Commercial Plumbing Emergencies: Keep Trading
Make it safe, protect stock, keep trading, and document everything for your landlord and insurer.
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THE SHORT ANSWER
In short
In a commercial or retail lease, the lease decides who repairs what. NSW Small Business Commission guidance is that tenants are generally responsible for non-structural repairs and landlords for structural ones, but leases vary. In an emergency: isolate the water, protect stock, document everything and notify your landlord in writing and your insurer the same day. Retail tenants may get a rent reduction for any part of the shop that cannot be used. We attend in 30 minutes, guaranteed, and work to get you open again.
YOUR LEASE
Who repairs what under your lease
- Tenants are generally responsible for non-structural repairs, such as internal fixtures, and landlords for structural repairs, but lease terms vary (NSW Government).
- Emergency repairs may be needed before the landlord can approve them. Tell the landlord in writing as soon as possible, describing the damage and the repair needed: the lease usually sets out the steps you must follow to claim costs back.
- Leases usually say you must keep the premises and equipment in good repair, but often do not say who replaces landlord-supplied equipment, such as a hot water unit, when it breaks down and cannot be repaired. Check yours before it fails (NSW Small Business Commission).
- A tenant is not usually responsible for latent or inherent defects in the building, such as a pipe that was badly installed when the building went up.
- If you write to the landlord asking them to fix something that is their responsibility and they do not act as soon as possible, the Commission says you are entitled to compensation. If you cannot use the premises at all, you do not have to pay rent until they are repaired, and you may be able to end the lease.
- Retail leases: under section 36 of the Retail Leases Act 1994, rent and outgoings reduce in proportion to the part of the shop that cannot be used or reached because of damage, for as long as that lasts. Under section 34, a landlord’s unreasonable action that substantially affects trading can mean compensation, but a reasonable emergency response does not (NSW Government).
- Your stock and equipment are usually yours to insure: a landlord does not have to compensate you for damage to them unless the lease says so.
- The NSW Small Business Commission offers low-cost mediation for leasing disputes on 1300 795 534.
General information only, not legal or insurance advice: your lease, by-laws or policy decide. Checked 1 November 2026.
COMMON SITUATIONS
Who usually pays in common commercial emergencies
| What happened | Usually responsible | Check |
|---|---|---|
| A tap or pipe bursts in your kitchen or bathroom fit-out | The tenant | The repairs and maintenance clause |
| A riser, stack or main inside the building leaks into your tenancy | The landlord | Whether the lease calls shared services structural |
| The landlord-supplied hot water unit fails beyond repair | Unclear in many leases | Who replaces landlord equipment |
| Your grease arrestor overflows | Usually the tenant whose business uses it | The lease and any trade waste obligations it passes on |
| A box gutter overflows into the shop in a storm | Usually the landlord, or the owners corporation in strata | Roof and stormwater are building elements |
| Sewage overflows from the public sewer in the street | Sydney Water | Call 13 20 90 |
| The leak comes from the tenancy above | Whoever is responsible for the source | Building management can isolate the floor above |
From managing the lease (NSW Small Business Commission) and wastewater blockages (Sydney Water).
MAKE SAFE
Make safe and limit the damage
- Isolate the water at the meter or the floor’s stopcock.
- Power off near the water if it is safe to do so.
- Lift stock and equipment off the floor and cover it.
- Photograph and video everything before clean-up.
- Notify your landlord or managing agent in writing, and your insurer, the same day.
- If water is coming from above, call building management: it may be another tenancy, a riser or the roof, and they hold the keys and the isolation points.
KEEP TRADING
Getting you open again
- After-hours attendance, so repairs are done before you open
- Temporary bypasses so the rest of the site keeps water
- Grease trap and backflow issues handled with the compliance paperwork
- One invoice per site, ready for your landlord or insurer
Most closures after a plumbing failure are about toilets, hot water and a working kitchen. When the full repair needs parts or the landlord’s approval, we make it safe and restore what you need to trade, then come back for the permanent fix at a time that suits you, with a fixed price agreed first.
RECORDS
Records to keep for your landlord and insurer
- The signed lease, and for retail, the lease disclosure statement
- The condition report and the photos you took at the start of the lease
- Dated notes of every conversation with the landlord, agent or building manager
- Photos and video of the damage, and of any stock thrown out
- Evidence of the disruption, such as sales figures or cancelled bookings for the days affected
- The plumber’s report, invoice and any compliance certificate
Record keeping as recommended by the NSW Small Business Commission.
BEFORE IT HAPPENS
Questions to settle with your landlord now
- Who is our after-hours contact for the building, and who is theirs?
- Which plumber should we call in an emergency, and up to what amount can we approve work without asking?
- Where are our tenancy’s stopcock, the building’s main isolation and the hot water isolation valve?
- Who maintains, and who replaces, the hot water unit, the grease arrestor and any backflow device?
- Does the lease treat risers, stacks and shared drains as structural?
- Whose insurance covers water damage to the fit-out, and does ours include business interruption?
Facilities and building managers: our first 30 minutes of a commercial leak guide and emergency procedure for buildings turn these answers into a plan staff can follow.
FROM OUR RECORDS
What commercial emergencies usually are
Since 2019 we have completed 803 jobs for commercial customers, plus 167 for hospitality venues. The causes we recorded most often for commercial sites were water leak (46), worn tap washer or cartridge (21), burst water pipe (20), grease and fat build-up in the line (16) and faulty toilet cistern parts (11).
Half of our 2,920 priced general plumbing jobs for commercial and strata customers since 2019 cost between $332 and $1,162, including GST, with a median of $509. Half of our 39 priced leak detection jobs for commercial and strata customers since 2019 cost between $276 and $1,595, including GST, with a median of $724.
We carry $20 million public liability, are Cm3 prequalified, answer every enquiry within 15 minutes, and are onsite in 30 minutes, guaranteed, any hour, for urgent jobs.
PAPERWORK
What we give you
- Your invoice, matching the approved price
- A cause-of-loss report
- Photos before and after
- Compliance certificates where the work needs them
Our photos and written report record what we found and where the fault is. They are evidence: who pays is decided by the lease, the strata by-laws or the policy, not by our report.
COMMERCIAL
Set up a commercial emergency contact
Give us your site details once, so we can attend fast and bill the right entity.
On the day
- Onsite in 30 minutes, guaranteed
- Make safe, then a fixed price
- Report and photos for your landlord and insurer
QUESTIONS
Commercial emergency questions
MORE HELP
Emergency help
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