Property Management- "Emergency" phone #?

[David Frandsen]

Ok Landlords and Property Managers, chime in...

I had my first significant "Emergency" call from my property manager today. Water leaking from the ceiling in my tenants child bedroom. It turns out it was a corroded galvanized drain pipe ( the 4-plex is probably 75yrs old) so when a sink was on upstairs a significant amount of water leaked. 

My question is. Is it normal that the tenant would call the "Emergency" number the property manager supplied and the response didn't happen until 7 hrs later? The leak happened at 11pm and I got a call at 7am. The tenant was only able to leave a voicemail. If it had been a pressurized water pipe the whole place would have been flooded plus another unit below. So I wasn't too happy with the response time. 

Thoughts?

[Dawn Anastasi]

For any real emergencies I tell the tenants to call 911.

Otherwise it can wait until normal hours.

A downed power line? They can call the local energy company.

Water issue?  They are shown how to turn off water to the house.

Electrical issue? They are shown how to shut off the main breaker.

If a furnace goes out in the middle of winter I've had them replaced within a day.  You can use space heaters in the meantime.