Right of access to do plumbing

Hi,

I'm new to this forum. I'm in California. I'm a new commercial condo owner on the second floor and my contractor needs access from downstair's unit to do plumbing work.

We spoke to tenants downstairs and they are fine with access. However, when their landlord (condo owner downstairs) found out we would like access, they said we have no rights to access the common space in between the floors through their units to do plumbing.

We checked CC&R and the CC&R is silent on right of access for tenant improvement. CC&R has a clause for Condo HOA to access common space for improvement but is silent on condo owner's rights to do tenant improvement.

We checked with the contractor, and there's no other solution but to access through the downstair's unit. We told the owner/tenant downstairs that we would be willing to sign any indemnification clause and we even showed them our plan and walked them through what we plan to do and the answer is still "No."

Please help as I don't know what are my options now. Are there any civil code or HOA rules that can help when CC&R is silent on this topic?

I don't know if I can bring legal action as CC&R is not in my favor.

HOA attorney has been consulted and said CC&R is not clear on access so it doesn't sound like we have a case.

The unit is in satisfactory condition but we want to re-do plumbing as we are moving bathroom to a different location and adding additional sinks to the unit.

HOA manager also said he has limited influence over the condo-owner who is refusing access. I spoke to the HOA board and one board member is ready to give notice to the landlord's tenants who have unapproved signage as the Board also found it hard to believe that one of their condo-owner would refuse access and not be cooperative.

We have a licensed contractor, pulled the permit, will add them as additional insured for insurance, and willing to sign indemnification/damage clause if the downstair's owner needs it.

There's sheet rock above the T-bar ceiling of downstairs unit and plywood above the sheet rock so contractor said the only method is to pop the ceiling tiles from downstairs unit.

access for repairs = easement of necessity

access for ELECTIVE changes = ?????

re: insurance

since the HOA has insurance on the EXISTING building any changes to building MAY or MAY NOT affect the HOA's policy coverage(s)

the contractor THEMSELVES needs to be:
LICENSED (sometimes electric and plumbing require separate licenses)
INSURED
PERFORMANCE BONDED (to ensure quality of work in order to avoid "that's what the contractor gave me" scenarios)

you needed a plan and specifications BEFORE the job was 'bid out' - not: 'I want a new bath over there, give me what you think.......'

best of luck with your project

you WILL get EXACTLY what you actually pay for - not necessarily what you want

CAVEAT EMPTOR

remember: "Never stop improving" (the shareholder's profits, that is)

They do not care if we pay them for access. The Board of HOA approved our construction plan. Our contractor is licensed, bonded, and insured. Both the contractor and I are willing to sign indemnication/damage clause.

The co-owner downstairs is an attorney and said it's within his right not to give us access just because he doesn't feel like to.

His tenants are OK to give us access so it's the Landlord's issue. Doesn't the tenant own the space?

The Board is aware of this situation and one board member suggested to enforce code compliance to ask their tenant to remove unapproved signage and exterior improvements that the HOA did not authorize if the owner downstairs continue to be difficult.

I'm running out of options so any help/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

P.S. and there is a lot of finger pointing when something goes wrong. So even if you say you will cover it ...

He's a lawyer too, so he knows the drift there, with the blame game. It could be expensive and disruptive for him for a very long time.

No, we are not poking holes to his ceiling. The downstair's unit has pop tiles with T-bar ceiling. So, the contractor will be popping the removable ceiling tile and putting the tile back in. Contractor even offered to replace any old/damaged ceiling tile.

The board members who approved my construction plan also sit on the Architectural Committee so HOA board has approved my construction plan and we have pulled the permit with the city for our plan.

Thank you all for your comments/help. It's going to be hard to challenge an owner who's an attorney himself.