The business tool that could improve your risk profile and insurance program

After the Orlando Magic basketball organization suffered a major water damage event at their massive, multimillion-dollar training center in 2025, team executives knew that the time had come to adopt a comprehensive detection and prevention system for the facility, which encompasses four swimming pools, five locker rooms, saunas, steam rooms, a commercial-scale laundry and kitchen, and more than a dozen bathrooms. The NBA team’s management knew that to be truly effective, any system it selected would have to be state-of-the-art, fully integrated, and capable of providing real-time alerts and shutoff capacities for the center – which is open to players and staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Magic chose StreamLabs. In a recent video, David Painter, the team’s Director of Basketball Facilities, explains why. “This is a unique solution to the problem,” he says. “I’ve never seen a system that uniquely identified water and flow issues the way they have.” Installing the sensors and linking them to his facility management team’s smartphones took just a few hours, he notes, despite the facility’s size.

Water leaks and the damage they cause can be extremely costly. For many mid-market or large-scale businesses, just one inch of water is capable of causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage. In addition, commercial properties are at a greater risk of experiencing serious indirect impacts, including prolonged loss of economic activity.

The key to reducing the severity of losses is detecting water intrusion as soon as possible after it occurs and taking steps to stop it before it can cause extensive damage. Fortunately for today’s business owners, smart technology is making it possible to diagnose and address leaks, ruptures, and other sources of water intrusion within mere seconds of an event – even if these business owners are not on-site when it takes place.

Technology as a partner

At the forefront of this new technology is StreamLabs, which offers businesses an integrated system of water usage monitoring, leak detection, and other related capabilities that can help mitigate costly disasters. The StreamLabs system combines sensors that identify leaks or  water pooling with shutoff valves that use state-of-the-art ultrasonic flow metering technology to stop leaks immediately – all of it synched to your smartphone, dashboard, or other connective assets.

The system provides facility management teams the opportunity to take emergency measures instantly – and, if need be, remotely. What’s more, businesses that install and maintain such systems can often qualify for reductions in their commercial property insurance premiums, saving them even more money.

StreamLabs’ integrated system connects physical infrastructure to decision-makers. Notifications and alerts can be sent to individual facility managers or entire teams, allowing for instantaneous responses to imminent crises. Data can be organized month-by-month, day-by-day, and even hour-by-hour, granting insight into a building’s water flow while providing insurers with a comprehensive – and confidence-inspiring – account of the business’s approach to minimizing water damage risk.

At the heart of the system is the StreamLabs Gateway, which uses Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) technology to extend network coverage through thick concrete or hard-to-reach areas inside commercial properties of all types without interfering with existing internet systems. Strategically placed rope sensors and point-of-leak sensors continuously monitor the property for water release, connecting directly to your organization’s dedicated and user-friendly StreamLabs Dashboard interface, mobile app, and SMS text alerts for the real-time sharing of consolidated information that leads to clear, actionable insights.

StreamLabs’ Dashboard features include:

  • Concierge view. See all your integrated buildings at a glance – and be able to react within seconds.
  • Customizable alerts. Manage and modify notifications based on user roles, ensuring that information is getting to the right people.
  • Data visualization. Optimize resource management and planning by identifying trends over time through intuitive graphs and charts.
  • Comprehensive reporting. Receive a complete picture of your water resilience by continuously tracking performance metrics and monitoring the effectiveness of property management strategies.
  • Device status reports. Enable proactive maintenance and reduce the risk of unexpected failures with the aid of detailed analysis of device performance.

Like the Orlando Magic, other businesses that have partnered with StreamLabs have seen dramatic results.

·       One Midwest-based media company that operates television stations, cable businesses, and newspapers installed a network of sensors, recognizing the potential impact of a water leak to critical equipment. When a six-inch water line in a mechanical room broke, a sensor immediately detected the presence of water and alerted the facility team. Early detection enabled the company to prevent extensive water damage and potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in repair costs, according to the company.

·       StreamLabs’ sensors also came to the rescue of a theater company in New York City. After an early-morning alert came from the rooftop boiler room, the theater’s engineer discovered an expansion tank leak that would have caused significant water damage if left undetected. Quick action prevented a potential loss in the millions, the company estimated.

·       Office buildings in Charlotte and Nashville both received real-time water leak sensor alerts involving overflowing toilets and running shower heads, respectively. Immediate responses from on-site staff prevented major damage, which could have included water cascading through multiple floors if undetected. The early warnings permitted the facilities’ managers to take steps to halt the water leaks and prevented losses adding up to several million dollars in potential damage.


Creating a record of resilience

The benefits of such a system extend beyond physical protection. While StreamLabs is busy preventing leaks and keeping track of water pressure, humidity, and temperature, it’s also doing something else: collecting data. And this data can potentially help businesses qualify for premium reductions on their commercial property insurance programs.

For the Orlando Magic’s Painter, partnering with StreamLabs has offered more than just peace of mind: The system has been a money-saver for his organization on multiple levels. He points to “the potential savings of not having to re-do millwork and carpeting, and things like that, if a water leak were to result in interior water damage.” But crucially, he says, the constant flow of data testifying to the system’s efficacy – essentially a record of resilience – has led the team’s insurer to lower commercial property insurance premiums for the structure.

Insurers respond positively to StreamLabs because mitigation is built directly into the company’s business model. As a subsidiary of Chubb, a global leader in property insurance, StreamLabs is supported by experts who thoroughly understand how to identify, measure, and reduce risk. Businesses partnering with StreamLabs can feel secure knowing that every aspect of the relationship – from planning to installation to customer service – is informed by this level of expertise.

Organizations of all sizes with buildings and structures supporting their operations are at risk of losses from water intrusion. Contact StreamLabs today to set up a free risk assessment and to learn more about how our specialized technology can be brought to the task of protecting your business from water damage and disruption – all while potentially reducing your commercial property insurance premiums and deductibles.