Using IoT to Reduce Construction Risks: Brickeye

A 2024 ICTA nomination

Toronto, ON (Jan. 19, 2024) – Brickeye delivers innovation in risk mitigation solutions at the intersection of technology, construction, and insurance. The company’s Construction Risk Mitigation Platform integrates state-of-the-art IoT sensors, reliable job site connectivity, and advanced cloud-based software and analytics – delivering actionable alerts and intelligent automated risk controls, providing comprehensive protection from water damage incidents and claims on building construction projects for both insureds and insurers.

The business use of the technology within the insurance market is twofold:

First, in preconstruction, before going to markets, Brickeye works with insureds and brokers to help de-risk building projects through the development of technology-enabled water mitigation plans. These plans, together with a Brickeye-issued Certificate of Protection (CoP), are included by brokers as part of the application package for placement of Builders Risk and Wrap Up Liability policies. Brickeye’s project-specific plans provide underwriters and risk engineers with a detailed understanding of the risk controls being put in place by the insured during construction – together with a corresponding water response plan outlining the alerts and automations (e.g. valve shut-off) that are initiated in the event of a water incident. These tools, and the analytics behind them, help insurers better understand their risk exposure in comparison to an unprotected project, driving more competitive, risk-adjusted coverage terms and pricing for clients – along with higher returns for insurers.

Second, during the course of construction, Brickeye’s job site technology is deployed to enable real-time alerts and automated loss controls that reduce the time to discovery and mitigate the damage associated with water incidents. The technology uses IoT-enabled devices including water ropes and probes, flow meters, automatic shut-offs and pump on/off controls to overlook key building areas and systems, including temporary water, electrical rooms, elevator pits, domestic cold and hot water systems, mechanical rooms, and sprinkler supply lines. Paired with intelligent alerts and controls, Brickeye’s solutions are digitizing and revolutionizing how construction projects are monitored and protected, helping reduce insurance costs and protecting project margins for insureds, while maintaining healthy loss ratios for insurers.

Business Impact

By working with insureds and brokers to help de-risk building projects upfront in preconstruction,
as well as mitigate water risk during course of construction, Brickeye has helped drive the
following benefits:

Preconstruction

• Helping insureds and brokers put their best foot forward in communicating a best-in-class approach to risk management and differentiating their projects as better, more attractive risks to insure
• Providing underwriters and risk engineers with more visibility to assess risk and more certainty on the client’s commitment to risk controls based on a project-specific water mitigation plan
• Securing preferred coverage terms and additional capacity in a hard market, in some cases helping brokers reduce the number of markets required to syndicate coverage on high-value projects
• Reducing water loss deductibles, in some cases reducing a first loss from $250k to $100k and subsequent losses from $500k to $250k

Construction

• Protecting the client’s project margin and reputation by mitigating risk of damage and delays
• Reducing frequency and severity of water damage events and potential claims during construction – more specifically, reducing time to discovery and isolation of water incidents through real-time monitoring and automated risk controls, in many cases as quickly as 2 minutes from detection to auto shut-off, significantly reducing incident severity (e.g. avoiding estimated 13,251 L or the equivalent of ~39 bathtubs of unattended water flow and associated damage on a recent project)
• Mitigating the risk of project delays and profit margin loss associated with major water damage events, helping owners/developers manage escalating construction loan financing costs that can often reach $80k+ per day, representing an additional cost of ~$2M per month of project delay associated with water damage repair and rework
• Protecting insurer loss ratios and reducing claims management costs by mitigating water events through technology-based solutions, rather than escalating premiums and deductibles
  

About Brickeye

Brickeye is a leader in Construction IoT and Data Analytics. We are accelerating digital transformation in construction by providing actionable, real-time data from job site sensors and predictive analytics all in one platform. We help developers, general contractors and insurers protect project margin by reducing rework and delays, mitigating insurance claims and costs, enhancing quality and productivity, and enabling risk reporting and analytics.

To learn more about Brickeye, visit www.brickeye.com.

Source: Brickeye

Tags: Brickeye, construction, ICTA nomination, InsurTech, InsurTech Spotlight, Internet of Things (IoT)