How do we run a water leak prevention program in our condo building?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 17, 2026

How a condo board runs a water leak prevention program: claims review, a shutoff valve map, hose and water heater schedules, annual unit checks and owner notices.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

A leak prevention program is four habits on a calendar. Know where every shutoff valve is and keep each one working. Replace the parts that fail most often before they fail. Look inside every unit once a year. Tell owners in dollars what the water deductible means for them. The board can start the valve map and the owner letters this month without changing any document. Requiring owners to swap hoses, add pans or install sensors is a separate step that needs authority in the declaration or a valid rule, and our guide on whether an HOA can require a leak detection or automatic shutoff device covers that question. This guide is written for condominiums and other attached buildings under Texas Property Code chapter 82, Florida chapter 718 and the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act. Your declaration can change the defaults, rules vary by state, and this is general education, not legal advice.

Start with your claims and your water bill

Ask the insurance agent for five years of loss runs on the master policy and sort every water claim by source: washer hose, water heater, toilet supply line, ice maker line, dishwasher, HVAC condensate, riser, drain stack or roof. Add the leaks that fell under the deductible, which live in plumber invoices and old board email. The finished list tells you where the money should go. A building that keeps losing water heaters needs an age rule. A building with three washer floods in two years needs a hose day. If the association buys water through a master meter, read the meter as well. EPA's WaterSense program suggests reading the meter, using no water for two hours, and reading it again; if the number moved, something is leaking. For a whole building, ask the utility for daily or hourly usage and watch the overnight low. If that floor creeps up month after month, a toilet or a slab line is running somewhere. EPA puts the average household's leak waste at more than 9,300 gallons a year, and in a master-metered building the association pays for every one of them.

Map the shutoff valves and make sure they turn

Every director should be able to answer one question at 2 a.m.: which valve stops this water? Walk the building with a plumber and record the main, each riser or zone valve, the valves in mechanical rooms, and the shutoff inside each unit. Photograph each one, note where it is ('behind the access panel in the hall closet, unit 204') and hang a numbered tag that matches the map. Give copies to every director and the night-call plumber. Once a year, have the plumber close and reopen every association valve. A valve that has not moved in years may not close when you need it, or may not open again; learn that on a scheduled weekday, not during a flood. During the annual unit check, ask each owner to show that the unit shutoff turns. A working unit valve protects the association too: Texas section 82.107(d) lets a condo association enter a unit, after notice to the owner and occupant, to stop waste of water it buys as a common expense.

Replace the usual suspects on a schedule

Most unit leaks start at a short list of parts, and each one gets a line on the checklist. Washing machine hoses: replace rubber hoses with braided stainless steel, write the install date on a tag zip-tied to the hose, and replace them on the interval in the washer manual or on the hose package. Water heaters: record the install date from the label or the serial number, check for a drain pan with a drain line where the heater sits over finished space, and look for drips or rust at the relief valve discharge pipe. Set an age at which the board asks owners to replace a tank before it fails, and choose that number with your plumber and insurance agent. Toilets: braided supply lines, and the EPA food coloring test, which is a few drops in the tank and a look at the bowl after 10 minutes. Ice maker and dishwasher lines: check the connections and look for staining under the sink. HVAC: a clear condensate drain line and a dry pan. In a condo, these parts usually belong to the owner. Florida section 718.111(11)(f)3 keeps appliances, water heaters and similar items that serve only one unit off the master policy and makes the owner responsible for them and their insurance. So the usual design is that owners pay for their parts and the association organizes the work. Buy hoses in bulk and sell them at cost, or book a plumber for a hose and supply line day at a flat per-unit price agreed in writing before anyone signs up.

Run the annual unit check

Pick one week a year and one plumber or trained maintenance tech, so every unit is judged by the same person against the same one-page checklist. Photograph each item and give each owner a written report that lists what passed, what needs work, and a fix-by date. The board sets those dates; something like 30 days for a failing part is a common choice. Follow up on every open item. Access comes from statute and your declaration. Texas section 82.107(a) and Colorado C.R.S. 38-33.3-307(1) require each owner to give the association access through the unit when reasonably necessary for maintenance and repair, and Florida section 718.111(5)(a) gives the association its right of access during reasonable hours. Follow any notice period your declaration sets, offer a makeup day, and accept a key left with a named director. Vacant units are where small drips run for weeks. In Florida, section 718.111(5)(b) lets the board enter a unit presumed abandoned, after 2 days' notice except in an emergency, to inspect it and protect it, and the cost can be charged to the owner as an assessment. Keep the reports with the association's records, filed by unit, so next year's checker starts with last year's notes.

Absence rules and the deductible letter

Two short owner rules go after the leaks that run longest, if your documents give the board power to adopt them. The first asks owners who will be gone more than a set number of days to close the unit shutoff valve or name someone who checks the unit each week. The second sets the hose and water heater schedules described above. Then tell owners what a leak can cost them. At each renewal, send a letter that states the master policy water deductible in dollars and explains who can end up paying it. Texas section 82.111(l) lets the association assess the deductible and any other expense beyond insurance proceeds against an owner whose act or omission caused the damage. Colorado C.R.S. 38-33.3-313(6) lets the association adopt written, nondiscriminatory policies on deductibles and assess negligent owners for deductibles it paid. Florida section 718.111(11)(j) makes an owner responsible for uninsured repair costs when the damage comes from negligence or failure to follow the declaration or the association's rules, which is one reason a written hose rule matters. Suggest that owners ask their own agent about loss assessment coverage and their unit policy limits. Our guide on handling a water leak from a common element into a condo unit walks through the deductible math after a loss.

Wording the board can copy

Motion: 'I move that the board adopt the Water Leak Prevention Program presented today, including the shutoff valve map, the annual unit check in [month], and the owner checklist, approve up to $___ for the valve survey and annual valve exercise, and direct the secretary to keep each unit's check report with the association's records.' Owner notice: 'Water leaks have caused [number] insurance claims in our building since [year], and the master policy's water deductible is $___ per claim. Starting this year, the association will check every unit once a year during the week of [dates]. A plumber from [company] will need about [time] to look at your washer hoses, water heater, toilet supply lines, dishwasher and ice maker lines, HVAC drain and your unit shutoff valve. Please clear access to these areas and have an adult present, or reply by [date] to leave a key with [name]. You will receive a one-page report. If any item needs repair, please have it fixed by the date on the report and send us the plumber's receipt.' Absence rule line: 'An owner who will be away for more than ___ consecutive days must close the unit's main water shutoff valve or give the association the name and phone number of a person who will inspect the unit at least once every 7 days.'

A first-year timeline

Month 1: request loss runs, pull plumber invoices, and read the master meter or get usage data from the utility. Month 2: walk the building with the plumber, tag the valves, finish the map, and adopt the program motion at a noticed meeting. Month 3: send the owner letter with the deductible figure and hold the hose and supply line day. Months 4 and 5: run the annual unit check and send reports. Month 6: close open items and tell owners how many units were checked and how many problems were fixed. Every year after that: exercise the valves and run unit checks in the same months, send the deductible letter at each renewal, and in Florida send an absence reminder before owners leave for the summer.

Mistakes boards make

Fining an owner under a hose or sensor rule the board never had the power to adopt. Running the checks once and never again, so the hoses installed in year one are due with nobody tracking them. Letting the inspecting plumber sell repairs without a price sheet agreed in advance. Keeping reports in a manager's inbox instead of the association's records, so they disappear when the manager changes. Mapping the valves and never testing them.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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