first floor extension

[ofourcobra]

Hey guys looked at a 3 family house where the homeowner is adding a extension of the first floor,or so he says ,now he also is adding a kitchen and bath to this so called first floor extension .the home owner doesn't occupy the first floor ,so essentially he is adding a fourth unit to his building ,but he says the other electricians who looked at said he could bring the basement circuits to the first floor panel ,is the true ?I couldn't find anything that says no ,but the land lord will have to pay the first floors electric bill cause now it will do the basement as well.I wonder if I should walk away now

 

[mivey]

Who owns what? Who lives where? What is the landlord relationship to the homeowner? Sounds like the homeowner was ok in paying for the extension's use but the landlord might not be???

You can bring from any unit you want if the resident/owner doesn't care.

 

[Paelectrician]

Who owns what? Who lives where? What is the landlord relationship to the homeowner? Sounds like the homeowner was ok in paying for the extension's use but the landlord might not be???

You can bring from any unit you want if the resident/owner doesn't care.

Who is gonna be paying the electric bill for this? If it is the landlord than i don't see a problem. If the tenant is to pay for this and the basement is common use to all tenants, i believe this would be illegal!

 

[ofourcobra]

Sorry doing this from my blackberry.ok the owner of the building doesn't live in the building ,the person renting the first floor has nothing to do with this basement unit ,but yet the owner of the building wants me to rough wire this basement unit to the first floor bath ,so to the building dept.he is calling this an extension of the first floor when ultimately it will be a fourth unit .how could the building dept let him add a kitchen and bath to a so called extension to the first floor ,when the first floor tenant will have no access to this unit

 

[Paelectrician]

Sorry doing this from my blackberry.ok the owner of the building doesn't live in the building ,the person renting the first floor has nothing to do with this basement unit ,but yet the owner of the building wants me to rough wire this basement unit to the first floor bath ,so to the building dept.he is calling this an extension of the first floor when ultimately it will be a fourth unit .how could the building dept let him add a kitchen and bath to a so called extension to the first floor ,when the first floor tenant will have no access to this unit

So basically one tenant would be flipping the bill for another tenants electric, or does the landlord cover the electric bill as part of the rent?

 

[mivey]

Sounds convoluted but it is not up to you to referee the utility agreements. I would write up any concerns in the contract and state that my work does not include coordinating the units and working out future access issues. Take the money and let them work out the details.

I am quite sure I would let it "slip" to the basement tenant that the extension is served from his meter.

Add: Maybe the basement tenant has some tie to the use of the extension you don't know about.

 

[ofourcobra]

Nope tenants pay their electric bill,I always thought bedroom ,bath,kitchen equals apartment,which I would think he needs a fourth meter ,but he is trying to get around this ,and this will be another rent in his pocket ,I just don't get how the building dept doesn't see these things a mile away

 

[Paelectrician]

clearly they are not paying very good attention to it. This would be illegal for the landlord to do. I doubt you would be legally responsible for the problem. I personally would walk away from it however! Good luck no matter how you choose to deal with it.

 

[bilbuz]

Offer to install a sub panel fed from a customer owned check meter so that the usage can be monitored or divided accordingly between the the tenants. Realize the public utility has rules regarding the "resale" of there power which usually boils down to this: The bill has to be in the favor of the consumer and the landlord cannot make a profit from the transaction.
If there is not going to be a building permit issued then walk.

 

[Paelectrician]

I bet, the first sign of trouble from this the guy would say well my electrician said this is the way to go. I asked him several times if this would be fine and he told me i have nothing to worry about this is how things are done.

 

[mivey]

I bet, the first sign of trouble from this the guy would say well my electrician said this is the way to go. I asked him several times if this would be fine and he told me i have nothing to worry about this is how things are done.

Two words:
Signed documentation.

 

[Paelectrician]

Two words:
Signed documentation.

Right to what effect, yes i knew what he had me doing, was gonna be used illegally but i had him sign a paper saying i'm not responsible! I would distance myself from this as quick as possible.

 

[mivey]

Right to what effect, yes i knew what he had me doing, was gonna be used illegally but i had him sign a paper saying i'm not responsible! I would distance myself from this as quick as possible.

I'm sorry your honor but my crystal ball is in the shop for repairs, so I had no idea whether or not they were having another contractor address the items I noted. My scope of work clearly did not cover those items.

 

[Paelectrician]

I'm sorry your honor but my crystal ball is in the shop for repairs, so I had no idea whether or not they were having another contractor address the items I noted. My scope of work clearly did not cover those items.

Can't argue thats good very good. I would still just avoid it completely.

 

[mivey]

Can't argue thats good very good. I would still just avoid it completely.

Yeah. It might not be worth the potential headache.

 

[ofourcobra]

I might just stay away ,but just wanted to make sure cause he had 3 other guys look at it and they saw no problem with it .But it doesnt make it right