If you smell gas right now
- Leave the building immediately. Take everyone with you, including pets.
- Do not switch anything on or off. Not a light, not a fan, not an appliance. A switch contact can make a spark.
- Do not use a phone inside the building. Make the call once you are outside and well away.
- Do not start a vehicle in an attached garage.
- From a safe distance, call the gas utility's emergency line or 911. That comes before calling a plumber.
- Do not go back in to check, ventilate or investigate. Wait for the utility.
This is the one page on this site where the correct advice is not to call us first. The gas utility has emergency response for exactly this and can shut the supply at the source.
Plumbing work on the line comes after the situation is made safe, not instead of it. If you are outside and safe and the utility is on the way, that is the point at which the repair conversation is useful.
TALK IT THROUGH FIRST
For anything other than a suspected leak, this is normal scheduled work. Call (480) 806-2944 and describe what you are seeing; you will get a range and a window before anyone is dispatched.
What gas work actually covers
Gas line work divides into new installation, modification and repair, and the three have quite different profiles.
New runs are typically driven by an appliance: a range, a dryer, a pool or spa heater, an outdoor kitchen or fire feature, a generator, or a water heater conversion. On the larger parcels common here, outdoor kitchens, fire pits and detached structures make up a meaningful share of that work, and the runs involved are longer than a compact lot would need.
Modification usually means an appliance change where the existing supply is not adequate. This comes up constantly with tankless water heaters, which draw far more gas while running than the storage heater they replace. An existing line sized for a tank is frequently undersized for tankless, and that is the point where a conversion project stalls if it was not checked first.
Repair covers corroded or damaged sections, failed fittings, and connections that have deteriorated. Buried runs to detached structures are a recurring case on properties out here, where distances are longer and the line has been in the ground for decades.
Sizing and testing, which is where the safety actually lives
| Element | Why it matters | What goes wrong without it |
|---|---|---|
| Load calculation | Total demand of every appliance on the system | A line that starves appliances under simultaneous use |
| Pipe sizing for run length | Pressure drop increases with distance | Adequate at the meter, inadequate at a distant appliance |
| Meter capacity check | The supply has to meet total demand | New appliance works, existing ones falter |
| Correct materials | Buried, exposed and interior runs differ | Premature corrosion on the wrong material in the wrong place |
| Pressure test | Verifies integrity before the gas returns | A leak discovered by smell rather than by test |
| Permit and inspection | Independent verification of the above | No record, and a problem at sale or claim time |
| Appliance connection | Correct connector, shutoff and sediment trap | The most common location for a small leak |
The two things that determine whether a gas job was done properly
The pressure test is the non-negotiable one. A gas system is not returned to service on the basis that the work looked right; it is tested to hold pressure, and that test is the evidence.
The sizing rows explain the most common complaint after gas work: an appliance that runs fine alone and struggles when something else is running. That is not an appliance fault. It is a supply sized for one load being asked to carry several.
Permitting is worth insisting on rather than treating as bureaucracy. Inside town limits the Town of Cave Creek handles it; unincorporated parcels go through Maricopa County Planning and Development. Contractor licensing runs through the Arizona Registrar of Contractors.
Warning signs worth acting on
- The smell itself. Natural gas and propane are both odorised specifically so that a leak is detectable, and that smell is the system working as intended.
- Hissing or whistling near a line, appliance or meter.
- Dead or discoloured vegetation in a line along an otherwise healthy area, which can indicate a buried leak.
- Bubbling in standing water above a buried run after rain.
- A pilot that will not stay lit, or burners that behave differently than they used to.
- Soot marks around an appliance, or a yellow lazy flame where it should be blue.
- Unexplained headaches or nausea that improve when people leave the building.
The last two are about combustion rather than a supply leak, and they point at incomplete combustion or a venting problem. That is a carbon monoxide risk and it deserves the same seriousness as a gas smell, with the added difficulty that carbon monoxide has no odour at all.
Working carbon monoxide alarms on every level of a building with gas appliances are the practical answer, because they detect what people cannot.
Which fuel gas code applies at your address
CODES AND PERMITS
Gas piping in unincorporated Maricopa County is inspected against the 2018 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC), adopted by the Board of Supervisors in August 2022 as part of the county's Local Additions and Addenda, alongside the 2017 National Electrical Code (NEC). Inside the Town of Cave Creek, the Town adopts its own editions by reference and moved onto the 2024 International Codes and the 2023 NEC at the beginning of 2026.
For gas work specifically, the code is what fixes pipe sizing tables, acceptable materials for buried and exposed runs, and the pressure test the system has to pass before it is put back into service. Those are the provisions that make the difference between a system that is safe and one that merely appears finished, which is why the permit and the inspection are worth having rather than avoiding.
Gas line questions from local property owners
Should I call you or the gas company for a suspected leak?
The gas utility or 911, from outside the building, and before anything else. They can shut the supply at the source and respond as an emergency service.
Call a plumber once the situation is safe. Repair work follows making the property safe rather than substituting for it.
Can I connect a gas appliance myself?
Gas work is permitted, licensed work for good reason, and the consequences of getting it wrong are not proportionate to the money saved.
Sizing, materials, shutoffs, sediment traps and pressure testing all have requirements, and a connection that seems fine can leak slowly for a long time. This is the clearest case on this site for using a licensed contractor.
Why does my new tankless unit need gas work?
Because it draws far more gas while running than the storage heater it replaced, even though it uses less over a day.
Line sizing is about peak demand, not total consumption. A line perfectly adequate for a tank is often undersized for tankless, and meter capacity has to be checked as well. It is one of the most common surprises in a tankless conversion.
Do I need a permit for gas work?
Generally yes for new runs and modifications, and it is worth wanting rather than avoiding. The inspection is independent verification that sizing and testing were done properly.
Where it goes depends on your address: the Town of Cave Creek inside town limits, Maricopa County Planning and Development for unincorporated parcels.
Can gas lines be run to a detached building or outdoor kitchen?
Yes, and on parcels this size it is common. The considerations are run length, which affects sizing because pressure drops over distance, and correct materials and depth for a buried section.
Both are worth getting right at installation. A buried gas line that has to be dug up and replaced across established landscaping is an expensive way to learn about sizing.
How long do gas lines last?
Interior runs in good conditions last decades. Buried runs are more variable, since soil conditions, the material used and installation quality all affect corrosion.
The useful practice is not tracking age but responding to signs: smell, hissing, vegetation dying in a line, or appliances behaving differently. Any of those is worth acting on rather than monitoring.
Gas work, or an appliance that needs connecting?
For planned work, describe the appliance and where it needs to go. For a suspected leak, leave the building and call the gas utility or 911 first.