New York's Cooperative and Condominium Community
The neighbor above me installed this with a new fridge. Subsequently there was a very
damaging leak.
The Superintendent covered up the source of the leak (the guy upstairs is a big tipper.).
The Super has again worked on the line (no leak - yet).
Is it normal for super's to work on shareholder refrigerators or their attached ice-maker lines?
I am concerned the leak will happen again.
What can be done?
Our board and managing agent is in total denial about the continual misinformation give to them by the super.
They are comfy. The Super kisses up to them. They turn a blind eye. They are quick to call shareholders who speak the truth trouble makers. No matter how clear the writing on the wall is.
The situation is very difficult They have no idea about the many illegal and unsafe "side jobs" that occur.
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Hi, so you have a few issues here. The first is that since this leak originated from the ice-maker, this would fall to the shareholder above for responsibility, most likely, according to the Proprietary Lease.
The second issue that you potentially have is that there may be a cover-up on the issue or the leak source. What I would recommend that you do is place your position in writing to the Board of Directors and include as much proof as you can, including pictures and your account of the leak. Once the Board receives that they should investigate the issue and report back their findings.
Different buildings have different policies with regards to working in apartments by the building staff. This is not a plumbing job that would normally require a master plumber, so it's very likely that your building will allow it. If they don't allow work in the apartment, this could be an issue with the board and if the superintendent doesn't carry the proper insurance, it's possible that there can be liability issues when there are damages as a result.
These are all tricky topics, but you really need to dial in to the Board and see what their thought process is on the super's work, subsequent damages that you sustained and the lack of transparency on the cause. The last item that you should speak with them about is proof of a proper repair so it doesn't happen again.
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