Dryer Vents

Does aonyone in a multi-unit build have a policy or guidelines for having dryer vents cleaned? We have 2 12 unit buildings and are trying to decide if we should have the dryer vents cleaned and if so how often. We have had them cleaned once in 27 years.

MarkS's draft policy looks really good and is very similar to ours in our multi-story condo bldg. One difference is that ours strongly instructs residents to move items out of their laundry closet or room to give the techs space to do their work.

Are your buildings multi-story too, Sam, or just multi unit? I'll describe our set-up since it might be different. From our dryer vent in our laundry room wall, a duct runs about 25 feet in our ceiling and terminates in the ceiling of each unit's balcony. There's a booster fan in our a laundry closet to turn on and run while the dryer is running to move any lint on thru the duct.

The PM arranges for this service annually and residents sign up. Each resident pays for their own inspection. At this time, it's not mandatory.

We have two 3 story building with 4 units on each floor. Every unit but one has a washer and dryer. All dryer vents go from the unit through the units above them and out the roof. We are concerned about dirty dryer vents being a fire hazard. I guess my first question is are dryer vents in a multi-unit building a fire hazard that needs addressed by the HOA.

They may indeed be a fire hazard if they're not being cleaned out regularly. But how you respond to this is governed by what your CC&Rs/Declaration have to say about the vents. Are they part of the unit? Do your CC&Rs say that homeowners are responsible for maintaining, repairing and replacing the items that make up their units? Do the CC&Rs spell out any exceptions to this? Or are the dryer vents considered common elements, and where is the dividing line (if any) between the portion of the vent that is considered "unit" and the part that is considered "common elements"?

In multi-story condo buildings, dryer vents or at least some portion of them may be considered common elements (and thus association responsibility). In my two-story condo and townhouse-style buildings, though, the dryer vents are 100% "unit", do not pass through other units, and are owner responsibility.

Like many things with condos, simple questions can have complicated answers because the dividing lines between who owns what is often not obvious. If the association jumps the gun and tries to maintain things that it isn't responsible for, this increases expenses and increases liability as well (ie, "you broke it, you bought it").

Just from the description of your buildings, though, I'm guessing that your dryer vents are common elements and should be cleaned periodically by the association. How often? Companies that perform this service may have a good idea of how dirty vents in a "typical" building of that sort can get - keeping in mind that these folks want your business and that this can affect their advice. The association's insurer may also have advice, although they too will probably err on the side of caution since they don't want to pay claims if they don't have to.

But this is a guess based on the fact that your dryer vents run through other units. Your CC&Rs should confirm that they are in fact common elements.

FWIW, I've lived in condos and apartment complexes my entire adult life, and I can't remember a single dryer vent fire. The condos were new construction, so that could affect things, but the apartments were older (built in the 70s, so lots of time to accumulate lint). Our bigger problem was birds trying to nest in the vents unless they were capped, and that could cause trouble. It's also easy to prevent.

The fire hazard is real. From nj.gov/dca/news/news/2021/approved/20210426.html:

The National Fire Protection Association tracks reported residential fires and data show that dryer fires involving lint accumulated in the dryer vent to be among the leading causes of residential fires.

In 2010-2014, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 15,970 home structure fires involving clothes dryers or washing machines each year.

These fires caused annual averages of 13 civilian deaths, 444 civilian injuries, and $238 million in direct property damage.

Most of the fires (92 percent) involved clothes dryers.

Given insurance concerns; the configuration of the vents (with multiple units' vents likely joining so as to reduce roof penetrations); and the undesirability of having multiple contractors on the buildings' roofs, I advise the HOA to immediately begin arranging for cleaning of the vents on either a yearly or semi-annual basis (per counsel on the net).

CathyA3, well said.

Thank you for the replies. Each unit does have their own vent. Looks like I’ll have to check our documents.