Burst pipe under a kitchen floor, hot water unit dumping water through a ceiling, sewer backed up through a ground-floor laundry, or a strong gas smell at the meter? we handle urgent plumbing and gas issues across Melbourne's east, south-east, inner-east and bayside suburbs during business hours. For a major active flood, a strong gas smell or sewer overflow happening right now, the right first call is 000 or your gas distributor's emergency line — they make the property safe. Prime Plumbing & Gasfitting then handles the licensed repair, diagnosis and Compliance Certificate the same day.
Plumbing work in Victoria is regulated. An unlicensed handyman repair on a burst pipe voids your home insurance claim — the very repair that gets you back on water can cost you the insurance payout for the water damage. Gas work is more strict again: only a BPC-licensed Type A gasfitter can legally test, diagnose or repair gas leaks, and DIY attempts can be prosecuted by Energy Safe Victoria. Our licence number appears on every quote, invoice and Compliance Certificate — your insurer, conveyancer or strata committee can verify the work was done by an authorised tradesperson. For Melbourne homeowners selling a property, recent unlicensed plumbing or gas work shows up at the section-32 stage and complicates settlement.
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Prime Plumbing adheres to AS/NZS 5601 when installing gas appliances, covering clearances, ventilation and approved components.
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Every installation must be certified, and homeowners should keep the certificate for future insurance and warranty needs.
When you call we first triage — is the property safe right now, is water still flowing, is gas still on, are people inside. If it is genuinely a 000-grade emergency we tell you straight away and direct you to the right first call. Otherwise we book the earliest available Melbourne appointment and confirm a fixed-price quote on site.
On arrival the first job is to make the property safe — isolate the failing line at the closest valve, contain the water spread, secure the area. Then diagnosis: where exactly is the failure, can it be repaired in place, does anything else need attention while access is open. For gas leak calls, we isolate at the meter and run a pressure-drop test before opening anything.
Repair scope is quoted in writing on site. The homeowner approves before any work continues. Where insurance is involved, we provide the quote, photos and diagnosis notes formatted for the insurer's claims team — many Melbourne insurance claims fail because the plumber's paperwork was incomplete, so we make the documentation part of the job.
Repair is completed to the relevant standard — AS/NZS 3500 for water, AS/NZS 5601 for gas, AS/NZS 3500.2 for sewer and stormwater. Where the original failure exposed adjacent pipework also at risk, we report the finding so you can make an informed decision about preventive replacement during the same visit while the access is open.
For any repair work above the Compliance Certificate threshold, the certificate is lodged the same day. For insurance claims, Prime Plumbing & Gasfitting provides photos, diagnosis notes, the certificate and the receipt as a single PDF pack — what most Melbourne insurers ask for, supplied without the homeowner having to chase follow-up paperwork.
An active flood, a sewer line overflowing inside the property, a strong gas smell, water spraying from a burst pipe that has not been isolated, a hot water unit leaking onto a floor below, or any failure that risks personal safety or significant property damage. A slow leak, a single blocked drain that is not overflowing, or a non-leaking but failed hot water unit can usually wait for the earliest scheduled appointment.
Isolate water at the boundary stopcock — the meter at the property line, usually a quarter-turn brass lever. Once flow stops, you have time to plan. Take photos for your insurance, mop up what you can to limit damage to floors and below-floor cavities, then call Prime Plumbing & Gasfitting during business hours. If electrical fittings are wet, switch off mains power before standing in any water.
Only a BPC-licensed Type A gasfitter can legally test, diagnose or repair gas leaks in Victoria. Prime Plumbing & Gasfitting holds a current Type A licence — the licence number appears on every quote, invoice and Certificate of Compliance. The certificate is what insurers, conveyancers and Energy Safe Victoria recognise as proof the work meets Australian standards.
Evacuate the property and leave doors open as you go. If safe, turn off the gas at the meter — the quarter-turn lever perpendicular to the pipe means off. Do not operate electrical switches and do not use your phone inside the property. From a safe location, call 000 if the smell is strong, then call Prime Plumbing & Gasfitting during business hours for the licensed repair and Certificate of Compliance.
No — Prime Plumbing & Gasfitting is a small team operating during business hours. For a major active flood, strong gas smell or sewer overflow happening right now, call 000 or your gas distributor's emergency line first — they will make the property safe. Then call Prime Plumbing & Gasfitting during business hours for the licensed repair and Compliance Certificate. Many Melbourne plumbing competitors advertise after-hours coverage; honest framing matters more to us than the marketing claim.
Yes — drain machine work and CCTV inspection across Melbourne properties. Most blocked drain calls trace to tree-root intrusion at clay-pipe joints (common in older inner-east homes), grease build-up at kitchen pipework, or stormwater pit overflow during storm events. After clearing we run CCTV to identify whether the line needs spot repair or partial reline — trying to give a long-term answer rather than a temporary clear-and-go.
Not always — only if water is actively flowing or pressurised at a fault. For most calls (no hot water, slow leak, blocked drain not overflowing), the system can stay on. If you are not sure where your boundary stopcock is, find it now — locating it during a non-emergency takes a couple of minutes; locating it while water is flooding is much harder.
It depends on the day, the existing booking schedule, and where in Melbourne the property is. We do not publish a guaranteed response window because we won't make a promise we can't honestly keep. On the call we will give you a real-time estimate and book accordingly. If we cannot get to a property soon enough we will say so and recommend an alternative.
