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How often should this property be checked?
There is no universal number, and anyone giving you one without asking about your policy is guessing. This shows its working instead.
About the property
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The whole model, in the open
Every factor and weight this tool uses. It is a simple heuristic, not a model of your building, and publishing it is the only honest way to offer it.
| Factor | Weight |
|---|---|
| Empty through the Alberta heating season | +3 |
| Water supply left on | +3 |
| Water plan not yet decided | +2 |
| System shut off and drained | -2 |
| Heating off | +2 |
| Poly-B plumbing present | +2 |
| Build era where poly-B is common and unconfirmed | +1 |
| Pre-1970 property with original infrastructure | +1 |
| Hot water tank at or near end of life | +1 |
| Finished basement raising the cost of any water event | +1 |
| Flood mapping or a history of basement water | +2 |
| Basement with no sump pump | +1 |
| Private well or septic with no automatic alerting | +1 |
| Absence of three months or more | +1 |
| Absence under a month | -1 |
| Modern construction with current plumbing | -1 |
| Leak or temperature sensors providing early warning | -1 |
| Automatic water shut-off device fitted | -1 |
| Empty over the summer rather than the winter | -1 |
How the total maps to a cadence
Every 72 hours, or twice weekly
Several factors here compound — most often water left on through winter in an older property. At this end the interval is doing the work that a drained system would otherwise do for free, so it is worth revisiting the water plan before committing to the cadence.
Weekly, with extra visits during weather events
The most common arrangement for an Alberta property through the heating season. Build in the ability to add visits during extreme cold and after storms rather than holding a fixed schedule.
Weekly in winter, biweekly outside it
A moderate profile. Season is doing most of the work here, so a cadence that changes with the calendar is more useful than one flat interval.
Biweekly, or monthly for a fully drained property
A well-prepared property with the water off and drained has a genuinely different risk profile. Visits shift from catching failures to confirming nothing has changed — still worth doing, but the interval can be longer.
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