Is It an Emergency? When to Call Out vs Wait

Three questions that decide whether it can wait

The noise, the mess and the time of night make everything feel urgent. A calmer test is to ask three things, in this order.

• Can I stop it? If turning a valve or switching something off stops the damage, you have bought time. If water keeps coming after the stopcock is shut, or you cannot find or turn the stopcock, you have not.
• Is anyone or anything at risk? Water near lights, sockets or the consumer unit, a sagging ceiling, sewage in the home, or a baby, an elderly person or someone unwell in a cold house all move the problem up a level.
• Will it be worse by morning? A drip into a bucket is the same drip at 8am. A slow leak into a ceiling void, or a frozen pipe that has not yet split, is not.

If the answers are yes, no and no, it can almost always wait for a booked visit. Any other combination is worth a call tonight.

Call someone now

These are the situations where waiting costs more than the call-out, either in damage or in risk to people:

• You smell gas. Open windows, turn the gas off at the meter if you can reach it safely, do not use switches, then leave and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. A plumber is not the first call. See what to do if you smell gas.
• A carbon monoxide alarm is sounding, or people feel headachy, dizzy or sick when the boiler runs. Open windows, turn the boiler off, get outside, call 0800 111 999, then seek medical advice. The signs of carbon monoxide from a boiler are easy to mistake for flu.
• Water is escaping and does not stop when the stopcock is shut, or you cannot shut it.
• Water is coming through a ceiling near a light fitting, or the ceiling is bulging.
• Sewage or dirty water is backing up into a bath, shower or floor drain.
• There is no heating in freezing weather and someone at home is elderly, very young, pregnant or unwell.

Same day or first thing tomorrow

These need fixing soon, but a night-time visit rarely changes the outcome if you do the containment step first:

• A leak you have stopped at an isolating valve or the stopcock. The damage has stopped; the repair can happen in daylight.
• A boiler that has broken down while the house is still reasonably warm and nobody at home is vulnerable. Try the front-panel reset once and check the pressure gauge first.
• A blocked toilet when there is a second one in the house. If it is the only toilet, it moves up a level.
• Hot water gone but heating still working, or the other way round. On a combi this is often the diverter valve, which is a daytime part.
• A boiler that keeps losing pressure but runs after a top-up at the filling loop.

Problems that can wait for a booked visit

Some faults are annoying but cause no damage and no risk, which makes them jobs for a booked plumber rather than an emergency call-out. Paying out-of-hours rates for them is rarely worth it with firms that charge a night premium:

• A dripping tap or shower head.
• A toilet that keeps running, once you have shut the isolating valve on its supply pipe.
• A slow-draining sink or bath that still drains.
• One cold radiator while the others heat.
• Knocking or humming pipes with no leak.

Our £60 call-out is the same at any hour, so the choice is about convenience rather than cost. With firms that charge a premium after hours, the same visit in daylight can cost noticeably less.

How to make it safe until someone arrives

Most plumbing problems can be taken from urgent to stable in a few minutes. Work through what applies:

• Shut the stopcock. It is usually under the kitchen sink, but in flats it can be in a riser cupboard or the hallway. How to turn off a stopcock covers stiff and hidden ones.
• Use local isolating valves where they exist. A small valve on the pipe to a toilet or tap turns a quarter turn with a flat screwdriver, so the slot sits across the pipe, and saves shutting off the whole house.
• If water is near electrics, switch off at the consumer unit, but only if you can reach it without standing in water.
• Once the stopcock is shut, turn the boiler or heating off, then open the hot and cold taps to drain the pipes.
• For a bulging ceiling, move furniture and put a bucket underneath before it gives way on its own.
• Take photographs and keep receipts. Your insurer will ask for both.

If the house has no water at all and you have not shut it off, check your water company’s website for supply problems in your postcode before calling a plumber. A street burst is theirs to fix.

Renting or living in a flat

Tenants should report the problem to the landlord or agent straight away, in writing, even if you also call someone out to make it safe. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords of most homes let for under seven years must keep the installations for water, sanitation, heating and hot water in repair and proper working order. Since 27 October 2025, social landlords in England have had to investigate emergency hazards and make the home safe within 24 hours under Awaab’s Law. Our guide to tenant rights in a plumbing emergency covers who pays.

In a block of flats, water arriving from above is often coming from a neighbour’s pipework, and the fix starts at their stopcock rather than yours. Knock on the door above before anything else.

When you do need someone tonight

Our 24-hour plumber service covers London and everywhere inside the M25 at any hour. The call-out is £60, the engineer makes the problem safe and finds the cause, and the repair price is agreed with you on site before any work starts. Gas work is carried out by Gas Safe registered engineers. If the water is coming from a pipe that has split, start with what to do about a burst pipe while you wait.