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What you do before anyone arrives usually determines how much damage there is. This is worth reading now rather than during.
Two things to find today, while nothing is wrong: your main water shut-off valve and your electrical distribution board. Know where both are and make sure the water valve actually turns. Finding out that it is seized while water is running through your ceiling is a bad moment.
Water: burst pipe, major leak or flooding
- Shut the water off. Main stopcock, or the valve at your tank. If you cannot find it, shut the isolating valve nearest the leak
- If water is near anything electrical, cut power to that circuit at the board. If the board itself is wet or water is coming through a light fitting, do not touch it — cut the main supply if you can reach it safely, and call an electrician
- Open taps below the leak to drain what is left in the pipes
- Contain and lift. Buckets and towels; get furniture, rugs and electronics clear
- Photograph everything before you clear up, for insurance and for the contractor
- Call
Ceiling: water coming through, staining or bulging
A bulging ceiling is holding water and it will come down. Clear the area beneath it and keep people out.
Cut power to lights and circuits in that ceiling. Put a container underneath. Then work out the source — in an Al Ain summer, the most common cause is a blocked AC condensate drain in the void above, not plumbing. If it started in July or August and there is no rain, check whether an AC unit sits above that spot.
If it is the AC, switching that unit off stops the water while you wait.
Electrical
Stop using the installation and call immediately if you have any of these:
- Burning smell from a socket, switch or the distribution board
- A socket, switch or plug that is warm or discoloured
- Scorch marks around a fitting
- A breaker that trips again the instant you reset it
- Any shock or tingle from an appliance, tap or metal fitting
- Buzzing or crackling from a fitting or the board
Switch off the affected circuit at the board and leave it off. Do not keep resetting a breaker that keeps tripping. It is protecting you from something, and repeatedly overriding it creates a fire risk.
If there is smoke or you can smell burning and cannot identify the source, get everyone out and call the emergency services on 999. A maintenance contractor is the call after that, not before.
AC failure in peak heat
In an Al Ain summer, where inland temperatures reach into the forties, a total AC failure is a genuine welfare issue for elderly people, young children and anyone unwell.
Two checks that occasionally fix it for free:
The breaker. Check whether the AC circuit has tripped, and the isolator by the outdoor unit. After a power cut this is common. If it trips again immediately, leave it and call.
The filter. A filter fully blinded with dust can choke a system until it appears broken and can ice the indoor coil. Wash it, dry it fully, refit, wait an hour.
If there is ice on the pipework or coil, switch the unit off and let it thaw completely. Running it iced makes things worse and nobody can work on it frozen.
While you wait: close curtains on sun-facing windows, shut off unused rooms and concentrate cooling, use fans, stay hydrated, and if anyone in the household is vulnerable to heat, move them somewhere cooled.
Blocked drain overflowing
Stop running water into it — including appliances that discharge into the same line. Do not pour chemical drain cleaner in; if a plunger and hot water do not clear it, the chemical will not either, and it leaves a caustic standing column that is hazardous for whoever opens the pipe. If sewage is backing up, keep people away and call.
Gas
If you smell gas: no switches, no flames, no phone use indoors. Open windows and doors, turn the supply off at the cylinder or valve if you can reach it safely, get everyone out, and call your gas supplier and the emergency services from outside.
What to have ready when you call
Your district, the property type, what is happening, when it started, what you have already shut off, and whether anyone is at risk. A photo or short video helps more than a description and often means the right parts arrive first time.
Worth doing this week
- Locate the main water shut-off and check it turns
- Locate the distribution board and label the circuits
- Locate the isolator by each outdoor AC unit
- Save a maintenance number in your phone before you need it
Related reading
How to choose a maintenance company · Electrical safety checks for your home