Gas Line Hangers?
Our building had a LL152 inspection done and the result is that we need lots of code compliant pipe hangers installed. Can anyone recommend a company or contractor that installs these but is not a licensed plumber? If we have to pay plumbing rates to install hangers in the basement ceiling we’ll need a 2nd mortgage! Thanks.
ejalbk
in Plumbing 3 years and 6 months ago
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35 replies
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 5 months ago
of course i can put those brackets up. but not in someone else’s house or building. and if i were working for a building (as their employee) where other people work, i would not do it.
here is my fear as a contractor with insurance: lets say i am on the ladder hanging a book case on the wall near that pipe. i slip, i grab the pipe as i am falling. i break the pipe and hell breaks loose. my defense to make my insurance pay is “i was not working on the gas system”. scenario two is this: i am being paid to put the brackets up on the gas pipe as some guy with insurance. i slip, i grab the pipe and fall and take the pipe down with me. all hell breaks loose and my insurance company says “you should not have been working on the gas system and we are not paying out”.
a board member on a coop would be wise to consider those two scenarios i state above before hiring an unlicensed or uninsured; if something goes wrong, other owners will go after that board member as part of the board and individually; they will be looking to nail the board member on anything. the longer someone works in this environment, the better the chance something can go wrong and the more buildings one has the greater the chance; it all grows geometrically.
as for giving advice on this board. first, people who comment on here would be wise to speak from experience and experience doing something in your home is very different than paid experience which is again different than paid experience under a seasoned and educated professional. i will add this, if we can, it is wise to ascertain who we are speaking to, the position of the OP and where they are coming from. No one on here spotted that OP might be a board member (“our building” not “my building”) and no one on here considered what that might mean. it takes experience. property managers use that experience to protect board members from exposure. wise contractors do it as they sell jobs to be sure they are directing clients to something that they can use and can afford and will add value so there will be no regrets later. we also have to think of liability going forward which homeowners do not consider; i have to consider the glass i put in doors as i am responsible for it if someone gets injured going through it 5 or 10 years down the line (hundreds of doors and i have never had a homeowner say “we had better put safety glass in, i have a three year old”. not once has anyone said that and i have to explain the law on glass and the liability to coop boards (many of whom are professionals themselves way above my pay grade). with liability it may not be what can go wrong in the moment the work is being done but what can go wrong later and the insurance investigation that follows (and when coop or condo members turn on one another and the board, people seem to have very long memories; they might be ok with a board member doing something wrong to save 3 grand in the moment; when it suits them they will use it against the board member).
this is coming from someone who has worked on jobs sites or in buildings as part of the support/management staff since the late 1970’s and has never done something that ended up in a liability claim for an employer or for myself as self employed or for a homeowner. and we all hear stories of things going wrong and we all think “how could they have been so stupid”.
as for people who think all this concern is unnecessary, that is fine. i have always tended to prefer working with people who can see the big picture and are concerned about the future.
hkapstein | 3 years and 5 months ago
So learn about it. If you can hang a door you can hang a pipe man.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 5 months ago
do you know what we are like on here, challenging one another and squabbling over things we know nothing about; a coop board.
hkapstein | 3 years and 5 months ago
@maggie I didn’t mean to say that you should just sheetrock over work that is not safe. But in my opinion there is an acceptable way to support pipes, and either it’s there or it isn’t, and it doesn’t require a genius to fix it. If you have two plumbers do the same job, there’s a fair chance they will each find a problem with the other one’s work at the end. If you put the hangers on, the next 152 inspection could fail anyway for another reason that was present at this time, but sheetrocking up reduces the amount of work that might need to be done in the future. The real question is, is it done properly or not.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 5 months ago
for the record: my wife does not like this reasoning: “Sometimes it is better to do nothing instead of doing the wrong thing.” its a good way to avoid or delay responsibility in a commercial space but in ones own house, it can be tough on a marriage.
Guest User | 3 years and 5 months ago
> @Urbandad
> Whoever installed it obviously thought it was, so why is it not compliant?
there’s a lot wrong with this. there’s also a lot wrong with the city’s inspection process, but you cannot assume that it was obviously done right previously and just covering it up with sheet rock is not a solution.
lkrshacmzcy | 3 years and 5 months ago
For the record, I was just giving feedback on my experience. This whole system is a lot of interpretation unfortunately; great intentions but poor execution in my mind.
For example, a large building will get fined 10K for not completing this inspection and nothing further; there are no current follow ups. If the requirements to bring it to code are 50K or more, where is the incentive to actually get it done.
And do not get me started on commercial buildings and what is considered tenant space…
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 5 months ago
my thinking would be, in a building and with safety, it is sometimes better to do NOTHING than do the WRONG THING. At least from the perspective of the person assuming the responsibility.
Inexperienced people, workers and owners, who do not understand that, often create bigger messes than the one they had before they started. so until I knew the right thing, which MP has graciously shared with us, i would do nothing. read.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 5 months ago
well thanks for that MP. a little late, no? or did you have to check the code yourself?
for anyone who thinks what i was saying on here was overkill in an unknown situation, this is the way professionals reason and behave in professionally managed buildings until they learn otherwise. this thinking prevents injury and protects property.