Builders' risk pricing is moving the way auto insurance did: sensors in, deductibles down
Insurer Shepherd now offers GCs water-damage deductibles cut by up to 50% on projects using Brickeye's real-time monitoring hardware. GCs using Procore, Autodesk, OpenSpace, or DroneDeploy may already qualify for differentiated pricing.
Auto insurance moved to telematics pricing about fifteen years ago. Install a sensor, prove you drive carefully, pay less. Drivers who actually drove well stopped subsidizing those who didn't.
Commercial construction insurance just announced its first credible version of the same move.
On June 25, Shepherd — a commercial insurance platform that underwrites builders' risk using a machine-learning model fed by live project data — announced a partnership with Brickeye, which makes IoT monitoring hardware for construction jobsites. Projects that deploy Brickeye's water-loss prevention and concrete monitoring systems can qualify for Shepherd's "Shepherd Savings" program: water-damage deductibles reduced by up to 50%, plus premium credits at renewal.
Why water damage is the target
Water damage is the primary driver of builders' risk claims. Brickeye's hardware installs on temporary water lines during construction, monitoring flow rates and pressure anomalies in real time. When sensors detect a problem, the system triggers an automated shutoff before a leak becomes a structural event. A separate module covers mass concrete pours — sensors track the temperature differential between core and surface, the main signal for potential thermal cracking in large foundation and slab pours.
Shepherd's position is that live sensor data is a better risk signal than an application form. A project with Brickeye installed and active has a materially different expected loss profile than a comparable project without it. Shepherd's CEO Justin Levine described the program as "behavior-based pricing" coming to commercial construction insurance — the underwriting model reflects the actual risk, not a paper description of it.
Who else already qualifies
The Brickeye partnership is not Shepherd's first behavior-based pricing mechanism. GCs and project owners who use Procore, Autodesk Construction Cloud, OpenSpace, or DroneDeploy already receive differentiated pricing at enrollment through Shepherd. Contractors with documented digital workflows and real project data get a better starting rate than those presenting a blank application. At renewal, a full year of usage data refines the model and can move pricing further.
The practical implication: if your team is already running any of those platforms, you're positioned for better pricing through Shepherd — but it's not automatic. You have to actively request a Shepherd quote through a broker before binding. Most GCs don't, because Shepherd isn't yet in the standard carrier mix most brokers present first.
The math a GC should run
For projects where water-damage deductibles run into the high six or low seven figures — hospitals, multifamily towers, hotels with complex temporary plumbing, data centers — a 50% reduction is real money. Brickeye's hardware and monitoring costs vary by project scale, so the relevant comparison is deductible reduction versus monitoring cost over the project duration.
Shepherd has issued more than 1,500 policies covering $400 billion in insured project value and has grown revenue sevenfold in two years. The data trail behind the pricing model is substantial for a carrier of its age. For GCs comparing quotes, that track record matters: insurers with thin loss history in a niche tend to reprice aggressively at renewal or exit the segment. Shepherd has been building this book long enough to have real actuarial data.
What this doesn't cover
The 50% deductible reduction applies to water-damage claims specifically, not all builders' risk exposures. Structural defects, equipment breakdown, and other loss categories price conventionally. Brickeye sensors require active oversight — someone on your team needs to own the alert dashboard and respond when it fires. Hardware that nobody monitors delivers less than it promises.
Shepherd underwrites through specialized brokers. If your current broker doesn't work with Shepherd, you'll need to add one or compare quotes separately.
Most commercial builders' risk carriers are not yet running behavior-based programs tied to monitoring hardware. Shepherd is the exception. That will change as Shepherd's loss data matures and other underwriters see the pattern — but today, this pricing is available from one carrier.
Two decisions before your next bind
On any project with significant water exposure, do two things before binding:
- Get a Shepherd quote. Bring documentation of your tech stack — Procore data, Autodesk usage, OpenSpace capture rate, or Brickeye deployment plans. Let the broker run the deductible comparison side by side with your current carrier.
- Model the monitoring cost against the deductible reduction. On projects where the math closes, the sensor budget earns its place in project overhead. On smaller jobs where it doesn't, skip it and revisit next time.
We covered how structural sensors that could have flagged the Surfside collapse now exist commercially in this piece on concrete monitoring. The monitoring infrastructure is reaching more of the jobsite, and insurance pricing is starting to reward it.
Forward this to the person on your team who's still arguing AI is overhyped.
Construction AI Brief covers the AI tools and business decisions that affect commercial construction teams three times a week. Subscribe at constructionaibrief.com.