Locks on common mechanical rooms.

Started by TaniaB • 12 replies • 2211 views

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TaniaB (Colorado)
Posts: 4

Posted:

I am the president of a small 4 unit HOA in CO. We have 2 common mechanical rooms - one for boilers and one for water heaters. I am curious if it is legal to install a lock on the doors to these rooms in order to prevent unauthorized access. We currently have a delinquent member who needs to replace his water heater. He does not have a permit for this and over the weekend installed the water heater by himself although it needs to be hooked up to the gas by a state certified plumber. He also needs an engineers report to prove we have sufficient combustion air for all the appliances. I installed a lock on this door to prevent him from accessing it without permission. I notified all the owners and the town and posted a notice on the door stating that this was a safety and liability for the HOA and to please apply for permission to access the area. I want to make sure I am not violating any laws.

MarkM31 (Washington)
Posts: 556

Posted:

are you sure a permit is required to remove and replace a water heater? Some places are very strict, and others do not require a permit for an in kind replacement

MarkM31 (Washington)
Posts: 556

Posted:

Also, by what authority can you lock somebody out of their own private property?

TaniaB (Colorado)
Posts: 4

Posted:

Yes, a permit is required. In fact we all wanted to replace our boilers and water heaters together except this owner refused to come in with us on getting a mechanical engineers blueprints. This was the town's requirement in order for us to obtain permits. Therefore three of us paid for the project for just 3 boilers and water heaters. Of course 2 weeks later his water heater failed and now he is trying to do it illegally.

MarkM31 (Washington)
Posts: 556

Posted:

Quote:

refused to come in with us on getting a mechanical engineers blueprints.

For a remove and replace?

PitA
Posts: 311

Posted:

....so notify code compliance officer / agency and they will "lock out" the non compliant equipment

MarkM31 (Washington)
Posts: 556

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By PitA on 05/26/2015 12:16 PM
....so notify code compliance officer / agency and they will "lock out" the non compliant equipment

Probably not. All they can do is issue a fine in most places.

PitA
Posts: 311

Posted:

nope .... in most jurisdictions they WILL lock out a gas meter serving improper or non compliant gas equipment

this is a safety driven 'given'

ps. the AHJ may be the gas company

(authority having jurisdiction)

TaniaB (Colorado)
Posts: 4

Posted:

Yes, this is my concern although being in a common area changes things a little.
I have heard of HOA's having locks on electrical rooms to prevent anyone going in and tampering with equipment. I really just need to know if I am allowed to do this particularly as there are renters in 2 units who probably should not have access to be in there.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Tania

Let us get this straight.

1. Each units water heater is in a common area mechanical room. One room, many water heaters.

2. You want to limit access to this room for safety reasons.

3. You want to limit access to this room if they are behind on dues, your do not like them, they are renters, they smell, etc.

AllisonD (Florida)
Posts: 449

Posted:

I do not see a problem with locking this room; theft prevention would be a good reason for locking the room followed by making sure that people have the proper permits or licenses to work on the equipment housed in the room. A lay person could do quite a bit of damage to other people's equipment if he or she does not do a good job. I would say you handled it well. Now you need to have a written policy on who is allowed to access the room and under what circumstances.

TaniaB (Colorado)
Posts: 4

Posted:

Thanks Allison. That makes me feel better. We will go ahead and write into our rules and regs.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By AllisonD on 05/26/2015 6:33 PM
I do not see a problem with locking this room; theft prevention would be a good reason for locking the room followed by making sure that people have the proper permits or licenses to work on the equipment housed in the room. A lay person could do quite a bit of damage to other people's equipment if he or she does not do a good job. I would say you handled it well. Now you need to have a written policy on who is allowed to access the room and under what circumstances.

Good advice.

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