What HOA policies reduce plumbing disasters in multi-story HOAs?

I don’t know what periodic plumbing inspections you propose except water heaters and sanitary sewer. You need a 10 year service life replacement for water heaters. Clean and inspect underground sanitary sewer lines every 5 years.

Although not water related, I would add cleaning dryer vents and fireplace flies every 2 years.

Inspections reduce liability.

Well, Brian the rest of your Board is wrong, because many of these water incidents DO affect the common areas. Even if you have “Bare Walls”insurance as does our HOA, water damage from the common area to Unit sheet rock ceilings and walls and damage to the floor’s structure must be repaired by the HOA. Since the main job of an HOA and its board is to protect and maintain the common areas, you need to try to prevent water incidences in condo units.

Are there no statements about the Association’s maintenance obligations in your CC&Rs?? I’m confident that if your Board would meet with your HOA’s attorney and asks about “liability” if you offer voluntary inspections of various types, the attorney will assure the other directors about that topic.

Please refer to several suggestions I & others made in the old post. BUT, since then, our HOA has totally restated our CC&Rs and two new Sections are relevant to your questions. Here is one:

“4.3.15 Unit Maintenance or Inspection Program. The Board of Directors shall have the power to adopt Rules and Regulations for the Association which establish a maintenance, installation and/or inspection program for the Units to protect against water loss or other perils that may cause damage to the Common Area or other Units. Access, if necessary, to the Units shall be per Section 4.3.5 of this Declaration.” 4.3.5 has been in our CC&Rs since we opened in 2001.

“4.3.5 Right of Entry and Enforcement. Except in the case of emergencies … [when] no prior notice need be given, the Board …shall have the right, upon forty-eight (48) hours prior written notice...to enter into a Unit for the purpose of inspection, construction, maintenance or emergency repair for the benefit of the Common Area…or the other Condominiums or to perform its obligations under the Declaration, or to cure any default by an Owner under this Declaration….If any such repair or maintenance is due to the failure of an Owner to perform its obligations hereunder, the cost of such maintenance or repair shall be assessed against said Owner as an Enforcement Assessment.”

About 4 years ago, our Board voted to have a company do a process on our two roofs to the system supplying hot water common area copper piping that basically coats them monthly to prevent pinhole leaks. It’s about $500/mo and is very, though not completely, effective.

We know that an owner’s leaks from their plumbing or any other personal property source is on them to repair their own Unit and to any damage or loss of use in other Units. So that owner’s insurance and those with damages seek recovery form that owner’s insurance.

Related to that, our 2nd CC&R change is: “10.3 INDIVIDUAL INSURANCE. Each Owner shall maintain property insurance against losses to personal property located within the Unit and to any upgrades or Improvements located within the unit and liability insurance against any liability resulting from any injury or damage occurring within or outside the Unit in such form, in such amounts as reasonable for this Project.… The Association's insurance policies will not provide coverage against any of the foregoing. [New] Owners must provide a Certificate of Insurance to the Association within thirty (30) days of procuring or renewing their insurance policies or upon demand by the Association.”

Our Welcome Packet now urges residents to put hardly anything in their garbage disposals. It now begs owners to check and exercise valves in their units semi-annually. We still offer annual dryer vent inspections (These, to correct Dean, are much more needed for water leaks than fire) and our water source unit-heat pumps (HVAC) at reasonable prices. You're probably required to have a ceiling sprinkler inspection annually, right?

Although our staff bldg. engineers are not permitted by their employer to work on plumbing in Units, we now have a “Crash Cart” program where owners can sign up for immediate attention to a leak in their Unit from our engineers. Owners who participate sign a document saying their employer and the HOA are not responsible or some such.

This is too much already, please let us know if there’s anything more specific you’d like to see.

I agree with Kerry that plumbing leaks almost always do affect the common areas, such as the space between the ceiling of one unit and the floor above it, which is usually structural common area and where you don't want water damage or mold.

Send out a letter or email that says something like:

We have had a number of plumbing disasters … yada yada .. and we want to prevent future problems.

We have talked to a number of experts who recommend that each owner do the following. There may be other duties not on this list, but failure to perform the recommended maintenance items on this list could make you liable for damages that result from plumbing leaks:

--on a regular basis inspect under sinks and around all visible pipes and plumbing fixtures for leaks and problems
--on a regular basis inspect and maintain add-on devices, such as water filters, water treatment equipment and refrigerator ice makers
--promptly fix any plumbing problems. Failure to fix a little itty-bitty problem before it causes a big problem could cost you a lot.
--replace washer hoses when replacing washing machine.
--use only licensed, insured plumbers
--install a pan under water heater when replacing
--know how to turn off the water supply to your unit
--immediately report any leaks to x. Failure to report leaks may cause mold and further damage for which you can be held liable even if the leak is not coming from your unit.
--> add any specific problems that your buildings have experienced
--must maintain heat to prevent frozen pipes

Add a section on how to prepare your condo unit when the primary resident is going away for some time, including turning off the water supply if away more than x days, and having someone inspect the condo at least every two days for water problems and sewer back up from the drain pipes.

You could also ban garbage disposals and whole house filters, especially those with automatic backwash.

Feel free to improve the wording.

What a fine list from Jeff!! Our Board appointed an ad hoc Water Management Committee, on which the owner of a large plumbing business sits, a couple of years ago to explore possible ways to reduce leaks and clogs (which cause backups into the units above and THEN water intrusion).

It AND our reserve specialist recommended adding a line item in our reserve study to begin inspecting main common area drain Iines even though they should have plenty of good years left. These is in keeping with the new Reserve Study Standards approved by CAI (Commun. Assoc. Inst.) in 2023.

I don't know about Brian's, but residents in my condo building cannot turn off the water to the Unit--it must be shut off by our engineers or qualified others and shuts off a whole "zone" of several units. So that's why our list to residents emphasizes needing know where the shut-offs are IN the units for particular fixtures.

All new residents whether owners or renters are supplied with a Welcome Packet that has items in it that new folks need right away.

P. 5
"PREVENTING WATER LEAKS
Potential water leaks must be your #1 concern. Find all of the water shutoff valves in your unit and show other occupants where they are. All shutoff valves should be exercised annually by slowly turning them off and then on again. If you feel any resistance, you must stop and contact a plumber for advice and possible repair. If you need help finding your valves, call Management at xxx-xxx- during business hours.
1. Your main hot and cold water valves usually are behind panels in your master bath, laundry room, and kitchen ceilings.
2. Direct shutoff valves are below sinks and next to toilets. It's safest to only open the water valve for the washing machine during use.
3. Inspect washing machine hoses and hose bibs regularly for leaks. The braided stainless-steel variety is best to provide the strength that helps prevent hose failures and the resulting flooding. Never operate your washing machine or dishwasher unless you're home AND awake while they are running.
4. Regularly inspect the lines to your ice maker for leaks. When replacing the ice maker water filter, follow the manufacturer's directions. Then check for leaks for the next couple of days to confirm that the fittings have been properly tightened.
5. Place only foods that are easily pulverized in your garbage disposal. To avoid clogs and possible overflows, don't use it for corn husks, celery, onion skins, pasta, rice, potato skins, other fibrous items, or liquid or solid grease.
6. Never hang anything from the Fire Sprinkler heads. Never cover them or paint them. A very fragile glass tube separates your possessions from 100's of gallons of water!"

"Laundry Area [Unit Dryer duct termination is on balcony ceilings about 25 feet from the dryer.]
To prevent lint and especially condensation build up, the blower timer must be operated 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after using the clothes dryer. If you don't turn it on, you may see a lot of water dripping from your balcony ceiling or even from your living room ceiling! Along with the filter in your dryer, there is a filter on the laundry room ceiling behind a glass insert that should be cleaned at least once a month. Gently pry open the glass panel, remove the screen, clean it, and vacuum its housing."

There's also an Insurance Section: The Assoc. carries "Bare Walls" insurance. "INSURANCE. The Association maintains Liability and a Master Fire Insurance Policy covering the common areas and Association property. This policy, however, provides only very limited coverage for the interior of your unit (see CC&R 10.3). A Personal Homeowners (HO6) policy, or a Renters (HO4) Policy obtained before you move in can help you avoid a costly mistake.
By far, the most common high-rise insurance claims are from water damage to residents' own units, or units near and below them. Unit owners are responsible for their water leaks that cause damage to the common area or to other units.
An HO6 or HO4 policy is relatively inexpensive and covers your personal property damage and also "improvements," e.g., counters, cabinets, hard or soft flooring, etc., and liability in your unit. It also covers damage to the common areas, the personal property and improvements of others, and "loss of use"—when hotel occupancy and/or restaurant meals are necessary for days or weeks while repairs are underway."

As already mentioned, Units "AC units" are water source heat pump with water entering them by a little valve from our closed-loop system when the thermostat calls for heat or cool. Many residents don't know this, so we literally must teach them and then scare them into paying for an inspection. Some large units have 4 heat pumps.

Since our CC&Rs now permit rules that allow the HOA to inspect units even w/out emergency, the Board still hasn't come up with a required inspection of valves for which owners would pay. Some HOA engineering firms with which we might contract really don't want to mess with these inspections and THEY worry about liability.

well the most effective solution would of been to have floor drains when the building was constructed, that way if there is a flood, there is no damage. But I would encourage inspections. Our water heaters in Charlotte last 25 years easily. Mine is 28 years old.

they also have computerized systems that monitor water usage and send alerts when unusal amounts of water are being used. floor drains would of only been economical when the condo was being buildt. u mis understood my comment. the cheapest time to fix any building issue is when it is being buildt. running a fire sprinkler system during construction for example is 1/4 the cost of retrofit.

I cannot recall--it was about 8 years ago- what kind of firm our Board hired to conduct inspections of Units. I think they did inspect and repaired too. It may only have been valves in Units. And it may hav been plumbing company. Sorry.

Our HOA offers an annual inspection of our water source heat pumps in our Units done by a firm that also does repairs. They inspect and write a report for each Unit. Owner pay for the inspection and, of course, for any work that is required.

The HOA also offers an annual dryer duct inspection/clean out by a firm that specializes in that work.

And a different firm yet does the annual required inspection of our ceiling sprinkler heads--the HOA pays for this Inspection.

And, I assume, a different type of firm would inspect water heaters if your Board wants that done.

Our Association did ban garbage disposals a few years ago.
We have a drain policy calling for residents not to put food, disinfectant wipes, medicine and other items (too long to list) down the drains.
We banned all laundry and dishwasher pods as well. Raised the fine if its a unit owners fault to $1,000 , Plus the cost of the plumbing call, Almost 6 months now and it IS working.
Raised in unit temperature from 50 to 55 (i wanted 60 but the rest of the board didn't agree with me)
We had a few disasters during a cold snap last winter (FEB 9-12 2023) that created lots of $$$$ in damages to units and common areas in 3 buildings and now with master insurance renewal we took a huge increase with our current provider. Shopping around for better coverage was going to cost us even more.

Not sure about that one. My laundry drains into a utility sink with a lint screen on the hose. It filters all the laundry lint from the washer so it doesn't go down the drain. I've never seen any pod residue on the lint screen and its small enough to catch lint particles and I've used the pods for years.