Ask any builder to name the top risks to project timelines and costs, and you will likely hear that the same compound that allows life to exist on earth, is also among the biggest construction pains: H2O. During, and even after construction, water leaks are one of the most common causes of damage to buildings.   In fact, nearly 60% of all real estate claims are related to water damage. The bottom line: leaks happen.

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), water is the most common cause of property damage in the country. In 2023, insured losses exceeded $3.1 billion. The IBC says that in condo buildings, water leaks account for a whopping 95% of property damage.

Large towers have thousands of valves, fittings, pipes, tubes and flanges. All it takes is one malfunctioning component, and you have the potential for disastrous flooding.

In late spring of 2019, PCL crews were putting the final touches on a new mixed-use residential and commercial tower at True North Square, one of the largest developments in downtown Winnipeg to be built in decades. On June 12, a connection on a water supply line failed on the 18th floor. Water cascaded all the way down to the seventh floor, causing more than $500,000 in damages, shortly before tenants were set to move in.

“We were three weeks out from occupancy,” says David Van Hooren, senior construction manager for Winnipeg Major Projects. “By the time it was caught, it was six or seven floors down from the leak and it had destroyed the flooring in every suite and several walls in every suite.”

Enter stage right: Eddy Solutions. The company emerged just a decade ago and is already making a big name for itself as a supplier of water monitoring and leak mitigation technology.

The company provides smart sensors and meters and automated valves on plumbing lines, fittings and in other critical areas to detect the presence of water, abnormal levels of water or sudden changes to flow rate or water pressure. When the system shows something isn’t right, a 24/7 monitoring system sends alerts in real time. And it’s not just a warning. The systems include tools that can shut off water lines quickly – even remotely. The company works with builders to develop plans specific to each project.

It’s about reducing project risks such as delays, insurance claims and out-of-pocket expenses, according to the company.

“Eddy, in a nutshell, is controlling your ‘uncontrollable’ water leak events,” says Eddy Solutions president Cory Silver. “We’re able to take something that has been out of your control and make it under your control, with sensors and valves that are smart and can tell if something is out of the ordinary.”

Recognizing the alignment between Eddy’s capabilities and PCL’s commitment to protecting worksites – PCL Construction partnered with and invested in Eddy Solutions.

Fast forward a year-and-a-half from that leak in downtown Winnipeg: PCL began work on the third building in True North Square: a 23-storey office tower housing the North American headquarters for Wawanesa Insurance. This time, Eddy Solutions technology was included during the construction phase.

The company sent a specialist to Winnipeg to help implement the system, overseeing the installation of 116 sensors on key points from main water lines, right down to critical joints and sensitive areas like washrooms, as well as electrical, mechanical and boiler rooms.

“It's a low-maintenance product. It's really easy to install,” says Kurtis Salamacha, PCL’s superintendent for major projects in the Winnipeg district. “So, if it detects something abnormal, it alerts you and you have the capability to shut it off right there.”

Sure enough – as work was nearing completion, the system proved its worth.

In early 2023, the Eddy Solutions sensors detected a leak in a fitting for a water service line on the top floor.

“It would have been catastrophic,” says Salamacha. “But the smart technology alerted the team to the problem in real time. I literally picked up my phone and I hit ‘close’ on the valve and within six seconds it's closed – and I was 100 miles away.”

What could have caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage became a small mop-up job instead.

Another example came during a unique challenge for PCL in the Greater Toronto Area. The company was tasked with building an urgently needed long-term care home in just 13 months, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. With work on Lakeridge Gardens happening so quickly, the risk for water leaks was high, so the team incorporated Eddy Solutions components right into the design. During construction, two risers sprung leaks inside a closed shaft.

“In this case, you couldn't see the pipes, directly, over the course of construction,” explains John Boktor, senior manager of construction technology. “So, the sensors helped mitigate that risk because we knew right away when it happened.”

If the leaks weren’t stopped quickly, Boktor says they would almost certainly have increased costs and put the tight project timeline in jeopardy.

”Just the fire-rated walls would have cost an extra $300,000 to $400,000 in re-doing that work,” he estimates. “The client was so impressed with the system, they have now doubled the amount of Eddy equipment in the building, both sensors and valves.”

In the 12 months prior to July 2024, Eddy caught and contained 39 leaks across 11 PCL projects, from Hawaii to Toronto. In total, the company estimates those alerts and corresponding action prevented $8.3 million in water damage.

“We've definitely had wins on literally every job we're on, ranging from small to major,” says Eddy Solutions Chief Operating Officer, Adam Bartman.

With product costs typically ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the size of the project, it’s easy to see how often Eddy Solutions technology saves more than it costs. And the benefits aren’t just in preventing lost time and out-of-pocket expenses. PCL has already seen lower insurance rates as a result of integrating Eddy’s products into the early stages of planning.

And for PCL, that has been the key: including Eddy Solutions from the start.

“It's in the proposal phase. I would even argue it's at the client-relationship management level,” says Boktor. “We're now educating our preconstruction teams to ensure that they're inserting it in the budget. They tell the client early on that we're going to do this as a company because it is a shared risk, and we need to both help each other to de-risk it.”

Boktor says PCL’s Ontario teams are now including Eddy products in most new builds, and more often than not, the client takes over the subscription and continues to use it.

“Today's superintendents and project managers will not go to another project without using Eddy Solutions,” says Boktor. “All our site staff believe in the product because they've actually seen the difference it makes.”

 With a growing number of success stories, risk reduction incentives and the peace of mind that comes with a digital set of eyes watching for leaks 24/7, leaders at PCL believe the technology offered by Eddy will become commonplace in new builds across the industry within the next five years.

“It's a game changer,” says Boktor. “And we're making the argument today for its application on a wide array of projects.”