If you smell gas in your house, get everyone out first, then call from outside. Call (201) 676-3099 or book a free estimate.
If you smell gas in your house, get everyone out first, then call from outside. Don't flip a light switch, don't use a phone indoors, don't start a car in the garage. From the sidewalk, call 911 or your gas utility's emergency number — it's on your bill, whether that's PSE&G, New Jersey Natural Gas, Elizabethtown Gas or South Jersey Gas. They come 24/7 and they come free. The utility finds and stops the leak at the meter and the appliance. A licensed plumber fixes the pipe and gets your gas turned back on. Here's the order it all happens in.
Do this right now
People and pets, out the door, and leave it open behind you. Don't stop to pack, don't go looking for the leak, don't go down to the basement to check the boiler. Walk to the sidewalk or a neighbor's yard, well away from the building.
No light switches — on or off. No garage door opener, no doorbell, no thermostat, no appliances, no cell phone inside the house, no candles or lighters. A spark is all it takes. If a window is already open, fine; don't go around opening more. Don't start a car parked in an attached garage.
Every New Jersey gas utility runs a 24-hour emergency line — PSE&G, New Jersey Natural Gas, Elizabethtown Gas and South Jersey Gas all do — and the number is printed on your bill and on their website. If you can't find it or the smell is strong, call 911. The utility does not charge you for a gas odor call. Stay outside until someone with a meter tells you it's safe.
What does a gas leak smell and sound like?
Natural gas has no smell on its own. Utilities add a chemical called mercaptan so you'll notice it, and it smells like rotten eggs or sulfur. Some people say skunk, or a dirty gym locker.
Other signs: hissing or whistling near a pipe, meter or appliance; dead grass or bubbling puddles in a line across the yard above a buried line; a flame burning orange or yellow instead of blue; soot around a burner or vent; a pilot that keeps going out.
And the body signs people miss because they blame the weather: headache, dizziness, nausea or fatigue that eases when you leave the house and comes back when you return. If more than one person feels it, or the dog does too, leave and call.
Gas leak or carbon monoxide? They're not the same call.
A gas leak is unburned natural gas escaping from a pipe, fitting or appliance connection. You can smell it, and it's an explosion risk.
Carbon monoxide is a by-product of burning — a cracked heat exchanger, a blocked flue, a water heater that isn't venting. You can't smell or see it, and it's a poisoning risk. That's what your CO alarm is for, and every New Jersey home with a fuel-burning appliance or attached garage should have one on every level.
If the CO alarm sounds: get out, call 911, don't go back in until the fire department clears it. Same first move, different problem underneath. We check venting and combustion on every heating job for exactly this reason.
What does the gas utility do — and what do we do?
That split surprises people. The utility owns the line up to and including your meter. Everything past it — the black iron running to your furnace, water heater, stove, dryer and grill — is your house, your pipe, your bill. The utility crew makes you safe and leaves. They won't fix your pipe.
In New Jersey, gas piping falls under the plumbing subcode. Only a licensed plumber can legally contract for gas line work — there's no homeowner exemption — and the work needs a permit and an inspection. We have a licensed master plumber on the team, so the call, the repair, the permit and the inspection are one company.
| Step | Who does it |
|---|---|
| Responds 24/7 to an odor call, free | PSE&G / NJNG / Elizabethtown Gas / South Jersey Gas |
| Sweeps the house with a gas detector and finds the leak area | The utility |
| Shuts gas off at the meter or at the appliance valve and red-tags it | The utility |
| Repairs the service line from the street to your meter | The utility |
| Repairs the piping inside your house, past the meter | A licensed plumber — us |
| Replaces a failed appliance connector, valve or corroded black iron | Us |
| Pulls the plumbing permit and pressure tests the line | Us |
| Inspects and signs off the repair | Your town's plumbing subcode inspector |
| Relights the meter and the appliances after the sign-off | The utility, then us for appliance start-up |
What is a red tag, and how do I get my gas back on?
A red tag is the utility taking an appliance or a whole meter out of service. They hang a tag, shut a valve and sometimes lock it. It means unsafe — don't use it, don't touch that valve. Pulling a red tag yourself puts you on the wrong side of the utility and your insurer.
Getting back on is a sequence, not a phone call. We find and repair the leak, pull the plumbing permit, and pressure test the system while the town's inspector watches, before anything is closed up. With the approval in hand, the utility unlocks the meter, and we relight and check every appliance.
In winter that usually runs one to three days. If your heat is off, say so when you call — no-heat calls get same-day dispatch, and we can set up temporary heat.
What does a gas leak repair cost in NJ?
Our minimum visit is $495 and covers up to two hours of a licensed tech plus common parts. After hours, the emergency minimum is $695 and covers the first two hours. You get the itemized number before we start, and it can't change without your signature on a written change order.
| Work | 2026 NJ range |
|---|---|
| Utility emergency response to a gas odor call | Free |
| Leak detection and a straightforward repair (fitting, valve, connector) | $495 – $800 |
| After-hours or overnight emergency visit | $695 minimum, covers the first 2 hours |
| New gas line run to one appliance (stove, dryer, heater, grill) | $400 – $1,300 |
| Gas piping, per linear foot | $15 – $50 |
| Replacing corroded black iron through a basement | $1,500 – $4,500 |
| Plumbing permit and inspection | $75 – $250, itemized in your price |
Where gas leaks start in New Jersey houses
- Flexible appliance connectors behind stoves and dryers, especially old uncoated brass — they crack with age and every time the appliance gets pulled out.
- Threaded joints in black iron that were never sealed right, usually from a DIY stove or grill hookup.
- Corroded pipe in damp basements and crawl spaces, common in the older housing stock across Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties.
- Shut-off valves at the water heater, boiler or furnace that weep after decades of heat cycling.
- Buried yard lines to a grill, pool heater or detached garage, damaged by frost heave, roots or a shovel.
- Abandoned capped stubs left when an old appliance came out and nobody sealed the line.
Where these numbers come from
Pricing comes from 2026 New Jersey plumbing contractor price sheets, national cost guides and our own 2026 quotes across North and Central Jersey. The rules on who may work on gas piping, permits and pressure testing come from the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code plumbing subcode and state plumbing licensing requirements. Utility response practice comes from the published emergency guidance of New Jersey's gas utilities. Safety instructions here are general — if you smell gas, the utility or 911 outranks anything on this page.
Questions people ask next
Should I call 911 or the gas company first?
Either is right, and neither is wrong. If the smell is strong, you hear hissing, or anyone feels sick, call 911. If it's a faint odor and everyone is out, call the gas emergency number on your bill. Make the call from outside the house, not from inside it.
Can I turn the gas off myself?
If the shut-off is outside at the meter and you can reach it safely without going back in the house, you can turn it a quarter turn so the bar sits across the pipe. Do not go back inside to find a valve. Do not turn gas back on yourself afterward — that's the utility's job, after the repair passes inspection.
Does the gas company charge to come out for a gas smell?
No. New Jersey's gas utilities respond to odor calls around the clock at no charge. They'll find the leak and shut off what's unsafe. What they don't do is repair piping inside your house past the meter — that's a licensed plumber's job, and that's the part you pay for.
How much does it cost to fix a gas leak in NJ?
Most straightforward repairs — a bad connector, a weeping valve, a bad joint — land between $495 and $800 during business hours, including finding it. After hours our emergency minimum is $695 and covers the first two hours. Running a new line to an appliance is $400 to $1,300. You get the number in writing before we start.
How long until I get my heat and hot water back?
Usually one to three days. The clock is the sequence: repair, permit, pressure test the inspector witnesses, then the utility restores service and we relight the appliances. Tell us when you call if the house has no heat — no-heat calls get same-day dispatch, and we can set up temporary heat while the paperwork clears.
Need gas leak detection near you?
If you searched “gas leak detection near me” anywhere in New Jersey, that's us. First Call Contracting is based in Paramus and sends its own licensed crew to all 21 counties — written price before work starts, no deposit, a real person on the phone 24/7.
Gas shut off? We'll get it back on.
A real person answers 24/7, and a licensed plumber handles the repair, the permit and the inspection. See our gas leak detection page for how we find them and prove the line is tight.
Or call Alex direct: (201) 676-3099