steps required for gas turn-on in nyc

DaveC

Couple of things: If he passed the gas roughing and gas test, he should be able to resubmit the corrected paperwork without redoing the test. If you go on NYC.GOV and go to the Dept. of Buildings home page on the left side "Building Information System (BIS)" & type in your address, you can see everything there is to know about your permits, inspections, violations, etc. Be forewarned - it is NOT particularly user-friendly. If you get stuck, post back. Also, the Blue Card refers back to when the City actually issued a card stating you passed your gas test, which you would then give to the gas company. Now, it just refers to the signoff being in the system. By the way, nobody knows all the ins and outs of the system and that's just the way they like it over there. Wouldn't want all those friendly faces behind the counter and expediters to starve now would we?

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tracy_2

I'm nearing the end of a year-long renovation of a brownstone in Brooklyn, NY. The renovation included new gas-fired boilers for hot water loop heat through cast-iron baseboard radiators, as well as gas hot water heaters and gas for cooking. The building and water used to be heated with oil, and used gas for cooking.

My problem is that the plumbing subcontractor has botched the gas inspection twice, with the latest failed inspection due to (i believe) incorrect documentation (hot water was not listed as a "gas use", but the hot water heaters were listed under "gas-fired equipment"). The gas roughing inspection has already be passed.

As i don't want another failed inspection, I'm trying to understand exactly what needs to happen to pass the (final?) gas inspection and get the gas turned on. I haven't had much luck finding this out via the NY Dept of Buildings, and I keep getting the runaround with my plumbing subcontractor. I've heard something about a "Blue Card", but have no idea what that is or what it means.

Currently, there are no meters installed and the gas supply values, where the gas enters the building, have locks on them from the gas utility company.

Any help in educating me about the process, or where I might go for answers, is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
tracy

RTB

The blue card is what the city issues (electronic or paper, don't know) to signify that the lines pass inspection. COn Ed installs the meter after the lines are inspected. No step is completed in less than a month or more. It's a nightmare. If you've lost confidence in your contractor, hire an expediter. They know how to make these things happen. They are expensive. There is no hope of you doing anything yourself. Hope you owe the plumber lots of $$. If you've paid him, he will shift his focus to something he can make work, like someone's toilet.

Al Corelli

Con Ed takes their sweet time.

tracy_2

thanks to everyone who replied. if nothing else, it makes me feel less crazy knowing that my problems aren't unique.

yes, i'm unfortunately pretty familiar with the less-than-user-friendly DOB website, and i can see that my property has passed the "GAS PIPING ROUGHING" inspection. however, the "GAS PIPING GAS TEST LOW" is the inspection that has not passed, which i assume is due to my documentation problem (although i can't get a definitive answer about exactly what the problem was).

we have an expediter, although i'm not sure how effective he's been. he continually promises dates when things will happen, which then don't happen. for instance, the doc change was supposed to be done on tuesday, but the change still does not show up on the DOB website.

and, as i live in Brooklyn, the gas utility is Keyspan, not ConEd.

bob young

gas test

it is the total responsibility of the lic. plumber to arrange and sign off on ANY gas test. unless their is a monetary dispute tell him to resolve the matter. if he cannot or will not than you will be forced to hire another lic. plumber. homeowners cannot schedule any legal gas work. are you sure he is a registered lic. plumber ? the expider works and gets paid by the plumber. the expiditer cannot do ANYTHING without authorization by the plumber. if the test failed it must be retested . there evidently is a leak & that is not good. you are not even supposed to be talking to the expiditer ,that is the plumbers job. the expiditer is merely a messenger that hand delivers the plumbers documents. those are the real facts.

tracy_2

yes, the plumber is licensed and registered.

is my talking with the expediter illegal in some way? or is it just that i shouldn't *have* to be talking with the expediter? it's the fact that my gas is still not on that i tracked down the expediter.

i truly hope that the gas test didn't fail. i still owe the plumber a good chunk of money, so hopefully that will be incentive for him to do what needs doing to get my gas turned on.