Joint Code of Practice — Escape of Water Prevention on Construction Sites

The insurance industry response to a £1bn annual problem

The Joint Code of Practice for the Prevention and Management of Escape of Water on Construction Sites was published in 2024 by RISCAuthority and the Construction Insurance Risk Engineers Group (CIREG), endorsed by the London Engineering Group and CIPHE.

Escape of water costs UK insurers approximately £1 billion per year. A single event in a multi-tenanted high-rise can generate claims exceeding £30 million. The JCoP is the industry's structured response.

Key requirements

• Mandatory Water Systems Management Plans
• Automated shut-off valves on all water supply risers
• Leak detection sensors on all water supply risers
• Continuous monitoring of temporary water supplies
• Documented escalation procedures for detected events

Why this is changing how contractors specify monitoring

Compliance with the JCoP is now a condition of construction insurance cover on major projects. Vector permanent leak detection systems satisfy the JCoP's sensor and monitoring requirements during construction and continue to satisfy them post-handover.

Publishers: FPA / RISCAuthority / CIREG

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