While no one wants to have their water shut down in their building, sometimes it’s needed in order to properly maintain a residential building. This may include planned or emergency plumbing repairs such as valve replacements, boiler overhaul, repairs to risers, and replacement of bathroom fixtures within unit owner apartments.
Proper planning and constant notifications to all residents throughout the shutdown and restoration will prevent water damage to your residential Condominium or Cooperative unit.
Typical daily reminders by property management include “Please be sure to keep all faucets in the closed position as to avoid flooding when water service is restored. Once service is restored, it is typical for the water to initially be discolored. If you experience discolored water, run the faucets for a few moments until the water flows clear.”
Based on our experience in working in large residential buildings throughout NYC, these daily reminders to keep all faucets in the closed position go unnoticed or lost in your junk folder. The most common issue is when a housekeeper or resident opens the faucet, realizes there is no water and forgets to close it.
Another example of where poor communication can lead to a sizable water leak is when a Condo or Co-op unit is under renovation, but the contractor forgot about the water shutdown. One of their workers mistakenly opens up a faucet or valve for either the hot or cold water lines and forgets to close the same.
Hours later when the plumbing repairs are completed and the water is restored, these same open faucets or valves will cause the water to overfill and flood out the sinks, tubs or HVAC equipment causing water damage to your cabinetry, flooring, and walls. On top of that, if the residents aren’t home to discover the water issue, the water will travel to lower floors causing additional damages and disruption to common hallways, neighboring homes, and potentially elevator equipment. Eventually, another resident will discover the water leak and immediately report the damages to the building super, concierge desk or property manager. From there, the building staff has the tough job to quickly locate the source of the water leak. This includes calling the upper floor residents along the same apartment line and knocking on their doors. If residents aren’t home, the building staff will typically use an emergency key to gain access. As you can imagine, the locating of the water leak can be timely, meaning more property damages to the building.
If the unexpected happens, the next questions become: Who is responsible for the water damages? Who do I call? Do I call my insurance company? What do I say to the insurance company? Where will I sleep tonight? Do I take off from work tomorrow? How do I manage the claim on my own?
As you continue to ask yourself these questions, you will quickly become overwhelmed with the idea that you don’t know where to start and who can help. For those that have never experienced a property damage claim, there are professional public insurance adjusters such as United Public Adjusters & Appraisers, Inc. that will handle everything from A to Z. This includes same-day damage assessments, insurance policy reviews, documentation, claim reporting, meeting your insurance company for a joint inspection, preparing estimates for building damages, inventorying and pricing of personal property damages, arranging for temporary housing, and handling all claim negotiations till every dollar is released from your insurance company in the shortest period of time.
The best part of hiring an experienced and licensed public adjuster is that they only get paid when you get paid. No recovery, No fee!
If your home has property damage including water damage, contact United Public Adjusters & Appraisers, Inc. to schedule a consultation today.
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