Emergency Plumber Sydney: Read This Before You Call Anyone

If water is running where it shouldn’t, a drain is backing up, or you can smell gas, you need two things fast: to stop the damage in the next five minutes, and a plumber who will tell you the price before they touch anything. This page gives you both. It is written by a Sydney plumber with 20 years on the tools, and it is the checklist we use ourselves.

Emergency now? Skip the reading: 1300 301 354 or book online. You get an arrival window on the phone and a fixed price before any work starts. $0 call-out fee.

Stop the damage before we arrive

1. Turn the water off at the meter. The meter is usually near the front boundary, in a small box or beside the driveway. Turn the tap clockwise until it stops. If it is stiff, use a rag for grip, never a spanner on a plastic tap.
2. Open the lowest tap in the house (a laundry or garden tap) to drain the pipes and take the pressure off the leak.
3. Keep away from the switchboard and anything electrical near the water. If water is dripping through a light fitting, switch that circuit off at the board only if the board itself is dry and you can reach it safely. If not, leave it and tell us when you call.
4. If you smell gas: no switches, no lighters, open the windows, turn the gas off at the meter, get everyone outside, then call. See our gas page for the full 60-second drill.
5. Take three photos of the leak, the meter reading and the damage. They help us quote it over the phone and they help you with any insurance claim.

7 signs it can’t wait till 9am

1. Water is still coming after you turned the meter off. That means a burst on the mains side or a failed meter tap, and every hour is more damage.
2. Sewage is coming up through a floor waste, shower or toilet. It is a health hazard, and it does not clear itself.
3. You can smell gas, hear a hiss, or a gas appliance’s flame has turned yellow or orange.
4. Water is dripping through a ceiling or a light fitting.
5. Your only toilet will not flush and there is no second bathroom.
6. A hot water unit is leaking from the tank body (not the relief valve) and you cannot isolate it.
7. A pipe has burst inside a wall and you can hear water running with every tap closed.

What can usually wait till morning at the normal rate: a dripping tap, a slow (not blocked) drain, a toilet that runs but still flushes, a hot water unit that is warm but not hot, and a relief valve drip from the hot water unit. If you are not sure, ring us and we will tell you honestly which one you have. We do not send a plumber at night to a job that can wait, and we will say so.

The callout fee trap, explained

Most emergency plumbing complaints in Sydney come from one thing: a small “callout” or “attendance” fee that gets you a plumber at the door, followed by a price you only hear once they are standing in your kitchen at 11pm. By then you are wet, tired and not in a position to say no.

Our emergency fee, revealed: $0 call-out fee, day or night. When we arrive we look at the job and give you a fixed price in writing before any work starts. If you say no, you owe nothing and we leave. The after-hours price is higher than the daytime price, because the plumber is being paid after-hours rates, and we tell you that on the phone before we dispatch anyone. There is no surprise bill.

9 ways to tell a plumber is about to overcharge you

1. They will not give you any price range on the phone, “until we see it”.
2. The price is quoted per hour with no estimate of hours.
3. The price is only given verbally, never in writing or on the phone screen.
4. They start work before you have agreed a price.
5. They find three other “urgent” problems within the first ten minutes.
6. They push a full replacement when you asked about a repair, with no explanation of why the repair will not hold.
7. Payment is demanded in full, in cash, before the water is back on.
8. They cannot tell you their licence number when asked.
9. The van, the invoice and the website all carry different business names.

The question that stops it: “What is the total price to fix this, in writing, before you start?” A licensed plumber who does this every day answers without hesitation. If the answer is a shrug, ring someone else.

The 3 questions to ask any plumber first

1. “What is your NSW licence number?” Check it on the NSW Fair Trading licence check while you are still on the phone. Ours is 339748C.
2. “Is the price fixed before you start, and is there a call-out fee?” The right answer is yes and no, in that order.
3. “What is your arrival window, and what happens if you miss it?” A real answer sounds like “between 7 and 8, and we will ring you if that changes.” A vague “as soon as we can” usually means you are third in the queue.

Is your plumber even licensed? What “licensed” really means in NSW

In NSW, plumbing, drainage and gas fitting work must be done by a licence holder, and the business that quotes you must hold a contractor licence. The licence number should appear on the quote and the invoice. An unlicensed job can void your home insurance, cannot be certified, and leaves you with no one to hold to a warranty. It takes 30 seconds to check a licence online, and any plumber who objects to you checking has told you something.

Who pays for water damage?

Three parties can be involved: you, your landlord if you rent, and your insurer. As a rule of thumb, sudden and unforeseen events like a burst pipe are what home and contents policies are written for, while damage from a slow leak you knew about often is not. The plumbing repair itself is usually your cost (or the landlord’s), and the resulting damage to floors, walls and contents is the insurance question. Photograph everything, keep the failed part, and ask your insurer before you throw anything out. If you rent, NSW tenancy law treats a burst water service, a blocked or broken toilet, a serious roof or gas leak and a failed hot water service as urgent repairs that the landlord must fix promptly; if you cannot reach the landlord, a tenant can arrange urgent repairs up to a set amount and be reimbursed. Check the current figure with NSW Fair Trading.

Why cheap plumbers cost more

The cheapest emergency price on the phone is usually a callout fee, not a repair price. The cheapest repair is usually a temporary one: a clamp on a burst pipe, a bottle of acid down a drain, a valve swapped without finding out why it failed. You pay twice, once now and once when it fails again, and the second time it is often worse. A fixed price for a proper repair with a warranty is nearly always the cheaper number over 12 months.

What happens when you call us

1. You tell us what is happening. We tell you how to make it safe right now, and whether it needs someone tonight or can wait for the day rate.
2. We give you an arrival window and the after-hours rate if it applies.
3. The plumber arrives, finds the fault, and gives you a fixed price in writing before starting.
4. You say yes or no. Yes, and we fix it then and there in most cases; the van carries the common parts. No, and you owe nothing.
5. You get an invoice with the licence number and the warranty on it.

Call now, 24 hours, 7 days: 1300 301 354 or book online. You get an arrival window on the phone and a fixed price before any work starts. $0 call-out fee.

Who you are dealing with

All Day Plumbing & Maintenance Pty Ltd is a Sydney plumbing company based in Seven Hills, run by a licensed plumber with 20 years on the tools. NSW Contractor Licence 339748C. Fully insured. Every job comes with an upfront price before we start, a $0 call-out fee and a warranty on the work. You can check any NSW plumbing licence, ours included, on the NSW Fair Trading licence check (search “verify licence NSW”).