Waterproofing failures are often only discovered after water has already penetrated a structure and caused visible damage. This makes repairs more disruptive and costly, and can reduce the reliability and service life of buildings or infrastructure assets that depend on effective waterproofing. There is a clear need for solutions that can detect leaks earlier and provide actionable information before damage escalates.

The proposed solution is a smart waterproofing system in which leak-detection capability is integrated directly into the waterproofing layer or assembly. The approach will combine physical waterproofing performance with sensors or monitoring elements able to identify early water ingress and trigger timely alerts.

The innovation lies in moving leak detection from a reactive inspection process to an integrated, proactive system that can monitor the condition of waterproofing over time. This should enable earlier intervention, reduce uncertainty about leak sources, and support more efficient maintenance of waterproofed assets.

The consortium will define the functional and technical requirements for a smart waterproofing system and identify the most relevant leak-detection scenarios. It will design and develop an integrated system architecture combining waterproofing functionality with sensing, data collection and alerting capabilities.

Core work will include prototyping the smart waterproofing components, developing methods to detect and localise early water ingress, and testing the system under relevant conditions. The project will also assess installation, reliability and usability aspects to support future deployment in real construction or infrastructure applications.

• DIMING d.o.o. — Industrial coordinator (project coordinator)
• RISE — Testing organisation
• Nites — Digital provider