The first few minutes
If you smell gas
NSW's advice: leave the building and call 000 for NSW Fire and Rescue. If it's safe, turn the gas off at the meter or cylinder, switch off appliances and pilot lights, and open doors and windows. Put out any flame. Then call a licensed gasfitter and your gas supplier, whose number is on your gas bill.
If water is pouring out
Close the meter tap. The meter itself belongs to Sydney Water, but you can turn the tap to stop the flow. Switch off an electric hot water system if the leak is near it.
If sewage is overflowing
Stay clear of it. If it's coming from a maintenance hole or anywhere past your boundary, report it on Sydney Water's 24/7 faults line. If it's only inside your fence and only when you run water, stop using water and call a drain specialist.
If nothing comes out at all on a frosty morning
The pipes may be frozen rather than burst. Sydney Water says to let them thaw as the day warms up and never to use boiling water, which can crack them.
Sydney emergencies, by area and building
Frost in the west and south-west
Bankstown Airport averages 7.4 days a year at 2°C or colder, and Camden Airport 39.9, with a record low there of -6.0°C. Near the city, Observatory Hill averaged none. Insulating exposed pipes and the meter before a cold snap is Sydney Water's own advice.
Strata: you can call, then claim
If you hire a plumber for an emergency caused by something the owners corporation is responsible for, such as plumbing in a boundary wall, NSW says you may be eligible for a refund. Photograph the damage and get the plumber's written description of the problem and the fix.
Rain-driven sewer overflows
In heavy rain, stormwater can overload Sydney Water's wastewater pipes and push sewage onto private land, sometimes inside homes. That's a Sydney Water problem first, not a reason to pay for an urgent clear.
What can usually wait for business hours
A dripping tap, a toilet that keeps running, or a single slow drain that still empties can normally wait. Turn off the stop tap to that toilet or fixture and it will hold until a normal booking, which gives you time to check the plumber's licence and get a written quote.
The rules don't switch off at night
NSW lets emergency work start without the Notice of Work an ordinary job needs. Everything else still applies: the person contracting for the job needs an NSW contractor licence, their name and licence number must appear in their ads, and you can look it up on the NSW Public Register before you say yes. Ask for the Certificate of Compliance once the work is finished.
Warning signs on an urgent Sydney call-out
- A big job pressed on you there and then. NSW banned two plumbing businesses in June 2026 after finding excessive quotes, gross overcharging and misrepresented urgency.
- A brand with only a friendly first name and no licence number. In August 2025 Building Commission NSW suspended a company that traded under several such names, over possible overcharging for emergency plumbing.
- Call-out offers nobody can check. NSW found false call-out fee offers from a business whose licence it cancelled in February 2026.
- An invoice from a different business to the one you rang.
What we would do
Stop the water or get clear of the gas first; the plumber can wait while you do it. If the trouble is in the street or the whole block, ring Sydney Water before anyone else. In a unit, tell the strata manager as well, and keep photos and the plumber's notes in case the owners corporation should pay. Before agreeing to anything big at night, ask for the price in writing. If it can safely wait until morning, it usually should.