Am I allowed to DIY replace my hot water heater or not? (New York: houses, buyer)
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First time homeowner in SI here. My hot water heater is over 12 years old and I'm considering replacing it before becomes a catastrophe. My question is regarding permits, etc... I know I can go to Home Depot or Lowes and carry home a brand new hot water heater, and I have no doubt about my ability to perform the work (looks dead simple actually), but am I actually allowed to? From what I've read the city allows repair to existing installations without a permit but new installations (adding a bathroom etc..) requires a permit. I know if I call a plumber to have this done I'm looking at easily double the cost and I'm a cheap bastard. Would replacing a hot water heater fall under the existing installation loophole?
First time homeowner in SI here. My hot water heater is over 12 years old and I'm considering replacing it before becomes a catastrophe. My question is regarding permits, etc... I know I can go to Home Depot or Lowes and carry home a brand new hot water heater, and I have no doubt about my ability to perform the work (looks dead simple actually), but am I actually allowed to? From what I've read the city allows repair to existing installations without a permit but new installations (adding a bathroom etc..) requires a permit. I know if I call a plumber to have this done I'm looking at easily double the cost and I'm a cheap bastard. Would replacing a hot water heater fall under the existing installation loophole?
Do yourself a favor and reach out to National Grid and get concrete and legally reliable answers.
Thanks to recent events (gas explosions, meter tampering, etc...) the city has been clamping down on ConEdison and National Grid, who in turn are doing same to customers.
Every new install of *anything* involving gas from dryer to water heater is now more complex and if an inspector finds something he doesn't like will shut things down.
Wow this is more complicated than I thought. The idea of needing an architect to file plans to have a dryer replaced is absurd. I understand the need for tighter controls on gas since we do live in a city afterall. If I blow up my house I'll probably end up blowing up my neighbor's houses as well. Making things so draconian, expensive, and difficult is just going to push people to do things below board.
I would not think twice about installing a water heater myself. Just turn off gas valve first. If it is electric even easier, just snap the breaker off.
Why not look into an on-demand system: they save fuel and you never need to take a cold shower because your spouse spent an hour in the tub.
Wow this is more complicated than I thought. The idea of needing an architect to file plans to have a dryer replaced is absurd. I understand the need for tighter controls on gas since we do live in a city afterall. If I blow up my house I'll probably end up blowing up my neighbor's houses as well. Making things so draconian, expensive, and difficult is just going to push people to do things below board.
You are new to SI so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
But let me tell you how things roll on "the Rock". You see all those decks in people's back yards? Want to take a wild guess how many are "legal"?
Unless you tell the city or National Grid no one is going to know you replaced the water heater. Only issues that *may* arise is if something happens and or perhaps at resale if a potential buyer really digs deep to make sure everything is legit.
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