Since 1863, Bronbeek has been one of the Netherlands' most storied addresses. What began as the Koloniaal Militair Invalidenhuis, a refuge for soldiers returning from the Dutch East Indies, has become the Koninklijk Tehuis voor Oud-Militairen en Museum Bronbeek (KTOMMB): a working home and memorial site for veterans of the Dutch armed forces and the former KNIL (Royal Netherlands East Indies Army).

For the men who live here, Bronbeek is not a care facility in the clinical sense. It is their home, a place where they can live independently, surrounded by history, camaraderie, and quiet dignity, with care available when they need it. That combination of independence and vulnerability makes the building's water safety obligations especially weighty.

Managing a historic estate of this complexity is no small feat. Ageing pipe infrastructure, diverse building sections, and the heightened legionella risk that comes with an older water system all demanded a step-change in how water safety was managed. Paper-based records, periodic manual checks, and fragmented oversight were no longer adequate.

The Challenge

Rijksvastgoedbedrijf, the Dutch government's real estate and property management agency, is responsible for the building. They needed a systematic, auditable, and future-proof approach to water safety that could handle the full breadth of Dutch drinking water legislation: from the risk assessment and control plan (beheersplan) to monthly temperature checks, daily flushing tasks, semi-annual water sampling, and annual backflow valve inspections (keerklepcontroles).

The core problems were familiar to anyone managing a complex estate manually: tasks falling through the cracks, no single source of truth, difficulty demonstrating compliance during inspections, and a lack of early-warning visibility into temperature deviations that could signal legionella growth conditions.

For a building housing elderly veterans, a population with heightened vulnerability to respiratory illness, the stakes of getting this wrong were not abstract.

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"Bronbeek is more than a care location. It is a place where veterans can grow old with dignity, surrounded by history and fellowship. These residents deserve a living environment that is as safe and worry-free as possible.” - Gert Oussoren

The Solution

Working in partnership with FactoryLab, BriqSafe implemented a combined hardware and software solution that put the entire water safety programme at Bronbeek on a single digital platform, from first risk assessment through to every routine compliance task.

Clip'R IoT sensors were installed across the pipe network, providing continuous, automated monitoring of water temperatures and usage patterns. These sensors run 24/7, flagging deviations in real time so the team can respond before a risk develops into a problem, without relying on manual spot-checks to catch it first.

Alongside the sensor layer, BriqSafe's compliance platform digitised every element of the water safety dossier: the risk assessment, the control plan, periodic inspection schedules, sampling logs, and corrective action records. The property management team now has a live, end-to-end view of exactly where they stand at any moment.

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Key Features Implemented:

• Continuous IoT Monitoring – Clip'R sensors measure water temperature and detect pipe usage around the clock, removing the blind spots between manual checks.

• Full Digital Documentation – Risk assessment, beheersplan, annual backflow checks, and semi-annual water sampling — all in one place, always current.

• Automated Task Scheduling – Monthly temperature rounds, daily flushing tasks, and periodic inspections are scheduled, assigned, and tracked automatically.

• Threshold Alerts – Real-time alerts fire the moment a temperature reading approaches a compliance threshold — no spreadsheet audits required.

"With automation and data analysis we can continuously monitor water safety and save time, cost, and worry.”

Results

The pilot demonstrated what happens when automation and sensor data replace manual spot-checks and fragmented paperwork. Rijksvastgoedbedrijf now has the complete picture they need to manage water safety at Bronbeek with confidence.

• 24/7 – Continuous temperature monitoring replacing periodic manual checks

• A–Z – Full water safety dossier digitised, from risk assessment to daily flushing tasks.

• Real-time – Threshold alerts and live compliance dashboard for the property team

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Looking Forward

The Bronbeek pilot was designed from the outset to be more than a one-building proof of concept. The objective, shared by BriqSafe, Rijksvastgoedbedrijf, and FactoryLab, is to establish a scalable model for water safety management that can be replicated across the broader portfolio of government-owned heritage and residential properties.

The data gathered at Bronbeek is already informing how future installations are designed: which pipe segments to prioritise for sensing, how to tune alert thresholds for older infrastructure, and how to structure the compliance programme so property teams can manage it with minimal administrative overhead.

For the veterans of Bronbeek, the outcome is simpler: they can continue to live in the home they've earned, in a building managed with the care it deserves.