Emergency plumber, Vancouver — 24/7
Shut the water off first.
Before anything elseThe main shut-off is usually in the basement, crawlspace or garage, on the wall facing the street. A lever turns a quarter turn so it sits across the pipe. A round handle turns clockwise until it stops.
Look under the kitchen sink, behind the toilet, or in the laundry closet. If you can’t find one or it won’t close, call your concierge or building manager — they can shut off the riser for your line, and that’s faster than anything else available to you.
Don’t touch any switch. Leave the building. Call FortisBC at 1-800-663-9911 from outside. Then call us. If your CO alarm is sounding: leave the building and call 911 from outside. Don’t investigate.
What’s happening right now?
We answer. Actually answer.
Any hour, any day, including holidays. When you call you get a person who can tell you what to do right now and give you a real arrival window — not “sometime this evening.”
- 1We ask whether the water is off, and help you shut it off if it isn’t. This matters more than how fast we arrive.
- 2We ask what’s happening, where, and whether it’s a house or a condo.
- 3We tell you the call-out fee and any after-hours rate before we dispatch.
- 4We give you an arrival window.
- 5If it’s something that can safely wait until morning, we say so.
What we handle at 3am
Burst or leaking pipes — including frozen-pipe damage during a cold snap. A pipe that froze and split often doesn’t leak until it thaws, so the damage frequently appears after the cold weather.
No hot water — tank failures, pilot and ignition faults, leaking tanks. If the tank is leaking from the body, shut the cold inlet valve at the top and turn off the gas or the breaker.
Blocked or backing-up drains — including sewage backup. More than one fixture backing up means the main line.
Overflowing or backing-up toilets — a plunger, a few firm attempts. Then stop; hard repeated plunging on a fully blocked line can crack the bowl.
Suite-to-suite leaks in condos — water through a ceiling from the unit above.
Gas leaks and gas appliance faults — after you’ve left the building and called FortisBC.
Failed sump pumps during heavy rain — check the breaker first; a tripped breaker is the most common cause.
Flooding from failed perimeter drains — shutting off your water won’t help, because it isn’t your water.
No heat in freezing weather.
Can it wait until morning?
Our rate is the same at 2am as it is at 2pm — $169/hr, no call-out fee, no after-hours premium. So waiting won’t save you anything. We’re saying it anyway, because some things genuinely can wait and you should know which.
Call and describe it either way. We’ll tell you which situation you’re in, and if it can wait we’ll book you in rather than dispatch.
What it costs
No after-hours rate. The hourly figure is the same at 3am on a holiday as it is on a Tuesday afternoon. You hear the number on the phone before we dispatch, and you get the repair price in writing before we start work.
Nobody should be making a financial decision at 2am without knowing the number.
See our full pricing and policiesWhile you wait
Seven things worth doing between the call and the knock.
If you haven’t already. The main shut-off first; the fixture stop if that’s all you can reach.
Your insurer will want it, and “we cleaned up first” is a difficult position to claim from. A short video as well as stills.
Lift things off the floor, get furniture off wet carpet, move anything absorbent — books, boxes, fabric — out of the water.
If water is near outlets or the panel and you can reach the breaker safely, shut off the affected circuits.
Contain what you can.
We’d rather see it undisturbed, and a saturated ceiling can come down on you.
They may need to shut off the riser or notify neighbours, and the timing of that notification matters later.
For your insurance claim
Sudden accidental water damage is generally covered. Gradual failure of a known problem often isn’t. That distinction is why documentation matters from the first hour.
We provide a written report with photographs as standard, because it’s what an insurer will ask for and because in a strata it’s what determines who pays.
In a condo or strata building
Towers have their own order of operations. This is ours.
Tell the concierge or building manager first. They can shut off the riser serving your line, which is the fastest action available in a tower.
Then call us. We arrive knowing how buildings work — elevator booking, corridor protection, noise bylaw hours.
We trace the source rather than opening the nearest ceiling. Water almost never originates directly above the wet patch; it tracks along joists and emerges metres from the failure.
We document it in writing. In a strata, that report is what settles the who-pays question with evidence instead of argument.
Where we come from
Downtown Vancouver. Serving Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and New Westminster.
Being based downtown rather than in the suburbs is why our response into the core is what it is — and we’ll tell you the honest window for your address on the call.
Common questions
Yes. A licensed technician is dispatched, rather than scheduled for the morning.
There isn’t one. The rate is the same as any other hour — $169 an hour, no call-out fee, no premium for nights, weekends or holidays.
60 minutes to most of downtown Vancouver, and 90 minutes across the rest of our service area. You get the specific window for your address on the call.
Yes, and we’d rather do that first. Stopping the water matters more than how fast we arrive.
Yes. Don’t try to clear it yourself — it is a health hazard, and it usually means a blockage in the main line.
Tell your building manager immediately, then call us. We trace and document the source, which is what your strata and both insurers will need.
Yes. We’ll tell you honestly whether it can wait, and that costs you nothing.
