If you manage rental properties or a strata portfolio, the after-hours call from a tenant about a smashed window is part of the job. The question is not whether it happens. It is what you do with the next sixty minutes. Most managers have a vague idea: “Call an emergency glazier and they will come out”. The reality is more useful to know.
This is what actually happens when you ring our 24/7 emergency glass team at 9pm on a Tuesday.
The short answer
You phone, we ask five questions, we dispatch a van usually within 30 to 60 minutes for serious damage, we make the property safe with timber boarding or temporary glass, we leave you with photos and an invoice, and we book the permanent replacement for daytime hours. The whole process is designed so the tenant goes back to bed and you do not get a follow-up call at 2am.
The first phone call
We have a glazier on the phone after hours, not a call centre. Five things they will ask:
- Address and access. Where is the property and how do we get to it.
- What is broken. Window, door, shopfront, splashback. Approximate size and type.
- Is the property secure right now. Is anyone vulnerable, is the property exposed.
- Tenant or owner on site. Who is letting us in and at what number.
- Insurance or invoice. Is this a strata claim, a landlord invoice, or a tenant pay.
That call takes two to three minutes. By the time we hang up, the van is moving.
Response times across Western Sydney
Honest numbers, not marketing numbers:
- Penrith CBD, Jamisontown, Kingswood, South Penrith: 30 to 45 minutes
- Emu Plains, Glenmore Park, Cambridge Park: 30 to 60 minutes
- St Marys, Cranebrook, Castlereagh, Werrington: 45 to 75 minutes
- Mt Druitt, Blacktown: 60 to 90 minutes
- Hawkesbury, Blue Mountains foothills: 75 to 120 minutes
These hold for most weeknights and weekends. They blow out during heavy rain, on long weekends and after public holiday storms when half the suburb has a broken window. We will give you a realistic ETA on the call.
What the van carries
A well-stocked emergency van has:
- A range of pre-cut timber sheets for boarding, plus a circular saw for custom cuts.
- A roll of clear polycarbonate for high-visibility make-safes.
- Standard stock glass in 4mm and 6mm clear and obscure.
- A toolkit for removing damaged sashes, doors and shopfront panels.
- Drop sheets, vacuum, brushes for cleanup.
- Camera and phone for documentation.
- Generator and lighting for after-dark work.
If a job needs specialty glass that we do not carry, we make-safe with timber or polycarbonate and order the right panel for the next available day.
How we make a property safe
The job is to leave the property in a state where it is secure, weather-tight and safe to live in until the permanent repair.
For a smashed bedroom window in a Cranebrook rental, that usually means:
- Remove the broken sash if needed, or clear all loose glass from the frame.
- Vacuum the area inside and out.
- Cut a timber board to fit the opening.
- Fix it from the inside, weather-sealed.
- Photograph before, during and after.
- Email a report to the property manager.
For a smashed shopfront, the same process but with bigger boards and sometimes a bollard or two against the entry.
For a broken door panel, often we can install temporary glass instead of boarding, so the property still has light and looks normal from the street.
The photo report
The single thing real estate and strata managers tell us they want most is documentation. We send a short email or text with:
- Time of arrival.
- Description of damage.
- What we did to make-safe.
- Before, during and after photos.
- Quoted cost of the permanent replacement.
- Booking time for the permanent install.
That email becomes the evidence trail for insurance, the bond inspection, the strata claim, or just your tenant file.
Cost: what to expect
After-hours make-safe pricing depends on time of day, distance and complexity. A typical residential make-safe for a single broken pane in the Penrith area sits in the lower three-figure range, plus the permanent replacement which is quoted separately.
Things that change the cost:
- Time of night (post-midnight is more expensive than 8pm).
- Distance from base.
- Size of the panel.
- Cleanup complexity.
- Whether the frame is damaged.
For strata portfolios with frequent emergency call-outs, we set up an account with agreed pricing so there is no negotiation in the middle of the night.
What a permanent replacement looks like the next day
Make-safe is the holding pattern. The real fix follows.
For a standard residential window, we book the permanent install for the next morning if the glass is in stock, or for the following day if it has to be cut and toughened. The tenant is at home for the install or we collect a key from the office.
For commercial work, often the permanent replacement happens before opening the next morning. Retailers in Penrith Plaza have called us at 11pm on a Friday for a broken window and been trading by 9am Saturday with the permanent panel installed.
Working with insurance
Most after-hours glass damage is covered by:
- Building insurance for owner-occupiers.
- Landlord insurance for rentals.
- Commercial property insurance for retail and office.
- Strata insurance for common property.
We can invoice direct to the insurer in most cases, or to the landlord or strata manager who then claims. We supply quotes and photos in whatever format the insurer prefers.
The key is the police event number for break-ins and vandalism. Ring 131 444 before you ring us if it is a forced entry.
Setting up an account if you manage a portfolio
If you manage a real estate rent roll, a strata portfolio, or a chain of retail sites, the smoothest setup is an account with us. That gives you:
- A single phone number with priority routing.
- Agreed pricing schedule.
- Single invoice per month or per job.
- Standard reporting format.
- Direct dispatch without re-explaining the situation.
We do this with several property management companies across Penrith and Western Sydney. Email us at sales@pantherglass.com.au or call 02 4722 2787 during business hours to set it up.
When to call us
If the tenant or owner says any of these things, call us immediately:
- “There is glass on the floor and the window is gone.”
- “There has been a break-in.”
- “A tree branch has come through the lounge room.”
- “The shopfront is cracked and I have to open at 9am.”
- “The shower screen has exploded.”
Phone us on 02 4722 2787 twenty-four hours a day. For non-urgent quotes, the contact form is the fastest way through.
FAQ
Do you charge a call-out fee separate from the work? Yes. The call-out fee covers the after-hours travel and labour to get to site and assess. The repair or make-safe is quoted on top. We tell you both numbers on the call.
Can you come out if I cannot meet you at the property? Yes, if we can get access. Many strata managers leave a key with us in advance for that exact situation.
What if the panel is a non-standard size and you do not have the glass? We make-safe with timber or polycarbonate, take the measurements, order the panel and return for the permanent install the next day or the day after.
Do you work on Christmas, New Year, public holidays? Yes. Glass does not care what day it is. Neither do we.
The point of an after-hours service is that no one has to think about it past the first phone call. Save the number now so you have it when you need it.
