Dec 122017
 

Just a gentle reminder to all owners, especially those living on upper floors.

Hot water heaters age and can leak when they fail, causing serious damage to your own or your neighbor’s Unit. Is your water heater more than 10 years old?  It may be time for a new one.  This is especially important for upstairs units, because flooding affects your downstairs neighbor’s unit, as well as your own. 

Owners will be responsible for any of their own repairs and also that of their affected neighbors.  The CC&R’s state that “Each Owner shall maintain, repair and replace their water heater…” (Section 6.10) and that “Owners shall be liable for all damages caused by water leaks due to willful or negligent act or omission that originate inside their Units.” (Section 5.1.1). It will be less expensive for your costs, time, energy, and recovering from the disruption. 

For those who might want to consider a tankless hot water heater, these will require an enlarged vent pipe that will involve expensive retrofit work through the roof as well as installation of an additional electrical line.

Architectural board approval, a Palo Alto City permit and a licensed plumber are all required for this work.  Palo Alto code now requires a catch pan under the heater with a drain to the outside. This may be difficult in our 38 year old buildings, but Dominic from Boncore Builders negotiated some solutions with the city planning department. Call Julie at CIMS for information and remember to inform CIMS when the work is completed so that the new water heater will be included in our association insurance records.

 Posted by at 3:08 PM