoor water management has four parts, and we are precise about which ones you get. Leak sensors sit at the points most likely to fail: mechanical rooms, tenant kitchens, suites stacked above suites, vacant space. Flow monitoring on the incoming service shows consumption that should not be there, such as overnight flow in an empty building. Automated alerts run 24/7 and reach your contact chain the moment a sensor trips or flow leaves its normal range. Remote shutoff is available where a controllable valve is installed on the line, and automatic shutoff where you choose to configure it. Our water team is staffed Monday to Friday, 7am to 11pm ET; overnight and on weekends, alerts go straight to your building's designated contacts.
Leak sensors and flow monitoring.
Installed at the risk points and on the incoming service; every event is logged with time, location and duration.
24/7 automated alerts.
Alerts go to the contact chain you set, in the order you set it, the moment a sensor trips or flow leaves its normal range.
Remote and automatic shutoff.
Remote shutoff where a controllable valve is on the line; automatic shutoff where you configure it. Fire mains and fire-suppression lines are never placed on automatic shutoff.
Indoor water management for Toronto buildings, and across Ontario, BC and Quebec.
Most of the buildings we monitor are in Toronto and the surrounding region: office towers, condominium corporations, retail and mixed-use properties where a leak that runs overnight costs more than the equipment that would have caught it. The same indoor water management service is available across Ontario and in British Columbia and Quebec, with the water team working from Milton on Eastern time. For Vancouver strata and commercial buildings, see our Vancouver indoor water management page.
Smart water leak detection: what happens when a leak starts.
A leak event is a sequence, not a single alarm. What happens at each step depends on the equipment installed in your building and how your plan is set up.
Detect
Sensors and flow monitoring pick up moisture, or water use that doesn't match the building's normal pattern, in monitored areas.
Sensors · flow monitoringNotify
Alerts go to your designated contacts in the order your plan sets out. During team hours, our Water Management team reviews the alert with you.
Your contacts + SWSControl
Where configured, an automatic shutoff valve closes on its own once a threshold is reached, without waiting for anyone. Authorized users can also close a valve remotely.
Valve · authorized usersReview
The event closes with a written record: what happened, how much water was involved and how it was resolved, so your team can plan the follow-up.
SWS Water Management teamRecords your insurer can use. Every monitored event closes with a written record: when it started, when it was detected, what volume was involved and how it was resolved. Whether monitoring changes your premium or deductible is your carrier's decision; many insurers recognise continuous monitoring and automatic shutoff as risk-reduction measures, so ask your broker what they will accept.
How long a leak runs matters more than how big it is.
What we saw across the confirmed indoor leaks we monitored in 2025.
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.
Most leaks aren't dramatic. The cost comes from how long they run unnoticed, and that is the window monitoring is built to shorten. See three documented indoor water incidents on our results page.
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.
Commercial water leak detection — answered plainly.
What is commercial water leak detection?
Commercial water leak detection uses sensors and flow monitoring to spot water escaping a building's plumbing, so it can be dealt with sooner and do less damage. There is a difference between reactive detection, where a plumber locates a leak you already suspect, and continuous monitoring, where sensors watch the building and flag unusual water use that nobody has noticed yet. Many costly losses aren't dramatic bursts; they are slow leaks that run unnoticed for days or weeks in a mechanical room, a riser or a vacant unit.
Do you offer automatic water shutoff?
Yes. Where it is appropriate, we install automatic shutoff valves that close on their own when a defined threshold is reached, so the valve can act in the middle of the night without waiting for anyone. Authorized users, on your team or ours, can also close a valve remotely. Where a valve isn't appropriate, we provide detection and alerting only. Fire mains and sprinkler systems are never placed on automatic shutoff, for life safety.
What happens outside your team's hours?
Automated alerts, escalation and automatic shutoff (where installed) run around the clock. Our Water Management team works Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET. Overnight and on weekends, alerts go to the contacts you designate, and any installed shutoff valves continue to act on their own. Our office is open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET for quotes and scheduling.
How is this different from calling a plumber?
A plumber's leak detection service is reactive: you suspect a leak, and they find it with acoustic or thermal equipment. Monitoring is continuous: the building is watched all the time, and unusual water use raises an alert even when nobody has noticed a problem yet. The two work together. Monitoring helps you find out sooner and reduces the time a leak can run unnoticed; your plumber or maintenance team makes the repair.
Where do you install sensors?
At the points where commercial buildings tend to fail: mechanical rooms, risers, cooling towers, water heaters, washroom stacks and vacant units. Placement follows the building's risk profile rather than a standard package. A residential tower with stacked risers has a very different failure pattern from an industrial site with high-volume process water.
Will this reduce our insurance costs?
Water damage is a major source of commercial property claims, and many insurers recognize monitoring and automatic shutoff as risk-reduction measures. Whether it affects your premium or deductible depends on your carrier and asset type, so speak with your broker. What we provide is documentation: every event closes with a written record of what happened, how much water was involved and how it was resolved, which is the kind of record insurers and ownership often ask for.
Do you monitor irrigation as well as indoor water?
Yes. We also design, manage and monitor commercial irrigation, so the water used inside and outside your property can be looked after by one team. Irrigation often falls between the indoor and landscape vendors, and having one team watch both makes unusual use easier to spot and explain.
Both sides of the meter, one team.
Irrigation management (IMS)
Weather-based scheduling, flow monitoring, a client dashboard and an annual Water Intelligence Report.
Learn moreMaintenance & repair
Start-up, in-season service, emergency repair and winterization by in-house crews.
Learn moreAreas we serve
Commercial irrigation across Ontario; indoor water management across Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.
Learn more
Find out where your property
needs monitoring.
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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.