Immediate steps to limit damage, protect your household, and prepare for a visit from a verified RBQ-licenced contractor.
| Scenario | Immediate action | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Water is actively flowing | Shut off the main stop valve | Hunting for the valve while wading through deep water |
| Water is nearing outlets or electrical devices | Switch off the affected breaker from a dry spot | Touching a wet panel or unplugging a submerged appliance |
| You are a tenant | Once shut off, notify your landlord right away | Attempting the permanent repair yourself |
Shut off the water first: the reflex that limits the damage
With an active leak, everything starts at the main stop valve. In most Quebec homes it sits in the basement, usually on the supply line coming from the water meter or near the street-side foundation wall. Turn it gently until it stops: water should stop rising throughout the house shortly after.
If you rent, find that valve before you ever need it, and notify your landlord as soon as it is closed. Tenant or owner, the move is identical: nobody benefits from waiting until the ceiling gives way. A tenant who shuts off quickly and calls quickly protects both their unit and the building.
After closing the valve, open a downstream faucet to relieve residual pressure in the pipes. If water is approaching electrical outlets, appliances or the electrical panel, switch off the affected breaker at the panel, but only if you can do it standing dry, never touching a wet panel.
While you wait: protect and document
With the water off, priority shifts to protecting your belongings. Move furniture, boxes and electronics out of the affected zone, lay towels or buckets under lingering drips, and lift whatever cannot be moved. Every inch of water kept off a hardwood floor lowers the final bill.
Then take photos and short videos of the leak and the damaged areas. Those files serve two purposes: they support your insurance claim, and they help the professional prepare a diagnosis before even arriving. Show them during the visit.
Resist the urge to “fix” it yourself: tape on a joint, an improvised clamp, a quick patch weld. At best it hides the symptom for a few hours; at worst it complicates the contractor’s work and your insurance coverage. Permanent repair belongs to a verified RBQ-licenced contractor: your role ends with the emergency steps described here.
Why you should go through a verified RBQ-licenced contractor
A visible leak is almost never the root cause. Behind a puddle under the sink there can be a tired gasket, advanced corrosion, repeated water hammer, or excessive pressure in the system. A professional does more than stop the water: they trace the problem back to its origin to prevent a repeat.
In Quebec, plumbing work falls under regulatory oversight, and several interventions require a duly authorized company. Hiring a verified RBQ-licenced contractor protects both the quality of the execution and your recourse if anything goes wrong.
Nordis matches you quickly with a vetted professional in your area. As a reference point, an urgent plumbing intervention generally sits within an indicative range of $180 to $2,500 depending on the work involved: an indicative range to be confirmed on site, since only a physical diagnosis yields a firm price.
Verified and sourced
Verified on September 27, 2026
Official sources
What these numbers do not cover
The range mentioned is an order of magnitude, not a quote; only an on-site visit can assess an active leak.