Emergency Maintenance vs Routine Requests: How to Tell the Difference

It's 2:00 AM on a Saturday. Your phone rings. A tenant is calling because their kitchen sink is "backed up."

Is this an emergency that requires a $300 after-hours plumber visit? Or is it a routine request that can wait until Monday morning?

If you don't have a clear definition of an "emergency," you're either spending too much on after-hours calls or risking major property damage. (We recommend using a Severity Scoring System to help with this).

The Definition of an Emergency

In property management, a maintenance emergency is generally defined by three criteria:

Life Safety: Is there an immediate threat to the health or safety of the residents?
Property Damage: Will the property sustain significant damage if the issue is not addressed immediately?
Habitability: Is the unit becoming uninhabitable (e.g., no water, no heat in winter)?

If the answer to any of these is "yes," it's an emergency.

Common Confusion Points

"It's a leak!"

Emergency: Water is spraying out of a pipe, or water is coming through a ceiling.
Routine: A faucet is dripping into a sink, or a toilet is "running."
The Rule: If the water can be contained by a bucket or by turning off a local valve, it's rarely a midnight emergency.

"The AC is out!"

Emergency: Outside temperatures are above 90°F and the tenant has health issues or small children.
Routine: Outside temperatures are 75°F. It's uncomfortable, but not dangerous.
The Rule: Habitability depends on the environment.

"I'm locked out!"

Emergency: Only if there is a child or a dangerous appliance (like a stove) left inside.
Routine: Most lockouts are the tenant's responsibility and should be handled by a locksmith at their expense.

The Cost of Getting It Wrong

If you treat a routine request as an emergency, you pay the "emergency tax"—higher vendor rates and a disrupted personal life.

If you treat an emergency as routine, you pay the "damage tax"—remediation costs, insurance claims, and potential legal issues.

Clear Communication is Key

The best way to manage this is to provide tenants with an Emergency Maintenance Guide during onboarding. List exactly what counts as an emergency and what doesn't.

When a tenant knows that a dripping faucet isn't worth a midnight call, they'll stop making them.

OpsPilot Note: Differentiating between panic and actual emergencies is one of the hardest parts of triage. OpsPilot's AI analyzes the language in a tenant's email to determine if a "leak" is a flood or a drip, helping you make the right call without needing to be an expert in every trade.