Facility & Property Safety | Risk Control Resources

Water Damage in a Hotel Can Erase a Banner Year in 15 Minutes
Hospitality Risk Control Training

Jul 1, 2025

For every minute a stool overflows, a shower floods, or a fire sprinkler head discharges for no good reason, a hotel’s profit margin is losing $1,000. A banner year with opportunities for bonuses can be erased in as little as 15 minutes of inaction to stop the flow of water.

In order to protect your hotel from cancelled reservations, walking top tier members to different properties, and hits to your Profit and Loss Statement from lost room revenue for 2-6 months, educating all staff to respond to water leaks and knowing how to shutoff the water is critical to the survival of your hotel!

Be on the Lookout for These Risks in Your Hotel:

Cold attics where water can gather in fire suppression drip drains and are not emptied on a regular basis.
Doors or windows that are left open and water lines and sprinkler lines become frozen in the winter.
Water leaks in the wall or water leaks from bathroom appliances or under sinks that are not addressed immediately.
Clothing hanging on fire sprinkler heads, where the weight accidentally causes a water discharge.
Horseplay in the kitchen near the fryer or stove where grease fires are attempted to be suppressed with water instead of foam or powder.

Decision Point: What Would You Do if You Observed…

Observation	Action
As a Guest Room Attendant, you observe that a guest has hung clothing or a wedding dress on the fire sprinkler head.	Work with your GM, sales or front desk team to offer the guest a coat rack, rolling clothes rack, Queen Anne rack, or an alternative to the sprinkler head.
You observe water on the floor of the bathroom.	Contact maintenance immediately and use dirty towels to soak up the water. Attempt to shut off water to the sink. Maintenance should elevate this to their top priority.
While walking the halls you observe wet carpet in the hallway or wet stairs in the exit stairway.	Contact maintenance immediately. Maintenance should elevate this to their top priority and follow the source of the water, shut off domestic water, extract water and protect the elevator shaft from water.
You come across an open window in the winter or a door to the outside or hallway that is propped open.	Close the door and instruct the front desk to speak with the guest to keep windows closed and discourage smoking in the room.
You observe kitchen personnel lighting cheese or oil on fire in the kitchen with a cooking torch.	Report the horseplay to the chief or F&B Manager immediately.
You observe water on the floor near the ice machine on the room floors.	Report to maintenance immediately and check to see that the drain line is inside the floor drain.
While on the roof you notice ponding of water on the roof.	Maintenance should elevate this to their top priority, extract the water with a pump or wet vacuum and work with a plumber to clean the roof drains.