Turn off your gas, water, and electricity

Avoid danger and damage

In an earthquake or flood, your home’s gas, water, and electricity supply can suffer damage. Damaged water mains can flood your home, and leaking gas poses an immediate fire danger to your home and your personal safety.  

Knowing where your shut off points are before an emergency can save time, and prevent further damage. 

You should only try to turn off services if it's safe to do so. 

Find your home's services

Make sure you know where your emergency cut-off points are for gas, water and electricity. You can place a tag on shut-off valves to make them easier to find.

• For most standalone properties, gas and water services are located near the boundary, or main access point.  
• If your home uses large LPG gas bottles and you suspect a leak, turn the gas supply off at the bottle. 
• You can turn off your electricity at the fuse box. Most homes have the fuse box located indoors, take some time to find yours.  
• For shared property, like apartments or town houses, there may be a single cut off point for multiple properties. Talk to your neighbours or body corporate so that everyone knows where it is, who can access it, and what to do if it needs to be turned off in an emergency.  

If you need tools to turn off your water and gas, put them somewhere that's easy to access in an emergency. 

After an event

Immediately after a quake or other event, safely check around your house to determine whether any services have been damaged.  

Check for signs of damage, such as water leaks, the smell of gas, sparks, exposed or broken electrical wiring, or damaged electrical fittings. 

Only turn off services if you suspect a leak or damaged lines, or if you are instructed to do so by authorities. Remember that your safety and the safety of others is the first priority. Don’t touch electrical wiring if you notice sparking and if you suspect a gas leak, it's better to leave the area until it has been identified.

If you turn off your mains gas, you will need a professional to turn it back on.

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