If you smell gas
No sparks, no flames
Leave light switches, appliances and the doorbell alone, and don't light a match, lighter or cigarette. Anything that sparks can set gas off.
Get everyone out
Take people and pets outside and well away from the smell. If a door or window is right beside you on the way, open it; don't go looking for more.
Close the valve only if it's easy
If you know where the gas meter valve or the bottle valve is and can reach it without walking back through the smell, close it. If not, leave it.
Make calls from outside
Use your phone once you are well clear of the house. If there is a fire or anyone feels dizzy or unwell, ring 111 before anything else. For a problem with the gas supply itself, WorkSafe says to contact your gas retailer, the company that sends your gas bills.
Keep the gas off
Don't turn the supply back on to see if the smell returns. It stays off until an authorised gasfitter has found the leak and made the installation safe.
What the gasfitter does
An authorised gasfitter will find where gas is escaping, whether that is a joint, a fitting, a flexible connector or the appliance, then repair or replace the faulty part and test the whole installation before turning it back on.
If they aren't satisfied that part of the installation is safe, the regulations require them to disconnect it from the supply immediately. A gasfitter who caps off your appliance and leaves it off is following the rules, not being difficult.
What changes the repair
A leak at a fitting you can reach is a smaller job than one inside a wall, under the floor or in buried pipe. The age of the appliance matters too, and whether parts are still made for it.
So does the kind of fix. Replacing a faulty appliance with an equivalent model, leaving the pipe, flue, pressure, gas type and ventilation as they were, is low-risk work in WorkSafe's terms. Rerouting or altering pipework on an existing installation is high-risk, so it brings a Certificate of Compliance and an entry on the national high-risk database.
Your part, and theirs
You can
- Leave, keep flames away, and close the meter or bottle valve if you safely can.
- Note where and when you noticed the smell, which appliances were on, and any recent work.
- On a portable barbecue or patio heater with its bottle attached, PGDB lets you do the work yourself, though it strongly recommends a gasfitter.
Leave to an authorised tradie
- Finding the leak and repairing any pipe, joint, fitting or appliance.
- Anything fixed inside the house, on piped gas or on bottles.
- Testing the installation and turning the supply back on.
- Issuing the certificates for the work.
Be wary if
- Someone without a gasfitting licence offers to 'just tighten it up'.
- The person can show a plumbing licence but not one that covers gasfitting.
- A restricted gasfitter says they'll reconnect the appliance. That class cannot connect a gas appliance to the supply.
- You are handed a certificate by someone not entitled to issue it. In October 2026, PGDB reported a repeat offender fined $14,000 who had given a homeowner a Gas Safety Certificate he was not authorised to sign.
- The gas goes back on and no paperwork follows.
Paperwork after a leak repair
PGDB says a certifying gasfitter who does work at your place must give you a signed gasfitting certificate within 20 working days of the work being connected to the gas supply. Store it with your house papers: a buyer, your insurer or an LPG supplier may want to see it.
Your rights don't end with the certificate. Under the Consumer Guarantees Act, a service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, and a repair that leaves things unsafe counts as a substantial failure.
What we would do
Never hunt for a gas leak yourself with a flame, soapy water on a live line or by switching things on and off. Get out, close the valve if it's within easy reach, and let a professional take over. When the repair is done, ask what risk class it was and which certificates are coming, then keep them. Tell us where you smelled it and what appliances you have, and we'll pass the job to an authorised gasfitter who handles leak repairs.