‍(MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, September 20, 2022) First Onsite Property Restoration (First Onsite), one of Canada’s largest disaster recovery and restoration providers, announced today that it has entered into a partnership with Alert Labs, a provider of solutions for real-time water usage monitoring, flood detection, and analytics. The partnership will help First Onsite’s commercial clients proactively minimize water damage, reducing emergency repairs and disruptions to building services while improving water conservation efforts.

“Property damage caused by water related events accounts for nearly 70 per cent of First Onsite’s emergency responses. With this partnership, we can offer property managers, building owners, insurance companies, and other clients solutions to reduce risk and improve water efficiency,” said Dave Demos, CEO, Canada and Global Client Solutions for First Onsite Property Restoration.

“Alert Labs’ partnership with First Onsite means that more customers will reduce the significant losses and subsequent insurance claims that result from water damage. Our water intelligence platform will enable First Onsite to provide these important services to their customers along with valuable water consumption insights. Together, we look forward to helping customers not only protect their buildings but also reduce costs and use water more sustainably,” said Bob Wasserman, CEO at Alert Labs.

Oftentimes, water damage to facilities is associated with severe weather events such as overland flooding, heavy rainfall and winter storms. Although serious, the effects of these events can often be mitigated with proper preparation as there is typically some forewarning prior to impact.  Water events associated with plumbing infrastructure failures are more covert, not easily detectable and can equally affect building infrastructure.  

Even minor leaks not caught over long periods of time can create environments where mould growth flourishes.  Microbial growth can start developing on wet surfaces within 48 hours and can make its way into hard-to-reach areas within a building’s structure. When left unattended, water damage leads to harmful mould growth, structural degradation, health risks, business interruption and higher costs related to remediation.

• Alert Labs AlertAQ™ water intelligence platform and cellular-connected sensors provide minute-by-minute water use insights and 24/7 emergency alerts. 
• Its Floodie flood sensor is a small puck-like leak detection product that sends alerts when the sensor encounters water. 
• For areas or buildings that are sensitive to humidity and fluctuating temperatures, the Humie humidity sensor gains real-time visibility and sends alerts if conditions change beyond acceptable levels.   
• The Flowie-O water flow sensor uploads minute-by-minute water use data to the AlertAQ platform to identify water consumption patterns, including unusual water use. 
• With the Shuttie automatic water shut-off valve, water lines can be shut off remotely to stop water flow before bigger issues occur.

After responding to property disasters of all kinds across Canada, First Onsite understands the value customers can realize from implementing proactive measures and through effective disaster preparedness. First Onsite is extending its offerings to better service clients and address real needs by providing solutions that reduce risk, manage costs, and provide data insights to better manage property assets.

About Alert Labs 

Alert Labs Inc. provides award winning water and HVAC intelligence solutions with the AlertAQ™ platform and IoT sensors designed and built in North America. Founded in 2015, the company helps organizations protect assets, lower operating costs, and increase sustainability at their buildings. Alert Labs analyzes more than 110,000,000,000 litres of water every year, has saved customers over $20,000,000 and has reduced CO2e emissions by over 20,000,000 kilograms. Alert Labs is a subsidiary of Watsco Inc. – the largest HVAC/R Distributor in North America. For more information, go to alertlabs.com or follow Alert Labs on LinkedIn.

About First Onsite
First Onsite Property Restoration is one of the largest and fastest-growing emergency response planning, mitigation, and reconstruction service providers in North America. First Onsite employs over 2,300 team members and operates from more than 90 locations across Canada, the U.S., and Puerto Rico. With a culture focused on harnessing the human power of its team members and a commitment to doing what’s right, the First Onsite team helps clients restore, rebuild, and rise. First Onsite is a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation. For more information, go to firstonsite.ca or follow @firstonsite on Twitter and LinkedIn.