Halo Learn

    What to look for in a condo leak detection system: a buyer's guide for boards and managers

    A ranked list of evaluation criteria — room-level visibility, automatic shut-off, device-health monitoring, 24/7 response, and long-term serviceability.

    Published · By Daniel Dietzen

    Daniel Dietzen

    Daniel Dietzen

    Sales Lead, Halo Protection Systems

    Daniel Dietzen has over 10 years of experience in water leak detection and building protection systems, beginning with hands-on installation and customer service work in 2015. At Halo Protection Systems, he has worked closely with engineers, property managers, owners, and installation teams to help design, deploy, and improve whole-building leak detection systems for condominium and multi-family properties.

    Condo boards should evaluate eight things, in priority order: room-level visibility, parallel owner-and-staff alerts, automatic shut-off at each residence, device-health monitoring, time-stamped event history, 24/7 human response, a building-managed wireless network (not resident Wi-Fi), and long-term serviceability. A system strong on detection but weak on shut-off, ongoing visibility, or service stops protecting the building within a few years.

    Key statistics

    8

    Core evaluation criteria for a condo leak detection system

    Up to 10 yrs

    Battery life on Halo wireless moisture sensors

    ~6 floors

    Typical gateway spacing for the Halo building network

    24/7

    Live response coverage for alerts

    The eight criteria, ranked

    • 1

      Room-level visibility

      Every sensor should be labeled by residence, room, and location (e.g., 'Unit 702 — Primary bath, under sink'). Generic 'Unit 702 leak' alerts cost staff minutes that matter.

    • 2

      Owner + staff alerts in parallel

      Alerts should reach owners and on-site staff at the same time, with role-based escalation if no one acknowledges. A protection model that depends on the owner being awake and reachable is fragile.

    • 3

      Automatic shut-off at the residence

      Look for electric shut-off valves at each residence's main water supply line(s), with manual override at a wall panel for residents and remote control for staff. The system should support multiple valves per residence (some buildings need 3–6, including HVAC closed-loop systems).

    • 4

      Device-health monitoring

      Boards and managers should be able to see, in one place, which devices are online, offline, low on battery, or in need of attention — without having to walk every unit.

    • 5

      Time-stamped event history

      Every sensor trigger, valve action, alert sent, and user step should be logged with a timestamp and exportable as a PDF for insurance and board reporting.

    • 6

      24/7 human response

      When an alert fires at 2 a.m., a real person should be reachable — by owners, guests, housekeepers, and staff — to identify the unit, see live device status, and operate valves remotely after safety checks.

    • 7

      Building-managed network (not resident Wi-Fi)

      A dedicated long-range wireless network (LoRaWAN, in Halo's case, with gateways approximately every six floors) keeps every device on a managed system, independent of resident routers and cellular coverage.

    • 8

      Long-term serviceability

      Replacement parts available years from now, firmware updates, scheduled on-site service, and a certified dealer network. Condos change constantly — units change hands, appliances get swapped, renovations cut into walls — and the system needs to keep up.

    What questions should a board ask a vendor?

    • How are sensors labeled, and how does staff see exactly where a leak is?
    • Does the system automatically shut off water, or does it just send an alert?
    • Who answers the phone at 2 a.m. when an alert fires?
    • How will we know if a sensor in an unoccupied unit goes offline?
    • Does this system run on resident Wi-Fi?
    • Can we export an incident timeline as a PDF for our insurance carrier?
    • What does the install look like in occupied units?
    • What's your service plan for year 5? Year 10?
    • Can we start small (top floors, common areas) and expand?
    • Who installs and services the system in our region?

    What are the red flags?

    • The vendor's "alert" is actually a notification only to the owner.
    • No automatic shut-off option, or shut-off only at the building water main.
    • Devices rely on each owner's Wi-Fi to stay online.
    • No central dashboard for staff to see device health across the building.
    • No event log that can be exported.
    • No 24/7 human support — only a chatbot or ticket queue.
    • No clear service plan beyond install.

    Frequently asked questions

    What's the single most important feature?

    Room-level visibility. If an alert just says 'leak in Unit 702' without telling staff which room, which fixture, and which sensor, the response is slower and less effective. Every sensor should be labeled by residence, room, and location.

    Are automatic shut-off valves really necessary?

    They are not strictly required for detection, but they change the response. Without shut-off, the building still depends on someone being available, seeing the alert, and reaching the unit before the leak spreads. With shut-off, the system stops the water automatically while alerts go out.

    How do we evaluate ongoing service?

    Ask three questions. Who answers the phone at 2 a.m. when an alert fires? How does the vendor know if a sensor has gone offline in a unit nobody has entered for six months? And what happens when a unit changes hands or is renovated?

    Should the system run on resident Wi-Fi?

    No. A building-wide system should run on its own dedicated wireless network, not on individual resident internet connections. Otherwise the building has no way to know whether any given unit is actually online.

    How important is event history?

    Critical for insurance and board reporting. A time-stamped audit log of sensor triggers, valve actions, alerts sent, and user steps creates a defensible record that can be exported as a PDF when a claim is in dispute.

    What about installation disruption?

    Look for a wireless, battery-powered system that can be installed unit by unit without opening walls or running power cables throughout the building. A typical Halo install runs about 20 minutes per residence at a pace of 30–40 residences per day.

    Sources & references