Written for plumbers, electricians, water heater and heat pump installers, drain and sewer shops, and small multi-trade firms serving homeowners and property managers, with Texas, California, Florida and New York in detail.
The short version
- Make it safe, then report it.Tell your insurance carrier the same day you hear of it, and let their adjuster lead the claim.
- Keep every piece of evidence.Photograph everything, bag the failed part, and keep the work order with its readings and your permit records.
- Admit nothing and watch the deadline.Say nothing about fault. Answer any defect notice inside its window, or you lose the right to repair first.
A slab leak or a failed fitting can show up months after the job, along with a large damage claim. What you do in the first days matters for your insurance claim and for whether you get the chance to put it right before a lawsuit.
Make it safe first
If gas or carbon monoxide is involved, get everyone out and call 911 and the gas utility from outside. Shut off and tag the appliance or the meter valve, leave a written notice, and follow the utility's red-tag procedure. Never leave a known unsafe appliance running.
The claim
- Report at once.Tell your carrier as soon as you hear of it.
- Keep the evidence.Take photos, keep the failed part, and keep the work order with its readings.
- Admit nothing.Say nothing to the customer about fault, in person or in writing.
- Let the carrier's adjuster lead.The adjuster leads the claim. Your part is the facts and the evidence.
The carrier needs the part and the facts to find the cause, and the cause may not be your work at all.
Will your policy answer it?
General liability with products and completed operations is the policy that answers a slab leak or a failed fitting months later. Check it before you need it: the water damage sub-limits, the pollution exclusion (sewage and mold) and any exclusions for your own work. GCs, property managers and home warranty companies ask for additional insured endorsements (ISO CG 20 10 for ongoing and CG 20 37 for completed operations), so read the contract before the certificate is issued.
The defect notice
Pre-suit defect notices in Texas and Florida
In Texas, a homeowner must give 60 days' notice of a construction defect, and you have a right to inspect and make a written offer. Florida requires notice at least 60 days before a defect suit. Answer inside the window or lose the right to repair first. As of Oct 2026.
Tex. Prop. Code ch. 27 (Residential Construction Liability Act); Fla. Stat. ch. 558
Keep the records long enough
How long a claim can come back
Retain work orders, photos and permit records through the applicable claim period. Texas generally uses 10 years, but eight years for covered governmental-entity claims and six years for certain residential contractors providing a compliant one-, two- and six-year written warranty. California generally uses 10 years for latent construction defects. Extensions and exceptions apply, so set retention with counsel. As of Oct 2026.
Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code sec. 16.009; Cal. Code Civ. Proc. sec. 337.15
The permit closeout file is the evidence you will want if a claim comes: the permit number, inspections passed, the final date, any gas or backflow test record, and photos. Give the owner a copy and keep yours.
Asked in Greymill
This week:
1. Photograph everything. Bag the failed fitting. Keep the work order and its readings.
2. Say nothing about fault, in person or in writing. Telling them it's on you would admit it.
3. Let the carrier's adjuster lead. You bring the facts and the evidence.
Why keep the fitting: the cause may not be your work, and the carrier needs the part to find out.
Why insurance: general liability with products and completed operations (cover for finished jobs) is the policy built for this.
Watch for a defect notice: in Texas, a homeowner must give 60 days' notice of a construction defect (As of Oct 2026). You have the right to inspect and make a written offer. Answer inside the window, or you lose the right to repair first.
Next, I can draft a holding reply that admits nothing.
Ask it about your own business
Paste this into Greymill with your own figures, and Contracts & Disputes works it through for your business.
I run a plumbing, heating or electrical business in [state], in the US. A customer says our [job] on [date] caused [damage] and is claiming [amount]. Here is what we have: [work order, photos, permit record, the failed part]. Tell me what to do this week, what to send my carrier, whether a defect notice deadline applies, and draft a holding reply to the customer that admits nothing.
More for plumbing, heating and electrical in the US
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Open the interactive lesson · Every plumbing, heating and electrical lesson · What Greymill knows about the trade
Sources
The primary sources behind this lesson, checked Oct 2026.
- sec. 7071.6 (Insurance, bonds and claims)
- Occ. Code ch. 1301; local permit codes (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- 16 C.F.R. 429.1 (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- Prop. Code secs. 27.004 (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- sec. 558.004 (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- statutes.capitol.texas.gov (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- 29 C.F.R. 1926.651(k), 1926.652(a)(1) (Safety: osha and EPA on service and new-work jobs)
- 1926.501; 1910.28 (Safety: osha and EPA on service and new-work jobs)
- 1926 subpart AA; 1926.1153 (Safety: osha and EPA on service and new-work jobs)
- 40 C.F.R. 745.83 (minor repair and maintenance) (Safety: osha and EPA on service and new-work jobs)
- Title 8 secs. 3395, 3396 (Safety: osha and EPA on service and new-work jobs)
- Memorandum of May 21, 2026 (Safety: osha and EPA on service and new-work jobs)
- Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code sec 16.009(a) to (a-4); Cal. Code Civ. Proc. sec 337.15 (Operations and software)
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. sec. 337.15 (Operations and software)
- Who must comply (Operations and software)
- 16 C.F.R. 429.0(a), exclusions (3) and (5) (Home improvement contracts, cancellation and collections)
- secs. 7159, 7159.5, 7159.10 (Home improvement contracts, cancellation and collections)
- Civ. Code secs. 1689.6, 1689.13 (Home improvement contracts, cancellation and collections)
- Bus. and Com. Code ch. 601; Prop. Code sec. 53.255, ch. 27 (Home improvement contracts, cancellation and collections)
- 2026 Fla. Stat. sec 489.126(2) (Home improvement contracts, cancellation and collections)