The uncontrolled flow of water into buildings or rooms may, for instance, result from:
rain, floods, inundation
disruption of water supply and sewerage systems
defects in the heating installation
defects in air conditioning systems connected to the water supply
defects in sprinkler systems
water used for fire fighting
water sabotage, e.g. deliberately turning on the taps and blocking drains.
Irrespective of how water enters buildings or rooms, there is a danger that it will damage supply facilities or IT components (e.g. short-circuit, mechanical damage, rust, etc.) or render them unserviceable. Where central supplies for the building (main power distributor, trunk distribution frame for telephone, data) are accommodated in basement rooms without automatic water removal, the ingress of water can cause considerable damage.
Examples
Many commercial enterprises, even large companies, do not give sufficient thought to the danger of flooding. Thus, for example, one company has experienced "surprise" flooding of its computer centre on more than one occasion. The computer centre swam in the truest sense of the word a second time barely 14 months later. The resulting damage ran to several hundred thousand euros and was not covered by any insurance policy.
A water pipe in a server room ran down from a ceiling that was covered with plasterboard. When one of the joints developed a leak, this went undetected for some time. The escaping water initially collected at the lowest point of the plasterboard, eventually escaping and causing a short-circuit in the power distributor underneath. The result was that until the repairs were completed, both the water and the power supply of the affected part of the building had to be switched off.
