NYC gas explosion

Robert O'Brien

http://nypost.com/2016/02/11/5-arrested-in-fatal-east-village-building-explosion/

Paul S_3

I see shady stuff everyday in this city....like the pic below renovation in house, national grid meter lock on floor clearly cut with grinder and the bypassed gas meter, no master plumber on job...I was there to move a/c unit

Abracadabra

****! At least use black pipe instead of the flex!

SWEI

Initial reports were that they accidentally hit a gas line. This one says an illegally tapped gas line. Hmmm...

bklynfrank

Is the yellow flex line connected to the house side of the meter headers? Maybe to pressure test?

Harvey Ramer

Looks legit. Jk

When will people realize they can't be messing around with gas piping. It's not plumbing, it's gas and it will kill you. Same with high voltage electricity.

I've lost a lot of potential work from landlords because I do things the way they need to be done and it costs what it costs.

Steamhead

About time some of them faced criminal charges.

EzzyT

The self serve inspections in NYC don't make it any easier to get rid of the permit stampers and hacks

SlamDunk

I don't know what's worse. The fact that people died, or the fact that the landlord and contractor investigating the complaint of gas odor bolted out of there without warning others to flee for their lives. Cowards!

Ironman

Paul S said:

I see shady stuff everyday in this city....like the pic below renovation in house, national grid meter lock on floor clearly cut with grinder and the bypassed gas meter, no master plumber on job...I was there to move a/c unit

The sad irony is that ANYONE can walk into a big box store and buy CSST and flex connectors to facilitate them in doing these kind of things.

I have (and am required) certification on all major brands of CSST, but ANYONE can buy it at the big box store. ONCE, the cashier ask me for a certification because the register flagged it. I showed her my master gas fitter license and she accepted that, but the actual requirement was for certification on THAT brand of CSST.

How do you get certified on that brand? Pay the store $2 for the booklet on the shelf, fill out the card in the back of it saying that you read the booklet and then show the card to the cashier! Thus, Harry Homeowner, Joe Handyman or Curly the Carpenter are now "certified" gas installers.

SlamDunk

The article says: "Bronx based contractor and two licensed plumbers.

NYC has tough laws, are all licensed plumbers allowed to work on gas lines?

If a homeowner blows himself up, he dies with his mistake which is usually enough to stop most people but what do you do when licensed people break the law? I won't call them pros.

Paul S_3

Yes all license plumbers are allowed to work on gas ....

LarryK

But the person who does the work isn't usually the one with the license, right? A few years ago there was an artist loft building on a canal that forms the north border of Brooklyn that had had years of illegal home rigged gas lines in it. The landlord hired a licensed contractor to to fix it. The licensed contractor left a valve open or something and half the windows on one floor ended up on the wharf below. Fortunately there were only a couple of injured tenants, no deaths.

SlamDunk

it was in this case.

gennady

This is a case of cover up.
Unlicensed plumber paid licensed plumber to open permit but not to do actual work.

Plumbing code allows licensed plumber directly employ plumbers to work under his direct and continious supervision.