What to Do If You Smell Gas in Your BC Home

Gas leaks are rare, but they're one of the few home emergencies where doing the wrong thing in the first thirty seconds actually matters. This isn't a maintenance topic. It's a straight answer, in order, so you're not trying to remember it while it's actually happening.

How to Tell It's a Gas Leak

Natural gas has no smell on its own. Utilities add a chemical called mercaptan specifically so you can detect a leak, and it smells like rotten eggs or sulphur. That's the main sign. A hissing sound near a gas line, appliance, or meter is another. Outside, a patch of dead or dying vegetation over where a buried line runs, especially if it appeared suddenly rather than over a season, is worth paying attention to. A gas bill that jumps with no real change in usage can also point to a leak somewhere in the system.

If any of that is familiar, don't wait to see if it goes away.

What to Do Right Now

Stop what you're doing. Don't flip a light switch, don't use your phone inside the house, don't light a match or a candle, and don't do anything that could create a spark. Any of those can ignite gas that's accumulated in the air.

Get everyone, including pets, and leave the house. As you go, leave doors and any windows that are already open the way they are rather than stopping to shut them. Once you're outside and at a safe distance, call the FortisBC Emergency Line at 1-800-663-9911, which runs 24 hours, or call 911. Don't email or message on social media. This needs an immediate response, not a queue.

Stay outside until you're told it's safe to go back in.

What Happens After You Call

FortisBC dispatches a technician to investigate gas odour reports, and there's no charge for that visit if you're reporting a smell inside your home. They'll check the meter, the line, and confirm whether there's an active leak and where it's coming from. If the leak is on FortisBC's side of the meter, that's on them to fix. If it's on your side, inside the home, in a line running to an appliance, or a connection that's failed, that repair has to be done by a licensed gasfitter. In BC, that's not optional. Gas work on the homeowner's side of the meter legally requires a licensed contractor, the same rule we've covered in our post on the difference between a plumber and a gasfitter in BC.

Preventing the Next One

Most leaks we get called out for trace back to a corroded fitting, a connection that was never properly sealed, or an older appliance line that's simply reached the end of its life. Annual maintenance on gas appliances, the same fall tune-up that keeps your furnace running well, also catches these before they become a leak instead of after. If any gas work is being done, including a repair after a leak, it may also need a permit depending on the scope, which we've laid out in do I need a permit for plumbing or gas work in BC.

If You Need It Fixed

Once FortisBC or emergency services have confirmed it's safe and identified the issue is on your side of the meter, our gasfitting installs and repairs team can take it from there. We're licensed for exactly this kind of work across Surrey and Langley, and we won't touch anything until we know it's been cleared as safe.

Call 604-441-3411 or request a quote online once you're past the emergency and ready to get it repaired properly.