Emergency Repairs and Make Safe in Brisbane
If your property is not secure or not weathertight right now, call us on 0485 814 802. One Call Handyman provides 24/7 emergency repairs and make safe across Brisbane, Logan and South East Queensland: storm damage, break-ins, fallen trees, water damage, smashed windows and doors that will not lock. We are locally owned, QBCC licensed and fully insured, and we work alongside insurance claims.
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Your Urgent Repairs Specialists
We combine prompt response times, skilled expertise, and high-quality materials to deliver effective, dependable repair solutions tailored specifically to urgent situations.
Know About Us
What a "make safe" actually is
If you have made an insurance claim you will have heard this phrase, and it is worth understanding because it changes what happens next.
The Insurance Council of Australia defines it plainly. A make safe is immediate rectification works to prevent further damage to your property or make the site safe to visit.
That is the key idea. A make safe is not the repair. It is the work that stops things getting worse between the incident and the permanent fix: tarping a roof, boarding a broken window, securing a door that will not lock, propping or removing something unsafe, isolating water. The permanent repair comes later, usually once the claim is assessed.
It matters because the two are handled differently, often paid differently, and sometimes done by different trades. Knowing which one you are asking for saves a great deal of confusion.
We have set out the whole thing in more detail, including who pays and what to do first, in what is a make safe.
Before you authorise anything, do these two things
We would rather tell you this and lose the job than have you out of pocket.
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Photograph everything first
The Insurance Council's guidance is to take pictures or videos of damage to the property and possessions as evidence for your claim. Do it before anything is moved, cleaned or boarded up. Once a window is boarded and the glass is swept, the evidence of what happened is gone.
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Speak to your insurer before authorising building work.
The Insurance Council is direct about this too: speak to your insurer before authorising any building work, including emergency repairs. Insurers frequently have their own arrangements, and work authorised without talking to them first can create problems with the claim.
None of that stops us attending. If a property is genuinely unsafe or wide open, making it safe comes first and the paperwork follows. But where there is time to make a phone call, make the phone call.
What we do on an emergency call-out
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Securing the property
Emergency board-up of broken windows and doors, temporary fencing and hoarding, repairing or replacing locks and door hardware, and securing broken security doors and screens after a break-in.
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Weathertightness
Tarping and covering, temporary patching to roofline and eaves, clearing and redirecting water that is getting in, and stopping further water entry through failed windows or doors.
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Making things safe
Removing or propping anything unstable, dealing with fallen fences and damaged structures, and taking down anything at risk of coming down on somebody.
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Water damage response
Locating the source, stopping it where we can, and dealing with damaged walls, ceilings and flooring so it does not spread.
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Break-and-enter repairs
Doors, frames, windows, locks and screens, so the property is secure the same day rather than after a week of quotes.
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Temporary and permanent repairs
We do the make safe now and can carry out the permanent repair afterwards, which means one contractor across both rather than a handover between two.
Storm damage
South East Queensland storms do a predictable set of things and we get the same calls every season: water through the ceiling, roofline and eaves torn loose, trees and branches down on fences and sheds, smashed windows, and power to a property that is no longer safe.
What to do first: make sure everyone is safe and stay away from anything that could be live or unstable, then photograph the damage before touching it, then call your insurer, then call us.
If the situation is life-threatening or a structure is at risk of collapse, that is emergency services rather than a handyman. The State Emergency Service handles storm and flood emergency assistance. We pick it up from the point where the property needs securing and repairing.
We can attend, make the property safe and weathertight, and then handle the permanent repair, including roofline and structural repairs, once the claim is sorted.
If a storm has just been through, our guide to storm damage repairs sets out the right order to do things in.
Working with your insurance claim
We handle a lot of insurance work and we understand how the process runs.
We can attend for the make safe, document what we find with photographs, provide a clear itemised scope and quote in the form insurers expect, and carry out the permanent repairs once approved. If your insurer has appointed a loss adjuster or builder, we can work alongside them rather than against them.
We are QBCC licensed and fully insured, which matters more on insurance work than almost anywhere else, because unlicensed work creates problems for a claim that surface long after the job is finished.
If you are a property manager, body corporate or facilities manager, emergency call-outs are something we handle across portfolios rather than one property at a time. See our property maintenance and strata and body corporate services.
Why one call is genuinely better in an emergency
An emergency is the worst possible time to be ringing around for trades.
A break-in means a door, a frame, a lock, possibly a window, possibly plaster, and paint to finish. Storm damage means roofline, eaves, ceilings, sometimes flooring. That is four or five trades in sequence, and in an emergency you are trying to organise them while dealing with everything else that has just happened.
Because carpentry, plastering, painting, fencing and door and window repairs are all in-house, we can secure the property tonight and complete the whole repair afterwards without you making another call.
We are locally owned and based in Logan, working across Brisbane, Logan and South East Queensland, and we complete over 8,000 jobs a year across more than 80 suburbs.
Our Simple Urgent Repair Process
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "make safe" mean?
The Insurance Council of Australia describes it as immediate rectification works to prevent further damage to your property or make the site safe to visit. It is temporary work that stops things getting worse, not the permanent repair.
Do I need to call my insurer before you come out?
If there is time, yes. The Insurance Council’s guidance is to speak to your insurer before authorising any building work, including emergency repairs. If the property is unsafe or wide open, make it safe first and sort the paperwork after.
Are you really available 24/7?
Yes, we offer 24/7 emergency call-outs. Ring 0485 814 802.
Do you do insurance work?
Yes. We attend for make safe, document the damage, provide itemised scopes and quotes in the format insurers expect, and complete the permanent repairs. We can also work alongside an insurer’s appointed loss adjuster or builder.
Can you board up a broken window tonight?
Yes. Emergency board-up of windows and doors is one of the most common call-outs we get, particularly after break-ins and storms.
Will you do the permanent repair as well, or just the make safe?
Both, and that is the main reason people call us rather than a dedicated make-safe contractor. The same team that secures the property can complete the repair, so there is no handover and no second round of quotes.
Do you work with property managers and bodies corporate?
Yes, and across portfolios rather than one property at a time. Emergency response is much easier to manage when it is one contractor with one point of contact.
What should I do first after storm damage?
Make sure everyone is safe and stay clear of anything unstable or potentially live. Photograph the damage before touching anything. Call your insurer. Then call us to make the property safe.
Call 0485 814 802 for 24/7 emergency repairs and make safe across Brisbane and Logan. For non-urgent work you can request a free quote.