NY State law on having heat on for a customer ?

Unknown

She went off the deep end when she saw the new Burnham steamer was less than 1/2 the size of the old Weil dry fired . She demanded we install a boiler the same size as the other one . She told us not to install the one we had in place already , a Burnham V83 . In one hour she was on the phone at least 10 times - with her husband , with her " lawyer " , and quite a few managers at my company . At one point I try to explain that the old one was seriously oversized and we can't risk going down her stairs with a heavy load again - you could see them splitting apart from the 1st boiler .

Oh yeah , I forgot to mention..... this place is a rental , and she is not the owner .

When I told her we couldn't bring down another boiler till the stairs are fixed , she TOLD me it is a NYS law that we must have the heat back on within 5 days . I've heard of city laws that say a landlord needs to have the heat on , but this is a dry fired boiler and I know our service contracts don't cover this , and we don't own this house .

Anyone ever hear of a state law that specifically says a heating company has to have the heat on for their customers in a circumstance like this ?

jim lockard

No

Unknown

Short and sweet

Thanks Jim .

lchmb

Where

So where is the owner? I would contact him and explain the situation. Knowing you guy's do your work ahead of time I have no doubt the boiler was just what was needed. I would have finished the install, turned on the heat and smiled as the house warmed up...:) Let us know what happened with this one, I'm really curious now....

kevin coppinger_4

really....

what's it to her...is she paying? She probabaly should...after all it dryfired...lack of attention....did you tell het is would give her heat faster and cost less to run? Let me guess...they don't pay for the heat bill do they...some peoples kids...kpc

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mark smith

i woulda packed up my tools and screwed long ago

Unknown

Actually

it wasn't a dry fire ( we did so many steamers this past few weeks I mix the jobs up ) . The upper O rings were leaking like a sieve . I'm not sure who pays the fuel bill , but my guess is it's not them . I do know that they didn't pay for the boiler . I guess it comes down to tenant rights - can they arbitrarily deny work in the home they rent if they so decide , and leave us liable for not having the heat on ? I mean , she did stop US from working .

Unknown

Ahh

if it were only that easy , Mark . But we do have a good relationship with the owner , and we do not want a misinformed tenant souring that relationship .

Unknown

Lchmb

The owner resides overseas , so I'd guess the day to day dealings are done by an estate manager or lawyer . The whole situation was smoothed over by my manager who explained to the tenant how we sized the boiler . Everything pointed to a V83 for a replacement .

John S.

Simply tell the tenant...

you are working for the owner and she needs to take up any concerns with her dwelling up with him/her... or to just go fly a kite. As far as I know in Detroit, you need a 48 hour notice to enter a tenants dwelling for service, UNLESS it is an emergency, then you may enter at will.

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Kris_2

NY Law

I am an oil burner tech. My family has a long going lawsuit against an instaler of NG Boilers. In this case the contractor charged us full retail price ofr a new WeilMcLain boiler and installed a used one without telling use. When I came to check on job and caught it he walked. Have gotten as much as a phone call in almost 2 years. The reason I', suing in that the boiler is in a 28 unit motel that was full occupentcy. My elerly grandmother lives at the motel and the cold floors PERMANATLY DAMAGED nerves in her feet. This is an area that is all oil and only 2 or 3 NG. She was unable to get anyone there for 3 months in the dept of winter. There is a NY law in regards to heat when it is somehting that the contractor is at fault for. The contractor not only will be paying us 200k+ in lost business but all for the Pain and Suffering for the rest of my grandmother life. But regardless it is NONE of the tenants business. The tenant can sue thier landlord and in return the landlord can sue who ever is at fault. I had a mobile home tenant that tried telling me what I had to do last week, I kindly told her that it was not up to her and I would not fix her system until I had approval from landlord and payment secured upfront.

This

Unknown

That's a sad story

Why anyone would try to sell something used for new is beyond me . It borders on the criminal , probably is criminal . Was his company licenced ? Did you contact Weil Mclain to find out where the boiler came from ? I hope your grandmother is doing better , is the heat back on ?

Unknown

Couldn't do that

once she told us to stop , we have to abide by whoever is living in the home . Or so I would think the law goes .

How this all relates to the contract , and if we had to do the job in a timely manner after she stopped us is the big question .....

We did the job regardless , with the V83 .

DanHolohan

Here's the law:

Heat must be supplied from October 1 through May 31, to tenants in multiple dwellings if: a) the outdoor temperature falls below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, between 6 A.M. and 10 P.M., each apartment must be heated to a temperature of at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit; (b) the outdoor temperature falls below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, between the hours of 10 P.M. and 6 A.M., each apartment must be heated to a temperature of at least 55 degrees Fahrenheit. (Multiple Dwelling Law § 79)

If the equipment isn't there, it's tough to do this.

John S.

ron jr.

Legally, I don't believe that's the case. As long as she was notified properly of the building's need of maintenance and timing of said maintenance... there's nothing SHE can do, except of course, make your day miserable with arguing, etc.

That's aside from the fact that you may not want to work under those conditions.

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Mark Hunt

Ah Geeze!


I love it when people start with the "I'm calling my lawyer" crap!! I ask them if he knows how to install a heating systems! If not, what's the point??????

I have too many stories of crazies to go into here Ron, but you are not alone.

The only person responsible for maintaining heat in the building is the owner. Your company has NO liability here unless you guaranteed heat. If a "tenant" decides to shut the work down, they have assumed responsibility for any inconvenience they may suffer since they decided to over-ride the contract between your company and the owner. It's all in the signatures! She has a legal right to protest, but it has to go before an arbitrator. That would take MONTHS!!!!

Bet she gave in within 24 hours with no heat.

Next time we meet, ask me about the lady with "powdered electricity". One of my favorites!

Mark H

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Mark Hunt

Ah Geez!


I love it when people start with the "I'm calling my lawyer" crap!! I ask them if he knows how to install a heating systems! If not, what's the point??????

I have too many stories of crazies to go into here Ron, but you are not alone.

The only person responsible for maintaining heat in the building is the owner. Your company has NO liability here unless you guaranteed heat. If a "tenant" decides to shut the work down, they have assumed responsibility for any inconvenience they may suffer since they decided to over-ride the contract between your company and the owner. It's all in the signatures! She has a legal right to protest, but it has to go before an arbitrator. That would take MONTHS!!!!

Bet she gave in within 24 hours with no heat.

Next time we meet, ask me about the lady with "powdered electricity". One of my favorites!

Mark H

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Unknown

You said it .

Hard to do if the equipment aint there ( or is refused ) . This was one of those jobs you never forget . Thanks for the info Dan .

Unknown

Nope , no guarantee

on steam boilers . Funny thing was , once my supervisor told her how we size boilers and said this boiler was fine ( reiterating what I said ) , she changed into the nicest person you could meet . Her son was down there watching us build the header , asked 100 questions while she did laundry down there . We even made a new friend in Tony the dog .

I'd love to hear the powdered electricity story . I got quite a few I can share in person only , too .

Al Corelli

That is for MULTIPLE DWELLINGS.

If the "correct boiler" (according to her)is not available, then she has to wait till one is available.

Since when is it our problem? Their equipment failed, They want a certain size, THEY HAVE TO WAIT.


If the owner gives you permission to be in HIS house, SHE cannot say or do squat.

I would have the owner, or the owners agent onsite for the whole job to document any foolishness by the tennant.

Thank God I work for myself. I would walk out and leave the block there with NOTHING else. I'd take the loss. Life is too damn short to work for imbeciles.

Good luck, Buddy. Sorry you have to deal with her.

I am BURNING mad at this.

Al Corelli

Thank you for coherently putting my thoughts on (electronic) paper. I have not been sleeping much for the past few weeks.

"Powdered Electricity"???

I MUST hear this one.