Earthquake shut off valve turned off - Who is Responsible for Expense To Turn Back On?

Hi... We have a master gas meter for our building (on the outside of our building) with an earthquake shut-off valve for each stack of condo units. Somehow (no one knows how) one of the valves was shut off and the units in that stack were shut off from all gas. This required the Gas Co to come out and turn it back on in order for those units to get gas back on. The owner of the unit is asking for reimbursement for their payment to the Gas Co to turn the valve back on (about $80). I am in agreement with reimbursing her for this expense. The other two Board members do not agree and feel this is her responsibility. I don't understand how it could be her responsibility? This sounds like it should easily be the responsibility of the HOA as the valve was tripped by a maintenance repair man, vendor or someone else, but in no way was the fault of the owner. Does anyone know the code or where I could find a definitive answer? We are in S. California. Thank you.

Thank you Melissa - appreciate your response. We have one master gas meter, but with a few different earthquake shut-off valves that each manage a few condos in a stack. Therefore, all units in that stack had their gas shut off to their unit. This was to no fault of the individual owner.

Do you know of any specific Davis-Stirling/other code I could reference to communicate why this falls to the HOA? The other Board members just keep saying "no - it's owner responsibility". I'm hoping to provide a concrete reference to explain to them.

Thank you.

Thanks Kerry. The valve had to be reinstated by the Gas Co. (not an individual). Yes - I checked Davis-Stirling and couldn't find anything that would specifically point to this being the HOA responsibility.

Robin,

I suspect that the valve was turned back on due to the request of that one owner.

Is this correct or did all members in that stack receive an $80 invoice to turn it back on?

If it is just the one individual who was charged (because they are the one who complained) and, I expect, the responsibility of the valve (if it needed to be replaced) would be that of the Association, I would expect the Association to pay for the inspection and resetting of the valve.

Additionally, perhaps measures should be looked into to prevent such an accidental tripping in the future.

There is NONE.

The issue was the earthquake valve on the master gas meter. The earthquake valve controls gas to multiple units. The valve was accidentally tripped (no one knows who did it? Gardener? Pool man?) and had to be turned back on by the Gas Co so gas was allowed into the units. Home owners are billed by the Gas Co for some of the gas they use (and the HOA pays for gas going to other amenities - i.e., fireplaces). This wasn't an individual shut-off valve.

There are two accounts - one bill goes to the HOA and one to each of the owners. In this case, the owner of one of the units called the Gas Co and had them come out to reinstate the valve. Gas had been shut off to multiple units.

Thanks. Appreciate your help.

If the shut-off valve in question is the responsibility of the HOA, then why did the homeowner take it upon herself to contact the gas company, why was she billed, and why on earth did she pay? A lot of this doesn't make sense IMO.

Another approach to all of this is for the homeowner to contact the gas company, convince them to remove the charge from her account (because it's not a valve specific to her untit) and place it on the HOA's account. Whatever the homeowner has already paid will be a credit to her own account . . . she'll get the $80 bucks back. Then the HOA and gas company can sort out between themselves.

Agreed

I'm in agreement - I believe this to be the HOA's responsibility. The other two Board members are in disagreement and I'm just trying to find a specific CA code/law etc. that I can reference.

I agree - it's ridiculous. I think it's just politics (as you know that can happen on an HOA Board ). These are also brand new Board members (never been on a Board before) and just don't know the rules etc.

That's good advice - thank you!!

It's not a battle I would take to court. ;) But I'm frustrated that our Prop Mgt Company isn't clearly educating the other two Board members on what is/is not HOA responsibility - she just keeps saying "I can't make that decision (re: reimbursement)". My issue is she should be simply educating the other two Board members on the fact that this is clearly community property and thus HOA Responsibility. It's not a large sum, but I don't want ongoing similar issues to arise. Thx all!

Thanks. It is the Prop Mgrs responsibility to educate new Board members however on what is/is not community property. These are brand new owners/Board members. They do not know what is considered an HOA obligation.

They had no business seeking seats on the board if they are not prepared to do the job. Would you invest your 401K with someone who is getting on-the-job training with your money?

I got to thinking, if the Gas company came out to turn the gas back on, wouldn't you bill the person or company listed for that specific meter?

Robin, have you actually seen the bill for turning on the gas and does it match the bill the HOA is responsible for? Maybe the other two Board members have a point.

I strongly disagree with others that the management company should not be training the Board. I offer that service as part of my contract. A good management company or manager may know as much if not more of the law as it pertains to HOA's in California than attorneys. I can review a set of CCRs and determine HOA responsibilities and homeowners responsibilities. If ever in doubt, and for the benefit of the client, will seek legal interpretation. Many times an attorney's interpretation may not be right, but usually for the benefit of the firm or the client. I think we all watch TV, those are not all made up.

If I were training Board members, what better site than www.davis-stirling.com. It's free and full of legal opinions. All they ask, is if you copy the information, you copy their information along with it. As far as making legal decisions, Board members do it all the time, without legal guidance.

Of the 46,000+ HOA's in California, not many live in twin towers paying employee salaries over $200K. Most are struggling to get by with little to nothing for a raining day. Oh BTW, I understand El Nino is coming. Hope all roofs with underfunded reserves are fixed by then.

I agree... unfort. no one else ran for the Board so it was basically the two people who rose their hand. The two newest owners in the building. This was their first HOA mtg. (ever).

Robine, are you able to read your CC&Rs and determine what parts of your HOA are Owner's responsibility and what parts are the HOA's responsibility?

I live in a condo too, and our our CC&Rs pretty much say that, generally speaking, anything outside the walls of our units are the HOA's responsibility. Put another way, it's a common area component, not an individual owner's component. The HOA is responsible for common area items.

Put it this way: if the Owner had phoned your PM to ask to get the gas turned back on, and the PM did just that, which probably IS part of her job, would the PM pay the $80?

I cannot imagine, Richard, that a clause about the director training that your MC offers, would be a secret. As I posted elsewhere, though not in our contract with our MC, the top exec and the MC's head accountant gave us a 2-hours training session the other day. We'll have another with solely the accountant in January.