Emergency Repairs

Our office is open Monday to Friday 8:30am - 5:00pm and Saturday's 8:30am to 12:00pm.
We can be contacted on (08) 9192 2000.

EMERGENCY REPAIRS

• Life threatening emergency - call 000 for fire, police and ambulance.
• Reporting noise or disturbance issues – call Broome Police 9194 0200.
• Storm or flood damage - Call SES 132 500 or 0417 937 073 
• Electrical Faults and power outages – contact Horizon Power 132 351
• Water supply failure - Call Water Corporation 131 375
• Licensed Locksmith – Call North West Locksmith 9192 7716 or email [email protected]

An emergency is defined as something that may harm someone, or may cause further significant damage to the property if left unattended. During business hours you must always contact the Property Manager however if you are faced with an emergency situation after hours, listed below is information on items that are classified as an emergency situation and how to deal with that emergency without the assistance from your Property Manager.
 
There are times when a tenant can arrange essential service repairs outside business hours.  If our office is closed and a tenant is not able to contact the Agency for an urgent repair, a tenant can arrange for the repairs to be carried out by a suitably-qualified repairer to the minimum extent necessary.  Property managers are often the third wheel between tradespeople and tenant, relaying messages and coordinating times and troubleshooting when the parties could be communicating directly with each other for a faster and more efficient outcome. This is even more difficult when on weekends not all tradespeople in Broome are available or immediately contactable. It is for this reason why we do not provide an exact list of tradespeople for after-hours contacts. If it is an essential service then you can contact a suitably-qualified repairer should the need arise outside office hours. Refer to Dept of Mines Industry Regulation and Safety.

BREAK IN & DAMAGE TO GLASS - contact the Police and report the break in. The Police will give to you a Police Report number. You must report this Police Report Number to First National Real Estate Broome the next working day. Without obtaining the police report number, the cost of replacing the glass will be invoiced to you. If there is any other damage to the property besides glass damage, this must be reported to First National Real Estate Broome the next working day.

HOT WATER SYSTEM STOPS WORKING - have you arranged for your gas and/or electricity to be connected?

Electric hot water system

• Have you checked the fuse in the metre box? This may have been turned off by mistake.
• Have you checked that the water tap on the hot water system itself is turned on?

Gas hot water system

• Have you checked to see if the pilot light has gone out? Most units are easily relit, follow the instructions normally located on the inside of the system
• Is the gas valve turned on? This is normally a yellow handle and needs to be in line with the pipes
• Have you checked that the water tap on the hot water system itself is turned on?
• If caused by the pilot light the charge is incurred to the tenant

NO ELECTRICITY

• Have you checked your safety switches? There may have been a power overload, meaning the safety switch would have been activated which now needs resetting. Just flick this switch back on
• If renting a unit, double check with your neighbour to see if their power is also disconnected. It may be the buildings body corporate that needs to be contacted
• There may be a fault in the street. Contact Horizon Power on 13 23 51 to find out if there are any faults in your area
• If none of the above steps have resolved the issue, we recommend an appliance check as detailed below. (If an electrician is sent and the fault is due to your appliance you will be invoiced for the costs of the call-out)

HOW TO DO AN APPLIANCE CHECK

1. Unplug all appliances within the property, then reset the safety switch within your property’s metre box.
2. If the safety switch trips or blows again with nothing plugged in, then contact your Property Manager. If the switch turns then back on then follow the next steps.
3. Once you have unplugged all of your appliances and have reset the safety switch, start plugging in your appliances one by one. For example: plug in your toaster and check the safety switch has not clicked off. If the safety switch does click off you know that there is a fault with your toaster and you need to get it replaced or repaired.
4. If an electrician is called out to fix the problem and finds the fault is with one of your appliances, you will be charged the electricians call out fee.

BURST WATER PIPE TO FRONT VERGE - turn the water off at the mains immediately. Contact Water Corporation 13 13 75.

POWER LINES FALLEN DOWN- for Faults and Power Outages contact Horizon Power 132351.

LOST KEYS / KEYS LOCKED INSIDE

• If you lose your keys or lock them inside the property during business hours, you may use the office keys however they must be returned to the office on the same day you collect them.
• Please do not contact First National Real Estate Broome out of business hours if you have locked yourself out of your property, or if you have lost keys as we are not able to go back to the office out of hours to get keys for you.
• You need to contact a locksmith yourself and the tenant is responsible for payment of the account. Licensed Locksmith – North West Locksmith 9192 7716 

IMPACT TO BUILDING BY VEHICLE

• If injury to another person call an ambulance on 000
• Call the Police and obtain a police report number
• Call SES (State Emergency Service) on 132 500
• If there are any burst water pipes, call any of the plumbers or Water Corp and turn the water off at the mains
• If there is any electrical damage, call any of the electrician or Western Power and turn the power off at the mains
• If there is water damage to the carpets, call a professional Carpet Cleaning company
• If there is structural damage to the house, flooding or electrical problems do not stay in the house

SEVERE DAMAGE (STORM, EXPLOSION OR COLLAPSED CEILING)

• If injury to another person call an ambulance on 000
• If you require emergency assistance for storm or flood damage call SES (State Emergency Service) 132 500
• If there are any burst water pipes, call a plumber or Water Corp and turn the water off at the mains
• If there is any electrical damage, call any of the electrician or Horizon Power and turn the power off at the mains
• If there is water damage to the carpets, call a carpet cleaning company
• If there is structural damage to the house, flooding or electrical problems do not stay in the house

The following situations are NOT classified as emergency repairs and MUST wait until the next working day to be reported to the office:

• Blocked Toilets (When there is a second unblocked toilet on the premises)
• Stove/Oven not working
• General Repairs and Maintenance
• Blocked Pipes, Shower, Kitchen Sink
• Trouble with Reticulation
• Leaking Taps
• Air Conditioner Faults
• Pest Control such as ants, mice, rats, cockroaches, flies, silverfish, earwigs etc

The owner may pay for the removal of wasps or beehives; however, this is not classified as an emergency and you may contact First National Real Estate Broome the next working day to arrange the removal of any nests. This is also the case if you spot any white ant nests in or about the property. In relation to problems with ants, mice, rats and cockroaches, it is recommended that you purchase treatments such as bombs and/or baits from the supermarket, and ensure that you have placed them in strategic locations to prevent infestation.

Please note that if you go ahead with a repair that IS NOT classified as an emergency, the owner is NOT obliged to pay for any expenses incurred.

The Residential Tenancy Act and Regulations in WA comprehensively covers the rights and responsibilities of all parties in relation to Emergency and After-Hours issues. As an Agency who takes our customer service standards seriously we want to provide you with guidelines should you require emergency maintenance outside of hours so our hard-working Property Managers get the chance to switch off.  
 
Urgent repairs fall into two categories: essential services and other urgent repairs. Essential services are listed in the Residential Tenancies Regulations 1989 and include repairs to:

• a burst water service,
• gas leaks,
• broken hot water system,
• sewerage leaks or
• dangerous electrical faults.

Other urgent repairs - other urgent repairs are not an essential service, but if not fixed might cause damage to the premises, injure a person or cause undue hardship or inconvenience to the tenant/s.
 
If you require assistance for one of the above urgent repairs occurring outside of office hours you can email [email protected].  You will need to provide the following information:  

1. Your full name. If you are not the Lease Holder please include the name of the Tenant noted on the lease
2. The address of the property
3. Your best contact number
4. Details on what the problem is
5. What action you have taken.