Who to hire for a burst pipe

Short answer

An emergency plumber, and before they arrive, the water off at the main stop tap. A burst pipe is one of the few household faults where what you do in the first two minutes changes what the repair costs by an order of magnitude.

Treat as urgentThis is one to act on now rather than book for next week.

When it is someone else

Calling the wrong trade costs an attendance fee to be told so. These are the cases where this problem belongs to someone other than a Plumber.

  • a builder or a restoration contractor

    water has been through a ceiling, a wall cavity or flooring. The plumber stops the water; drying out the structure and making good is a different trade and usually a different insurance line.

  • a water-damage cleaning contractor

    carpet or underlay has been soaked. Drying within a couple of days is what decides whether it is cleaned or replaced.

What to do before anyone arrives

  1. Turn the water off at the main stop tap — usually at the meter near the front boundary. Find it now if you have never looked; doing it for the first time in the dark with water coming through a ceiling is how people break the valve.
  2. If water is anywhere near lights, power points or a switchboard, turn the power off at the switchboard too.
  3. Photograph everything before you move it or mop it. Insurers pay on evidence, and the evidence disappears fast.
  4. Move what you can out of the water, and lift curtains and furniture skirts clear of wet carpet.
  5. Ring your insurer's claims line as well as the plumber. Many policies have a make-safe provision, and some have preferred contractors who are already authorised.

What to ask when you book

  • How long until you are here, and what is the after-hours rate?
  • Can you make safe tonight and do the permanent repair in hours?
  • Will you give me a written report of the cause? An insurer will ask for it, and 'burst flexible hose, failed at the crimp' is worth more to a claim than 'repaired leak'.

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

  • Where the pipe is. Under a slab is a different job from in a wall, which is a different job again from under the house.
  • Whether the burst is in copper, in older galvanised steel, or in a flexible braided hose — the last is a replacement, the first two can be a repair or the start of a re-pipe.
  • After-hours attendance.
  • Whether the run that burst is the only one of its age. One burst in old galvanised pipework is usually the first of several.

What you can do yourself

Is this licensed work?

Licensed plumbing work in every state and territory. An insurer assessing a water-damage claim will generally ask who did the repair, and unlicensed work is a straightforward reason to reduce or refuse a claim.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for a burst pipe
An emergency plumber, and before they arrive, the water off at the main stop tap. A burst pipe is one of the few household faults where what you do in the first two minutes changes what the repair costs by an order of magnitude.
Does home insurance cover a burst pipe?
Most home policies cover the damage the escaping water does, and many specifically exclude the cost of repairing the failed pipe itself. That distinction is worth reading in your own policy before you make the call, because it changes what you should ask the plumber to itemise.
What is the most common cause of a burst pipe in an Australian house?
Flexible braided hoses under sinks and basins, which have a service life and are routinely left in place well past it. They fail at the crimp, at full mains pressure, and they do it whether or not anyone is home. If yours have no date on them and you have never replaced them, that is the cheapest preventive plumbing you will ever buy.

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Businesses that say they take emergency callouts

Who to hire for

General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.