The Property Manager's 24-Hour Water Damage Checklist for Multi-Unit Buildings

When a tenant calls at 11 pm about water coming through the ceiling, the next 24 hours decide whether it is a two-unit job or a six-unit job. This is the order we recommend to every property manager we work with in Greater Boston.

Hour 0 to 1: stop it and contain it

• Get the water off. Unit shutoff if it is a fixture, building main if you cannot find the source. Every building should have a labeled shutoff map; if yours does not, that is this week's project.
• Kill power to affected areas if water is near outlets or panels.
• Move tenants out of affected units if ceilings are sagging. A sagging ceiling holds gallons.

Hour 1 to 3: document and dispatch

• Photos and video of every affected unit before anything is moved. Wide shots, close-ups, the source.
• Call your restoration contractor and get extraction and drying started tonight. Not tomorrow. Mold timelines do not care about business hours.
• Write down the time of the call, who reported it, and what you found. Carriers ask.

Hour 3 to 12: notify

• Owner or board, in writing, with the photos.
• Your insurance carrier. Open the claim now even if you think the tenant's or a neighbor's policy will end up paying.
• Affected tenants, in writing: what happened, what is being done, when you will update them. Silence is what turns a water loss into a tenant dispute.

Hour 12 to 24: scope

• Walk the building with the contractor. Water travels down and sideways; check units below and adjacent, not just the one that called.
• Get moisture readings on every unit that could be affected. A dry reading today is the evidence that protects you if a tenant claims damage next month.
• Agree on a scope and a schedule, and get it in writing to the tenants.

What we do differently for property managers

One point of contact for the whole building. A certificate of insurance on request. Documentation formatted so you can forward it to the owner and the carrier without rewriting it. And the same crew for mitigation and rebuild, so there is no handoff gap where a unit sits open for three weeks waiting for a second contractor.