Emergency Plumber in Miami: 24 Hour Costs, Shutoffs and Who to Call

What emergency repairs cost in Miami

These figures apply the Miami metro construction cost factor of 0.93 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Area Cost Factors to the national emergency rates.

Estimates for 2026, including labor and standard parts. Miami prices use the metro's construction cost factor of 0.93 (US average = 1.00) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Area Cost Factors. Your quote depends on access, materials and the condition of the home.

How the time of the call changes the rate

Emergency rates are hourly labor. They do not include the service call fee, parts, or cleanup. A call at 2 a.m. on a Sunday costs more than a Tuesday morning visit. Ask for both numbers before the truck rolls.

Pay for a night call when water is still running, sewage is coming up, or you smell gas. A dripping trap or a slow tub drain can wait for a weekday. If you can stop the water at a valve and nothing is getting worse, a daytime visit usually costs less.

What common emergencies cost to fix in Miami

Pipes inside walls, under a slab or under the yard cost the most because they take longest to reach. Water damage cleanup, drywall and flooring cost extra. For everyday plumbing prices, Miami's older drain lines and WASD pipe rules, see our Miami plumbing guide.

The first hour: what to do before help arrives

Water coming through a ceiling or wall

Close the main water valve. In most South Florida homes it sits at the meter near the street or where the supply line enters the house. Then switch off breakers for any room where water is reaching outlets, fixtures or appliances. Open a low faucet to drain what is left in the pipes. Photograph everything before you mop.

If water is pouring from the street, a hydrant or a manhole, call the county. Miami-Dade Water and Sewer runs a 24-hour emergency call center at 305-274-9272 for broken or leaking water or sewer pipes, hydrants, manholes and meters. Inside a city with its own utility, call that city. North Miami Beach Water answers 24/7 at 305-948-2960. North Miami's after-hours and weekend line is 305-953-2854.

You smell gas, or hear hissing

Get everyone out first. Do not light anything and do not flip a switch. From outside, call your gas utility's emergency line. If there is fire or anyone is hurt, call the emergency services number for your area. Once the meter is shut off, leave it off and let the utility turn it back on and relight pilots.

The power is out, or something is sparking

Check whether the whole street is dark before you call. Report the outage to your electric utility using the number on your bill. If you see a downed wire, treat it as live and stay away. Call the emergency services number for your area and keep others back until the utility arrives.

Inside the house, a hot panel, a burning smell or smoke from an outlet means shut off the main breaker if you can do it without touching water, then leave the house and call the emergency services number for your area. A dead circuit in one room can wait. A burning smell behind the panel cannot.

Who to call in Miami

Which trade handles which emergency

Call the right trade first and you avoid paying two service fees.

Florida licenses contractors through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. A certified license (codes starting with C) works anywhere in the state. A registered license (codes starting with R) works only in the city or county where it was issued. For electrical detail, see our electrical pillar. For storm and roof questions, see roofing.

Sewer backups: your lateral or the county's main?

When sewage rises through a shower or floor drain, find out where the blockage sits. Miami-Dade Water and Sewer maintains the public main. The sewer lateral from your building to that main is the owner's responsibility, and lateral blockages are fixed at the owner's cost.

WASD oversees more than 4,100 miles of sewer lines and spends millions of dollars a year clearing grease from pipes. Fats, oils and grease cause many blockages and overflows. If only your home is backing up, call a plumber. If neighbors are backing up too, or sewage is coming out of a manhole in the street, call WASD at 305-274-9272.

During hurricane season, WASD asks residents to keep sanitary cleanouts sealed. Floodwater entering the sewer system causes overflows from low manholes. If a storm is coming and your cleanout cap is missing, replace it before the rain.

Miami disasters that cause emergency calls

Hurricanes

Hurricane season in Miami-Dade County runs from June 1 to November 30. Hurricane Andrew hit south Miami-Dade on August 24, 1992, as a Category 5 with 165 mph winds, destroying about 49,000 homes and damaging 108,000 in southern Dade County. Hurricane Irma in September 2017 pushed 3 to 5 feet of surge along the Biscayne Bay shoreline from Homestead to Downtown Miami and Brickell, and more than three-quarters of South Florida electric customers lost power.

After a storm, the common calls are roof leaks, broken supply lines, flooded electrical panels and sewage backups from overloaded mains. If your power is out and your panel got wet, do not turn it back on. Call an electrician.

King tides and flooding

King tides are the highest predicted high tides of the year, and in southeast Florida they come in the fall. They flood coastal and low-lying streets even without rain, and sea level rise makes them reach farther inland. Miami-Dade points residents to NOAA's Sea Level Rise Viewer to see which areas flood.

If water entered your home, photograph the water line on the walls before it dries, and keep any wet materials you remove until your insurer says otherwise.

Heat and humidity

Miami International averages 67.41 inches of rain a year and many days at 90°F or above. The August dew point averages 74.4°F. That moisture turns a small leak behind a cabinet into mold within days, and a slow drip under a sink into a ceiling repair if you ignore it.

Do you need a permit for emergency work?

Yes for most repairs, but you can usually do the repair first. Miami-Dade County exempts the clearing of stoppages and the repair of leaks in pipes, valves or fixtures from a plumbing permit, as long as the repair does not involve replacing or rearranging valves, pipes or fixtures. Removing and reinstalling a water closet is also exempt. Replacing a water heater or a gas appliance needs a permit.

So a snake job or a patched leak on a Saturday night needs no permit. A new water heater, a repipe or a moved fixture does. Ask the plumber to confirm in writing that they will pull the permit for anything beyond a repair.

Local rules:

• Miami-Dade's online permit process covers only properties with folios starting with 30, which is unincorporated county. Miami, Miami Beach and Coral Gables each run their own building department.
• Plumbing permit applications need a Permit Fee Sheet that breaks the cost down by category.
• A sanitary line replacement uses plumbing category 25 and must follow the county's standard slab cut repair detail, with a Special Inspector Form for trench backfill and slab repair.
• A permit exemption for work under $7,500 starts July 1, 2026, but it does not cover plumbing, electrical, mechanical or gas work, and it does not apply to properties in a flood hazard area.
• Broward County generally requires a permit for water heater installation or replacement, even a like-for-like swap in the same spot.

Unpermitted work can cause trouble at resale. Broward County warns that it may need an engineer's approval or may have to be redone.

Insurance: what to record during an emergency

Insurers pay for sudden events far more often than slow ones. A pipe that bursts and the water damage it causes is usually covered. A leak from a pipe that rusted through over years often is not.

Three gaps matter in South Florida:

• Flood: most homeowners policies do not cover flood water coming in from outside. That takes a separate flood policy, and federally backed mortgages require one in zones AE, AH and VE.
• Sewer backup: most policies leave it out unless you add a sewer backup endorsement. Ask your agent before the backup happens.
• Wind: hurricane damage is covered under the windstorm portion of a Florida policy, but deductibles for hurricane claims are often separate and higher.

Before cleanup, take wide photos of each room and close-ups of the damage, the water line on walls and the failed part. Keep the broken part if the plumber removes it. Ask for an invoice that states the cause in plain words, and save every receipt for drying, cleanup and hotel stays.

Areas we cover

GOLDGCP's 24/7 line takes emergency calls across the Miami metro:

• Miami and Miami Beach
• Coral Gables
• Fort Lauderdale
• Hollywood
• Boca Raton
• West Palm Beach

Miami-Dade and Broward are in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, so repairs there follow stricter wind rules than Palm Beach County. Each city runs its own building department, so the permit office depends on where you live.

Enter your ZIP code to see emergency pros and prices for your area.