The short answer
Get the water off and the power isolated, then decide what can keep trading. Sealed containment on the wet side lets the rest of the floor stay open, and equipment can be placed and monitored outside business hours. Document the closure and the lost stock from hour one for the claim.
A retail or restaurant tenancy on Mt Diablo Boulevard has a different problem from a house with the same amount of water in it. The building damage is a number. The closure is a bigger number, and it compounds daily.
This is the plan worth having written down before it happens.
The first thirty minutes
- Stop the water. Fixture shutoff, then the tenancy isolation valve, then the building main. If it is a sprinkler head, close the riser control valve — an activated head discharges tens of gallons a minute and will not stop on its own.
- Cut power to affected circuits if water is near outlets, equipment or a ceiling fixture. Do not walk through standing water to reach a panel.
- Get staff and customers out of the affected zone, and rope it off.
- Photograph and film everything before anything moves. Wide shots, then the source, then stock and equipment.
- Notify the landlord or property manager immediately, in writing. Time-stamped text or email. This matters for the responsibility question later.
- Call a restoration contractor — +1 (201) 277-9344. Do not wait for the landlord to authorize it.
- Notify your own insurer and open the claim.
Do not wait for the responsibility answer
This is the single most expensive mistake we see in commercial work.
A tenant calls the landlord, the landlord calls their property manager, the property manager wants to know whose insurance covers it, and meanwhile water sits in a ceiling grid for a day and a half spreading into the neighboring tenancy.
Authorize the mitigation immediately. Settle the split afterwards. The amount being argued over is almost always smaller than the additional damage a day of delay causes. We document thoroughly enough for whichever party ends up carrying it, and we can invoice separately by scope where the boundary is clear.
Who pays for what, broadly
| Element | Usually whose |
|---|---|
| Structure, roof, exterior walls, main plumbing | Landlord / building policy |
| Common areas | Landlord / building policy |
| Tenant improvements and fit-out | Tenant policy |
| Stock, inventory and equipment | Tenant policy |
| Business interruption | Tenant policy — often the largest single number |
| Damage to a neighboring tenancy | Depends on cause and liability |
The lease governs, and a triple-net lease shifts considerably more onto the tenant than a gross lease. Read the specific clause rather than assuming — ideally now, not during a loss.
Business interruption: the coverage people forget they have
Business interruption coverage pays lost income while you cannot trade, and it is frequently the largest element of a commercial water damage claim. It is also the one most often under-claimed, because nobody has the records ready.
What you will need:
- Revenue records for the equivalent period in prior years, to establish the baseline.
- A daily log of what was closed and for how long.
- Records of continuing expenses — rent, payroll, utilities — that ran during the closure.
- Any extra expense incurred to keep trading, such as temporary equipment or overtime, which is often separately covered.
- Documentation of the physical loss, which is what triggers the coverage in the first place.
Check your policy for the waiting period — many have a 48 or 72 hour deductible before coverage begins — and the period of restoration, which caps how long it pays.
How we keep you trading
Phased zone containment is the whole approach. Sealed poly walls across part of the floor, drying equipment on the wet side, and the rest of the shop open.
- Equipment placement and monitoring outside trading hours — overnight or before opening, as standard on retail and restaurant work.
- Ducting routed away from customer paths, cables run and taped so nothing is a trip hazard.
- Air scrubbers positioned to control odor rather than broadcast it toward the street.
- Equipment selection with noise in mind, relative to where customers actually sit.
- One project manager who knows your schedule and communicates before every visit.
See commercial water damage restoration and the Mt Diablo Boulevard commercial area page.
Food service: the health department gate
If you handle food, a Category 3 event in a preparation or storage area changes the timeline entirely. Contra Costa Environmental Health will typically be involved, a documented cleaning and sanitizing protocol is required, and reopening is gated on that documentation rather than on the drying being finished.
Grease-laden waste water from a kitchen drain is Category 3 by definition regardless of how it looks. We work these to the sanitizing standard from the first hour, because discovering the requirement halfway through means repeating parts of it. See sewage cleanup.
The five-minute prep that pays for itself
Do this at your next staff meeting
- Locate and label the water shutoff for your tenancy, and make sure closing staff know where it is. Most after-hours losses are discovered by whoever opens up.
- Locate the sprinkler riser control valve and establish who is authorized to close it.
- Know where the electrical panel is and which breakers cover which zones.
- Read the relevant lease clause on repair obligations and insurance.
- Check your business interruption coverage — the waiting period and the period of restoration.
- Get stock off the floor. Pallets or shelving, not cartons on a slab.
- Write the emergency contact list — landlord, property manager, insurer, restoration, plumber — and put it where staff can find it.
Frequently asked
Should I wait for my landlord before calling a restoration company?
No. Authorize the mitigation immediately and settle the responsibility split afterwards. The amount being argued over is almost always smaller than the additional damage a day of delay causes, and in a multi-tenant building that delay converts a one-tenancy job into a three-tenancy one. Notify the landlord in writing at the same time, with a timestamp, and let the documentation sort out the billing later.
Can my shop stay open during water damage restoration?
Usually at least partially. We phase the work by zone with sealed containment so the unaffected part keeps trading, and we do equipment placement and monitoring overnight or before opening as standard on retail and restaurant work. We will tell you honestly at the assessment which zones have to close and for roughly how long. The exception is Category 3 in a food preparation area.
What does business interruption insurance actually cover?
Lost income while you cannot trade, and it is frequently the largest element of a commercial water damage claim — and the most under-claimed, because nobody has the records ready. You will need revenue records for the equivalent prior period, a daily log of what was closed and for how long, continuing expenses that ran during the closure, and any extra expense incurred to keep trading. Check your waiting period and period of restoration.
What happens if a restaurant kitchen floods?
Grease-laden waste water is Category 3 regardless of appearance, so Contra Costa Environmental Health will typically be involved and reopening is gated on a documented cleaning and sanitizing protocol rather than on the drying being finished. We work these to the sanitizing standard from the first hour — containment, PPE, full removal of affected porous material, detergent cleaning then EPA-registered antimicrobial at full dwell time, documented throughout.