So I live in a 4 story building with about 40 units. One of the units down the hall from me hired some Yahoos to change out their in unit AC. I saw the guys doing it and they looked like a couple of 20something kids. Low and behold they fucked something up and I came home to this...



Whatever they did tripped the sprinkler system and completely flooded 4 apartments that from what I saw are a total loss. That was about 12 hours ago. Whatever happened the fire fighters couldn't shut off the sprinklers so the water had to be shut off to the entire building. So of course I come to this after a 5 mile run and a haircut with no way to take a shower use the bathroom etc. there's people pissing in the parking lot. Now am I wrong for telling the HOA rep who lives in the building that if this isn't fixed by tomorrow I'm going to get a hotel room and deduct the cost from the dues. It's not our faults that these guys made a mistake and now everyone suffers. The people in the ruined apt's got it the worse but they were put up in hotels by the AC company and will be made whole by the companies insurance. I told the HOA rep that the least they could do is go get big jugs of water to fill our toilets. His response was "you're more than welcome to do that yourself but I'm not going to." What the fuck are all the dues for?

So tomorrow I go back to work for a 12 hour shift stinky and annoyed. I'm a shower freak too...I take like 3 a day. Oh and the best part is that they have to locate some part that they are going to "try" and get by tomorrow so no idea how long this might go for.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dusty78,

Nope. Not your HOA's problem.

It's the A/C company's problem. If you want to leave the building and stay somewhere, your reimbursement claims should be directed to the A/C company.

Think about it this way--your HOA dues go into a fund for the maintenance of the common areas. If everyone in the building spends a few hundred bucks to stay at a hotel, then you are all just emptying your own HOA fund. Less money in your fund means more dues to replenish the fund down the road. In the end, you are just spending your own money.

In the end, it's the A/C company's fault, not the HOA's. You are being pissed off at the wrong people.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Nope. Not your HOA's problem.

It's the A/C company's problem. If you want to leave the building and stay somewhere, your reimbursement claims should be directed to the A/C company.

Think about it this way--your HOA dues go into a fund for the maintenance of the common areas. If everyone in the building spends a few hundred bucks to stay at a hotel, then you are all just emptying your own HOA fund. Less money in your fund means more dues to replenish the fund down the road.

In the end, it's the A/C company's fault, not the HOA's. You are being pissed off at the wrong people.

So I asked about that and the AC guys were by then long gone and the HOA wouldn't give me their info. They told me to put it through my homeowners as a loss. The other question is the people that rent here. They use one leasing company...shouldn't tenants protectived against this if water is in their lease?

Shit happens. It is aggravating when it is preventable. Be thankful your apartment did not flood. Find a friend where you can shower or rent a hotel room. Things like this never happen at a convenient time. A year from now it will be a distant memory.

I'm surprised that, with the entire building waterless, you're being allowed to stay in the building at all. No water for sprinklers = life safety issue around here.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Shit happens. It is aggravating when it is preventable. Be thankful your apartment did not flood. Find a friend where you can shower or rent a hotel room. Things like this never happen at a convenient time. A year from now it will be a distant memory.

Probably not since this is the 3rd time we have had water issues. One time it was because the Management company hired by the HOA didn't pay the water bill. That time it was off for 2 days and the then management company lied and said it was the city's fault. That company eventually got booted.

Sounds like a PITA but something you can work around pretty easily? An inconvenience as long as it's resolved before the weekend?

Yeah I heard that. Time to consider other housing perhaps, if this is a recurring problem.

I would head to a hotel right now and get a shower and some rest. I'd be pissed off, too.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Yeah I heard that. Time to consider other housing perhaps, if this is a recurring problem.

Yes I'm currently looking actually. I kinda wanted to keep this as a rental and move elsewhere in the city but HOA's are basically everywhere.

I did a little reading on NFPA 13R and the blame for lack of water overnight lies with your HOA. To avoid electronic monitoring of the sprinkler system, your HOA chose to follow the exception, "NFPA 13R systems using a common water supply for domestic use and the sprinkler system, provided a separate shutoff valve is not installed for the sprinkler system (B903.4, Exception 3)"

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I did a little reading on NFPA 13R and the blame for lack of water overnight lies with your HOA. To avoid electronic monitoring of the sprinkler system, your HOA chose to follow the exception, "NFPA 13R systems using a common water supply for domestic use and the sprinkler system, provided a separate shutoff valve is not installed for the sprinkler system (B903.4, Exception 3)"

Thank you!

Were they supposed to pull a permit for the AC work? Wouldn't the HOA need to sign off on that? Accidents happen but if these yahoos were yahoos, sounds like someone may have skipped some steps here.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeGLI:
Were they supposed to pull a permit for the AC work? Wouldn't the HOA need to sign off on that? Accidents happen but if these yahoos were yahoos, sounds like someone may have skipped some steps here.

When I briefly spoke with one of the fire fighters they said something about copper wire and something the AC guys should have done that set off the sprinklers. I couldn't hear that well as the alarms were going off too

quote:

Originally posted by Dusty78:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I did a little reading on NFPA 13R and the blame for lack of water overnight lies with your HOA. To avoid electronic monitoring of the sprinkler system, your HOA chose to follow the exception, "NFPA 13R systems using a common water supply for domestic use and the sprinkler system, provided a separate shutoff valve is not installed for the sprinkler system (B903.4, Exception 3)"

Thank you!

You are welcome.

I do want to add that I think motor59 hit the nail on the head. Without sprinklers, I wouldn't be spending the night there. Depending on who you believe, 0.5% to 2.5% of the population is batshit crazy and a building with 40 units probably has someone who is burnin' down the building crazy.

The Raleigh fire in March kinda' illustrates the need to GTFO until the sprinklers work again.

quote:

Originally posted by Dusty78:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Nope. Not your HOA's problem.

It's the A/C company's problem. If you want to leave the building and stay somewhere, your reimbursement claims should be directed to the A/C company.

Think about it this way--your HOA dues go into a fund for the maintenance of the common areas. If everyone in the building spends a few hundred bucks to stay at a hotel, then you are all just emptying your own HOA fund. Less money in your fund means more dues to replenish the fund down the road.

In the end, it's the A/C company's fault, not the HOA's. You are being pissed off at the wrong people.

So I asked about that and the AC guys were by then long gone and the HOA wouldn't give me their info. They told me to put it through my homeowners as a loss. The other question is the people that rent here. They use one leasing company...shouldn't tenants protectived against this if water is in their lease?

If the harm isn't caused by the landlord, why should the landlord bear the burden?

The A/C people caused the harm, they get to reimburse the losses.

Doesn't really matter what sort of sprinkler system was installed. If the A/C people break it, they get to make everyone whole, including all the tenants.

I had a fire inspection company break a water main and had to shut the water off from the street. The fire inspection company had to pay a fire watch to sit in the parking lot and watch for fire for a few days.

Similarly, if the a/c company can't make the building safe, they're responsible for the costs associated.

Get the name of the a/c company, make a claim to their insurance. Or, make a claim to your insurance and let them go after the a/c company.

I imagine that the torch brazing of an AC system created smoke, then fire, and then sprinkler opening. I am told that a sprinkler has a mechanical thermally initiated switch that opens only one sprinkler at a time. Unlike the movies.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
I imagine that the torch brazing of an AC system created smoke, then fire, and then sprinkler opening. I am told that a sprinkler has a mechanical thermally initiated switch that opens only one sprinkler at a time. Unlike the movies.

Yes, although a bit simpler; most wet systems have either a glass plug or metal plug that melts out at a certain temperature. Dry systems all activate at the same time and are used in spaces line paint lockers and ammo stores.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I did a little reading on NFPA 13R and the blame for lack of water overnight lies with your HOA. To avoid electronic monitoring of the sprinkler system, your HOA chose to follow the exception, "NFPA 13R systems using a common water supply for domestic use and the sprinkler system, provided a separate shutoff valve is not installed for the sprinkler system (B903.4, Exception 3)"

This is surprising to me. I've never seen a single shut off for both drinking water and sprinkler. Not once. I don't do anything related to sprinkler systems, but I'm in a lot of residential and commercial buildings poking around in the bowels. This defies common sense. The only thing I can guess it ensures if there is a problem with sprinklers it is fixed fast. People will go without life safety stuff no problem, but inconvenience them then it's an emergency.