Terms

By using this website or sending a request through it, you agree to the terms below. They are written to be read quickly, including by someone in the middle of an emergency.

What Emergency Plumber Syracuse does

This is a referral service for plumbing emergencies in Syracuse and the surrounding Onondaga County area: burst and frozen pipes, water heaters that leak or have stopped heating, and sewage backups and toilets that overflow. Homeowners, renters and landlords send us a request, and we pass each one to a licensed, insured plumber who covers that town. Making that connection is the whole of our service.

This service is not a plumbing contractor. It has no plumbers of its own, sends nobody to a property, turns off no water, performs no repairs and files no permits. The plumber you are connected with performs the work, carries whatever license and insurance it needs, names their own price and enters into their own agreement with you. When this site says licensed or insured, it is describing that plumber, never this service.

No promise about timing

Since we dispatch no one, we cannot and do not promise how soon a request is read, how soon a plumber gets in touch, or how soon anyone reaches the property. No page on this site makes such a promise. The site also has no phone number yet, and a web form is no substitute for emergency services. If you smell gas, get out of the building and phone National Grid or 911 once you are outside. If someone is hurt, or live electrical equipment is wet and you cannot stay away from it, phone 911.

Plumbing licenses in this county

Onondaga County's Water Environment Protection department says plumbers working here have to be licensed and registered with Plumbing Control, renew both annually, and satisfy the insurance rules of the county Examining Board of Plumbers. WEP also keeps a public master list of businesses run by licensed master plumbers, and states that the county does not recommend or endorse any of them. You are free to check a plumber against it before any work begins.

Emergency permits and inspection

According to Onondaga County Plumbing Control, emergency plumbing may start before a permit is issued, the permit must follow on the first business day afterwards, and the work may not be covered up until it has been inspected. Filing that permit is for the plumber to do. An emergency repair left with the wall, ceiling or trench open is usually waiting for exactly that inspection.

Insurance is between you and your insurer

We sell no insurance, handle no claims, do not negotiate with insurers for you, and do not tell anyone whether a loss is covered. That turns on your policy's wording and your insurer's decision. When a page summarizes the New York State Department of Financial Services' advice on what to do after a loss, or the wording of the standard ISO homeowners form, it is passing on a published source as general information. Settle a claim with your insurer, your policy documents and, if you decide to hire one, a public adjuster licensed in New York.

No prices on this site

Nothing here is a quote, an estimate or a rate. The plumber sets the price. It is worth asking the plumber to show the temporary emergency work separately from any permanent repair on the invoice, and to hold on to every receipt, because an insurer and the county each treat those two things differently.

The $100 credit

The terms shown next to the request form and on the confirmation page govern the $100 credit wherever it appears. It is paid by us, not by the plumber. It is not a discount for emergencies or for after hours work, and the plumber's price stays the same.

Agencies and utilities we mention

We have no connection with the City of Syracuse, Onondaga County, the Onondaga County Water Authority, any town or village, National Grid, or any state or federal agency. When a page describes what one of them does, their own published material is the authority, and their contact details and rules may change. Statistics on these pages, including NOAA climate normals for Syracuse Hancock International Airport and US Census Bureau housing estimates, are given as the source publishes them and describe no individual property.

Information, not advice

The pages on this site explain first steps in a plumbing emergency and the local rules around one. They are general information and not legal, insurance or engineering advice, and they are no replacement for a plumber seeing the property. If any step described here would be unsafe where you are, skip it.

Where our responsibility ends

We choose the plumbers we refer with care. Even so, the quality, timing and cost of the work are matters between you and the plumber. As far as the law permits, we accept no liability for a plumber's acts or omissions, for loss caused by work we did not do, for any delay in reading or passing on a request, or for choices you make on the strength of general information published here. These terms do not take away any right that the law says cannot be taken away.

Fair use of the form

Send requests only about a property you own, rent, manage or live in. Do not enter someone else's details without their agreement, submit requests by script, or try to disrupt the site.

Law and updates

New York State law governs these terms. They may be revised from time to time, and a request is covered by the version published here on the day it was sent.