Free Winter Emergency-Call Script for Plumbers & HVAC
Updated October 26, 2026. Give this to your answering service, paste it into your AI receptionist's instructions, or tape it by the office phone. It covers no-heat, frozen-pipe and burst-pipe calls. Fill in the bracketed parts with your own fees and rules.
- Greeting: "Thanks for calling [Company]. Are you calling about an emergency, like no heat, a frozen or burst pipe, or water leaking right now?"
- Safety first: if the caller smells gas or sees smoke or sparks, tell them to leave the building and call 911 or their gas utility from outside. Don't continue the intake.
- Name and callback number: "What's your name and the best number to reach you if we get cut off?"
- Service address: full street address, unit, gate or access notes.
- What's happening: no heat / no hot water / frozen pipe (no water at a tap) / burst or leaking pipe / other. When did it start?
- Water leaking? "Is water actively leaking? Do you know where your main water shut-off is?" (Only give shut-off directions you have pre-approved.)
- Heat out? "What kind of system is it: furnace, boiler, heat pump? Is the thermostat on and set to heat?"
- Who's at home: "Is anyone in the home elderly, an infant, or someone with medical needs?" Flag these for priority.
- Customer status: existing customer or service-plan member? (Route members per your plan rules.)
- Set expectations: read your own after-hours fee and response window, word for word, and get a yes before dispatching.
- Dispatch or book: true emergency: warm-transfer or text your on-call tech with the summary. Otherwise: book the first morning slot.
- Close: repeat back the address and callback number, and tell them when to expect a call.
Turning the script into AI receptionist instructions
- Paste steps 1-12 into the tool's instructions or knowledge base as the intake order.
- Set the emergency rule explicitly, for example: "If no heat and anyone vulnerable, or water actively leaking, transfer to the on-call number."
- Test it yourself: call your own line at night with a frozen-pipe scenario and a gas-smell scenario before relying on it.
Comparing tools for this? See winter emergency calls for plumbers and HVAC, after-hours answering for HVAC and the best AI receptionists for plumbers.
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