How Much Does Investigating a Water Leak False Positive Cost Your Business?

False positives are what facilities managers - and savvy commercial and industrial property owner-operators - like least about water leak detection.

With a global shortage of qualified facilities management professionals already putting pressure on in-house teams, spending time checking out water leak false positives is the kind of time-wasting activity that facilities managers can ill afford.

(Not 100% clear on what a false positive is? Check out this blog post on false positives in water leak detection.)

False positives in water leak detection are more common than they should be

Most people outside your facilities management team aren’t aware of just how common false positives are when it comes to water leak detection. Rates vary depending on the specific technology and device, but with many solutions unable to distinguish between dust and water, or a single drop of water and a genuine leak, it would not be surprising to hear that facilities teams waste weeks every year attending to them.

How much does a false positive cost each time your facilities team investigates one?

For the purposes of this article, we've focused on the financial cost of the time it takes a facilities management team to investigate a range of common false positives, in 6 leading cities in North America and Europe.

We've taken a conservative approach, assuming your facilities team are already onsite; only calculating the time it takes for them to actually investigate the leak (no time allocated to travel or project management); and excluding the cost of any external resources.

(If you're interested, you can find more out about the data and our calculations here.)

How much do sink false positives cost to investigate?

Sink false positives are some of the least expensive. Which would be good news - but for the fact that there are an awful lot of sinks in commercial and industrial buildings. And because they're located in areas that can be both wet (from condensation and/ or cleaning) and also dusty (pipes located behind drywall), false positives are not uncommon.

So while each false positive may be relatively inexpensive to investigate, sinks can end up being a major drain on your facilities management team's time and budget.

How much do bathtubs and shower false positives cost to investigate?

Like sinks, bathtub and showers are prone to false positives when binary water leak detection solutions are used. The area around and behind them can be wet, and is often dusty, leading to false alerts. With the majority of the plumbing being concealed, investigating a leak typically requires removing panels to gain access to locations in walls or under floors.

While bathtubs and showers are less ubiquitous than sinks in commercial and industrial settings, they're still an area of concern. With stacked floorplans continuing to dominate in the global multifamily residential market, damage from a water leak on one floor can easily spread to the floors below - every potential leak must be investigated, even if false positive rates are high.

How much do false positives cost to investigate when they occur in elevator pits?

Elevator pits typically already have some water present, which makes them prime candidates for false positives from binary water leak detectors. And because of this, many facilities managers are reluctant to extend water leak detection to these areas - even though it plays a vital role.

Investigating water leaks is somewhat disruptive to building operations, as it involves restricting use of the elevators to ensure the pit is safe to inspect. Unless a large water leak is present, leak identification may prove slow as the area is already wet. 

How much do floor-mounted HVAC false positives cost to investigate?

Floor-mounted HVAC units are gaining in popularity in North America, but gaining access to them to check for water leaks is more challenging. Typically, it involves heavy furniture being moved out of the way, and floor coverings being removed, before the floor panels themselves are removed and units exposed. It's a 2-person job just to gain access.

The water leak detection method most commonly used for these units is a cable or rope sensor, with one sensor covering 2-3 units. This means that for when a leak alert is received, multiple units will need to be investigated to determine whether or not there is a leak. This only adds to the time spent by the facilities management team - and the disruption caused to your tenants.

How much do false positives cost to investigate when they happen to industrial equipment?

Water leaks in industrial settings like plants have the potential to disrupt manufacturing or other processes, which can have a significant impact on the wider business. With health and safety to consider, as well as the integrity of processes and equipment, every leak alert has to be taken seriously. 

In many cases, it means a partial or complete shutdown of equipment, in order to facilitate inspection. Depending on the equipment in question, facilities managers may need to take extra precautions to maintain health and safety standards while performing the inspection - for example, wearing protective clothing, or using specific tools or instruments to gain access. With potential leak sources not always easily accessible, and lighting variable, manual inspections will be time consuming and expensive.

In many ways, finding a leak may be less expensive than a false positive: with the former, it's possible to identify it relatively quickly; while with the latter, an exhaustive inspection must be performed in order to rule any leaks out. As such, false positives in industrial equipment represent a significant waste of facilities managers' time and staffing budget.

The full financial impact of false positives is significant

Frequent false positives will have a detrimental effect on a business’ bottom line. For the purposes of this article, we’ve focused on the cost related to your facilities management team’s time - but the costs extend beyond this, including:

• Internal team opportunity cost, whether related to preventative maintenance, or other facilities management initiatives - including those related to legal and regulatory compliance.
• External costs from third party facilities management services, particularly out of hours.
• Decreased revenue related to inconvenience to and lower satisfaction of tenants, and associated reputational damage.
• Potential loss of capacity and related revenue.

You can minimize investigations into false positives

Selecting the right water leak detection solution is critical. And if minimizing false positives is a goal - and it should be - selecting a solution that doesn't take a binary approach to water leak detection is vital.

At LAIIER, we understand that everyone has a different definition of what an "alertable leak" is. So our water leak detection solution allows our customers to define what a leak is for every device they install. This means significantly fewer false positives - particularly in areas where water or condensation is often present.

Want to minimize false positives and increase operational efficiency in your commercial and industrial premises? Book a call with our team for a personalized consultation!

Data & calculations

The numbers given are intended to be accurate, but your own numbers may vary based on the compensation and skill levels of your facilities management team, as well as the specific layouts and intricacies of your buildings and equipment. Please consider them a guide.

• Salary data is derived from multiple publicly available sources, and is accurate as of September 2024. Bonuses and other compensation are not included.
  
  
• Hourly rates are calculated based on a standard work week (35 hours in France, 40 hours elsewhere), and do not factor in overtime rates.
  
  
• Time estimates are based on customer feedback and inputs from both North America and Europe, and assume a moderate level of competency.