What counts as emergency maintenance in a rental (and how fast a landlord has to respond)

Emergencies: act within hours, any hour

An emergency is a threat to health, safety, or security, or active damage that gets worse by the hour. These are P0 in OwnAway's triage — 4-hour response target, owner paged immediately, tenant sent safety instructions:

• Gas smell or carbon monoxide alarm — tenant leaves the unit, calls the gas utility's emergency line and 911, then you.
• Fire, smoke, burning smell from wiring, sparking outlets or panel.
• Flooding, burst pipe, water pouring through a ceiling, sewage backing up.
• No heat when it is freezing outside (many cities set a specific temperature and date range).
• Break-in, or an exterior door or window that will not lock or secure.
• No water at all to the unit; no working toilet in a one-bathroom unit.
• A structural problem: sagging ceiling, collapsed stair, a railing that gave way.

Urgent, not emergency: act within a day

P1 in OwnAway's triage — 24-hour target, owner notified immediately. Major loss of function, but nobody is in danger:

• No heat in mild weather; no hot water; no AC during a heat wave or for a vulnerable occupant.
• Refrigerator not cooling; stove or oven dead.
• Clogged toilet (only bathroom) after plunging; kitchen sink fully backed up.
• A significant but contained leak — under a sink, from an appliance — with the water shut off.
• Partial power outage in the unit, breaker that keeps tripping.
• Lock that works but is failing; a lost key with a working lock is coordination, not a repair.

Routine and low: this week, this month

• P2 Routine — 72 hours: running toilet, dripping faucet, slow drain, dishwasher or disposal, washer/dryer, pests, interior doors, window that sticks.
• P3 Low — 14 days: paint touch-ups, nail holes, blinds, cabinet handles, bulbs, light fixture covers, loose towel bars, carpet issues.

The targets are for a first real action, not completion. "Plumber booked for Thursday" within 72 hours meets the routine target even if Thursday is day five.

What to tell the tenant while you arrange help

Send the safety step before anything else. A tenant standing in a wet kitchen at midnight needs the shut-off location more than an apology.

Why a written rule matters

Without a rule, urgency is decided by how tired you are. With one, the tenant with the clogged toilet gets the same answer at 6pm and at midnight, your vendors know what "urgent" means when you say it, and if a dispute ever reaches a judge you can show a consistent, reasonable standard applied every time.

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