The broker’s loss-control playbook · 8 moves

Ask the right people. Make the case.

Most of what an underwriter wants to see already exists — in a binder, a drawing set, a work-order system, a restoration contract. The playbook is how you collect it. For each move: why the underwriter cares, who to ask, what we do with it, and the CARS category it moves.

Runs on CriticalAsset →

Start with step 01 →Who holds what

No big spend: it starts with what the client already has, and with a free Emergency Controls Report.

Who holds what

It already exists. Somebody has it.

You don’t need a big spend to start — you need the right six people. Here is who usually holds each piece, and where it lands.

Admin & facilities teamFloor plans, SOPs, emergency plans — often in a binder or a shared drive.Steps 01 · 02 · 03

Building or fire departmentPlans on file for the building, where available.Step 03

Chief engineer · facilitiesWhich valve feeds what, where the keys are, the after-hours route.Steps 04 · 05

CFOThe yes to sharing the work-order history.Step 07

ITThe export or the connection — set up case by case.Step 07

Risk manager · restoration partnerWho the partner is, the contract term, the agreed arrival time.Step 06

You, the broker ask, collect, take it to market

The building record

110 Central Park South New York, NY 10019 · every item keeps its source

Floor plans & risers03
SOPs01
Emergency plan & call tree02
What feeds what04
Keys & after-hours access05
Restoration partner06
Work-order history07
Controls placed in 3D04·05

Our field team walks it with the CriticalAsset app

Plans are often on file with the building or fire department, where available. No work-order system? We start one with the onboarding work orders.

Step 01 · SOPs

Write it down before the water.

A written procedure for each water scenario that matters — a main break, a riser leak, a sprinkler discharge, a roof-drain backup — so the person on shift at 2 AM isn’t improvising.

Why an underwriter cares

“Authorize and train key employees at least annually on how to shut down and isolate systems in an emergency event.” … “Update the plan at least annually.”

Chubb Risk Engineering, water damage mitigation plan checklist · 2020

Who to ask

Facilities manager
Chief engineer
Property manager

Ask forThe procedures binder, the shared-drive folder, and whatever is taped inside the plant-room door.

Moves CARS

SOP / curtailment readiness10% fixed weightIs there a procedure people can use?

A worn, overstuffed binder with old metal tags on top, a flashlight and gloves beside it, a pump behind.

Share to CriticalAsset sheet: 'A plan. A photo. An SOP.' Steps: open the file in Mail, Files or Photos; tap Share, then CriticalAsset; save, then open Commercial, Add files, review the type and choose the building. 'Your originals stay on this device until you choose Send.'

A plan, a photo or an SOP goes into the building record from Mail, Files or Photos in three taps.

Write the SOPs where the claims come from

Share of commercial water-damage claims by source · Chubb, 2021 · Sources

Roofs15%SOP
Toilets15%None
Sprinklers14%SOP
Water heaters11%None
HVAC8%SOP
Vacant space8%None
Boilers7%SOP
Sewer backup5%None
Water tanks4%None
Water mains3%SOP

Percentages: Chubb’s top-10 sources of interior water damage in commercial buildings. The SOP column is 110 Central Park South: SOP-WC-001 to 014 cover 13 of 17 scenario classes — the other fove are the gap list.

What we do with it

File it to the buildingEach SOP goes into the building’s record from Mail, Files or Photos in three taps.
Show the gapsWater scenarios with no procedure stay visible as gaps for the client’s team to close — never quietly skipped.
Count it in the scoreSOP / curtailment readiness reads how many of the water scenarios have a written procedure.

Step 02 · Emergency plans

Write the plan. Then rehearse it.

A water emergency plan names who is called, who holds the keys and which valve stops which zone — and shows that someone actually practised it.

Why an underwriter cares

A domestic water emergency response plan “will include critical information for guiding crisis responses, such as where facility stopcocks are located and who on staff knows how to turn them off.”

FM, Broker Insights · 2025

A common gap in the water losses CNA reviewed: the plan “did not consider the time needed to shut off and stop the water during unoccupied hours.”

CNA Risk Control, Water Damage: Incident Response · 2025

Who to ask

Risk manager
Facilities manager
Security desk

Ask forThe emergency response plan, the call tree, and the sign-in sheet from the last drill.

Moves CARS

Tabletop / training proof5% fixed weightHas anyone rehearsed it?

Four people around a table mark a floor plan with coloured magnets, a radio and notebooks on the table.

Emergency controls screen: 'Find a control. Record how to reach it. Photos record location, not operating condition.' Cards for Water shutoff and Electrical panel, each with a capture button and 'Can't record it'.

On the walk the app asks for each control in turn, and each one is photographed where it is.

2:13 AM · the plan, move by move

A domestic riser leak at 110 Central Park South, as its procedures and drill record stand. Each move names a person.

2:13DetectA BMS point or leak rope reports; detection drilled to 00:04.Security desk
2:15AcknowledgeOn-call engineer answers; SOP-WC-001 to 014 name the moves.Chief engineer
2:21Reach itEvery asset has a grid reference, drawing and after-hours access role on record.Security → engineer
2:26IsolateA person closes the zone valve the plan names; isolation drilled to 00:09.Engineer, on site
2:40RecoverRestoration partner called — the open item: none on contract yet.Risk manager

VerifiedFive scenarios drilled in 2025 — domestic riser leak, canopy leak, fire-pump impairment, sprinkler discharge, cellar booster loss. Four of seventeen are still paper-only.

What we do with it

Controls in the planWhere each control is, with its photo and how to reach it — prepared with the client’s team, reviewed by ours.
People and keys on recordWho to call, who answers after hours and who holds the keys.
Drills count when recordedA plan nobody rehearsed shows as not evidenced — the gap is shown, not hidden.

Step 03 · Blueprints & schematics

Get the drawings. Find the risers.

Floor plans, plumbing risers and one-lines turn a list of valves into a map of what they serve. They are also the two stages of the record an address alone can’t fill: Plans and Rooms.

Why an underwriter cares

“Provide readily accessible diagrams showing what valves control which systems. Clearly label all valves.”

AXA XL Risk Consulting, WaterWorks · 2019

Who to ask

Admin & facilities team
Building or fire department
Owner’s project manager

Ask forThe drawing set and as-builts, plumbing riser diagrams and electrical one-lines. Plans are often on file with the building or fire department, where available.

Moves CARS

Asset graph completeness12.5% fixed weightIs every water asset on record?

An engineer in a hard hat and safety vest holds a large drawing sheet up against a wall of pipes.

Web app Plan view of an imported first-floor plan, draft revision 2, calibrated in feet, with tabs Rotate & crop, Scale, Room outlines, Equipment, Compare & accept. Rooms Garage, Hall, Kitchen, Courtyard, Laundry, Living, Bedroom; a pin marks the Main water shutoff.

An imported floor plan, scaled and calibrated, with the main water shutoff pinned in place.

CriticalAsset location map for 110 Central Park South: the basement floor plan with its 21 rooms outlined and 112 placed assets marked, floors listed in the left rail. — Three ways in · one set of plans
Whichever source answers first, the plan is scaled, calibrated and signed off by a person. The basement of 110 Central Park South, with its 112 placed assets.

What we do with it

Scale, calibrate, pinEach sheet is imported, scaled and calibrated, and the controls are pinned where they are.
Unlock Plans and RoomsThe two record stages an address can’t fill — they need drawings or one walk.
Supply two readiness itemsThe Water Containment Report’s readiness check asks for a site plan and a plumbing or riser plan — the drawings supply both.

Step 04 · Wire it all up

Which valve stops which floor.

Link every valve to what it feeds. Then a leak on 14 has an answer before anyone asks: this valve, this room, these floors.

Why an underwriter cares

“Know where the valves are and what they control. The loss associated with leaks can be increased multifold if no one knows how to shut off the water.”

AXA XL Risk Consulting, WaterWorks · 2019

Another gap CNA found: plans that “did not contemplate multi-point failures (e.g., failure at a key valve) or provide secondary guidance (i.e., another valve to isolate water).”

CNA Risk Control, Water Damage: Incident Response · 2025

Who to ask

Chief engineer
Plumbing contractor of record
Our field team

Ask forA walk with the engineer who knows the valves — and any valve tag list or riser schedule.

Moves CARS

Fed-from / fed-to quality12.5% fixed weightDo we know what feeds what?

Isolation control12.5% fixed weightCan the right valve stop the right problem?

An engineer in a hard hat and safety vest reads a drawing beside vertical risers with blue and red handwheel valves.

Routes screen in 3D: a traced cold-water run along a wall; 'Plant room water run · CW · 2.3 m observed · 1 gap'. Legend: solid surface path, dashed unknown span, dotted estimate; width is symbolic.

A traced cold-water run: measured spans are solid, unknown spans dashed, estimates dotted.

The feed tree · 110 Central Park South

Domestic water as the building’s report records it. Each link carries its evidence; the flags are the report’s own open items.

Traced
Unknown span
Recorded control

What we do with it

Feeds, with evidenceFed-from and feeds-to links are recorded with the photo, drawing or trace behind each one.
Trace what’s visibleOur field team traces visible runs with the app. Estimates never count as measurements.
Flag single points of failureA valve with no secondary isolation is flagged, so the plan can name the next valve.

Each link carries its evidence, and gaps stay open until they’re closed.

Step 05 · Make it easy to access

The right valve. A key that works.

Every minute spent hunting for a key or a ceiling hatch is water on the floor. Put keys, doors and the after-hours route on record — and every located control on the plan and in 3D.

Why an underwriter cares

In the water losses CNA reviewed, key equipment “not readily accessible” — and a “lack of communication between property owners, managers and tenants regarding key valve access and responsible parties.”

CNA Risk Control, Water Damage: Incident Response · 2025

“Shutoff valves on domestic, process, and sprinkler lines are clearly marked and accessible.”

AXA XL Property Risk Consulting Guidelines, PRC.16.6 · 2020

Who to ask

Building management
Security
Tenants with valves in their space

Ask forThe key log, door and badge rules after hours, and which tenant spaces hide a shutoff.

Moves CARS

Physical access readiness5% fixed weightKeys, doors, after-hours — the locked-door problem.

A hand turns a key in a steel plant-room door at dusk, a city skyline beyond.

Ticket: Field visit, Tower, in progress, 0 of 1 checklist items addressed. Safety: coordinate access with the building engineer. Access: use the basement service entrance. Instructions: photograph the shutoff. Rooms and assigned assets: Plant room.

A field-visit ticket carries safety, access and instructions with it, room by room.

Web app Explore view in 3D: a saved capture of a room on the ground floor with two equipment markers, an equipment list with Main water shutoff and Exhaust fan, and buttons for Emergency controls, Present and Share. — The route to the valve, on record
Riser B sectional valve, level 12 · after hours.

What we do with it

Access on the recordWhere each key lives, which doors lock, and the after-hours route to each control.
On the plan and in 3DEach located control is placed on the plan and in the 3D model; anything not yet placed stays in the list.
Ready for 2 AMThe on-call engineer sees where the valve is and how to reach it: route, keys and photo on one screen.

Step 06 · Restoration & recovery

Who picks up at 2 AM — decided before 2 AM.

Put the client’s restoration partner on record before the loss: who they are, how long the contract runs, how fast they arrive — and who may call them out at night.

Why an underwriter cares

A water damage prevention program means a core team that, among other things, “has signed up restoration contractors and remediation contractors.”

Rob Sullivan, The Hartford, in Risk & Insurance · 2023

48 hrs

“Remediation is required in less than 48 hours to prevent mold development.”

CNA Risk Control · 2025 · Sources

Who to ask

Risk manager
Property manager
The restoration partner

Ask forThe restoration contract or blanket order, its end date, the agreed arrival time and the after-hours number.

Moves CARS

Recovery & restoration readiness10% fixed weightPartners, spend authority, the route back to use.

An engineer stands by shelves of binders in a pump room, holding a folder, with a row of blue pumps behind.

Review walk screen: Electrical panel and Gas shutoff each 'Not recorded yet' with Add photo and Record an outcome; then Share whole walk, Save walk to Files inbox, and 'Includes all original photos and recorded unknowns. Office review and server processing are separate steps.'

A walk is shared with its unknowns included, and office review stays a separate step.

On record before the loss

The partner record, as it appears in the response pack.

Restoration partner

Example Restoration Co.

Contract: Blanket order · ends Jun 2027
Agreed arrival: 60 min, 24/7
After-hours line: On file
Night call-out: Night manager, pre-approved
Tenant intake drill: Not evidenced

In the response pack with the controls, the call tree and the plans.

How the rules read it

No partner on record
Partner on record
Partner + a rehearsed tenant intake

Recovery & restoration readiness under the CARS rules, drawn to scale.

What we do with it

Record the partnerName, contract term and agreed arrival time — on the building’s record.
Put it in the response packNext to the controls, the call tree and the plans, as ordinary files anyone can open.
The client’s partner, on recordWe record the partner the client already has — so the response pack names who picks up at 2 AM.

Step 07 · Make the data accessible

The work orders already know.

Tickets and work orders show how a building is really run: how fast water calls get answered, what keeps coming back, and where. That is its pattern of life.

Why an underwriter cares

“Underwriters are taking a closer look at submissions, with seven years of loss runs being the more typical number of years requested versus five.”

Amwins, State of the Market 2026 Outlook · 2025

Escape-of-water hotspots “can be backed up with claims history, allowing you to see common trends.”

Zurich Resilience Solutions · 2024

Who to ask

CFO
IT
Facilities

Ask forThe CFO’s yes to share the work-order history, IT for the export or a connection, and facilities for the ticket types that mean water.

Moves CARS

Maintenance obligation execution10% fixed weightAre inspections and service actually done?

Time-series evidence quality5% fixed weightHow fresh, continuous and trustworthy is the data?

A technician in a hard hat crouches beside a blue pump and its isolation valve in a concrete plant room.

Assigned asset screen opened from a work order: Water main, Plant room, Pending. 'Photograph the label and the surrounding pipework. Locate and document only.' Capture requested photos; Find and verify, asset unconfirmed; Plans & locations; '3D scan requires LiDAR. Take photos now, or record an exception.'

A work order opens straight to the asset it is about, with the photos it asks for.

Pattern of life · from the building’s own tickets

Computed by rules — no model. Every signal cites the tickets behind it.

Work-order exportfrom the client’s system
Or a connectionset up case by case
No system?we start one with the onboarding work orders

Response time38 minmedian first response, water ticketscites 68 tickets
Closure discipline86%closed with a notecites 64 tickets
Backlog age4water tickets open > 30 dayscites 4 tickets
SeasonalityOct–Jan30 of 68 water ticketscites 68 tickets
Recurrence3 in 90 daysleak tickets on riser Bcites 3 tickets
ClusteringLine 04floors 12–17, one stacked linecites 7 tickets

What we do with it

Bring the history inAn export or a connection, set up case by case — or a fresh start with the onboarding work orders.
Read the pattern of lifeResponse time, closure discipline, backlog age, seasonality, recurrence, and clustering by riser or stacked line.
Cite every signalEach signal cites the tickets it came from. Rules compute it; no model guesses it.

Leak and flow sensors come in through IoT partners where the client has them.

Step 08 · Get better terms

Take proof to market. Ask for terms.

Seven moves later, you walk into renewal with evidence an underwriter can examine: every claim cited, dated and checked — verified, partially verified and not evidenced shown separately.

Why an underwriter cares

“As insurers are increasingly adopting data-driven underwriting, it is critical that our clients present submissions with strong data quality and can demonstrate good risk quality in order to attract capacity and better terms.”

Marsh, Market Readiness Assessment · 2022 market commentary

“Underwriters are placing increased emphasis on detailed, well-documented submissions, including hard-copy loss runs and comprehensive information on building updates.”

CRC Group, 2026 Property State of the Market — habitational property · 2026

Who to ask

You, the broker
The client’s risk manager
The underwriter

Ask forThe client’s sign-off on what goes in the submission. Underwriters read the shared report at no charge.

A woman in a blazer takes notes while an engineer in a hard hat points at printed site photos and a binder on a desk.

App screen asking 'How many water mains serve this building?' with an Answer button; below, 'What is documented: Water mains, 2 reported · 1 documented. More evidence or a reviewed correction is needed.'

What was reported and what is documented are counted separately; the gap stays open until evidence or a reviewed correction closes it.

Revision 3Assessment current

Water Containment Report · CARS

Every move lands in a category 110 Central Park South · 110 Central Park South · New York, NY 10019

CARS85AA

Asset graph completeness12.5%03the walk
Fed-from / fed-to quality12.5%04
Isolation control12.5%04
Detection coverage10%sensors the client has
Power dependency control7.5%the walk
Maintenance obligation execution10%07
SOP / curtailment readiness10%01
Recovery & restoration readiness10%06
Physical access readiness5%05
Tabletop / training proof5%02
Time-series evidence quality5%07

VerifiedPartially verifiedNot evidenced

Fixed weights · scores from rules applied to the record · only evidenced defects cost points · provisional while evidence is thin.

What we do with it

Score it on CARSThe CriticalAsset Risk Score: 11 categories, fixed weights, rules applied to the record.
Check it twiceA deterministic checker recomputes the score and checks every citation. A hypothesis is labelled a hypothesis.
People approveAI only advises. Nothing is approved for your client, and the report is theirs to share.

See the proof →

The payoff · four water terms

Four terms. On the table.

Take the evidence to market and ask for something specific. These are the four water terms a broker can put on the table — and the steps whose evidence supports each ask.

TermWhat you can seekEvidence behind the ask

1Water-damage deductible Seek a lower separate water deductible, or a buy-down.Context: separate $50,000 or $100,000 water deductibles beside a $25,000 all-other-peril deductible — The Hartford, in Risk & Insurance · 2023 · Sources. 03 04 05Shutoffs located, what they feed, how to reach them

2Water limits & exclusions Seek higher water sublimits, and narrower exclusions where the evidence justifies it. 01 04 07Procedures, isolation, a maintained history

3Business income & extra expense Seek shorter waiting periods and clearer business-income conditions. 02 06A rehearsed plan, a partner on contract

4Safeguards & impairment conditions Request clear, achievable safeguard conditions the client can meet — and prove. 02 05 07Drills, access, the work-order record

The carrier decides the terms.

All sources →

You bring the client. We bring the proof.

Send one address. We research the building, start its record and book the free Emergency Controls Report walk — then hand you evidence to take to market.

Send an address →