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Does anyone have the final word on the legal requirements of air conditioner support brackets.
It is not an issue for me because I have mine in sleeves through the 1 foot brick wall under the window. But a friend is all bent out of shape because she was told by her super (in a coop she owns) that she will be required to bracket her two small units, 10,000 and 6,000 at a total cost of $200 and BY FRIDAY.
Most people in her building have NOT had the brackets installed.
Brackets are really a good idea for her becasue she has wide windows, too wide for the accordion pullouts and so has plexiglass on each side of both units giving no frame support at all, just the window itself.
I would do it for her at the $40 cost of each bracket...or use a piece of wood atop the outside sill for $0 but I do not want to assume the liability.
I know the NYCHA has mandated the brackets after 2 units fell out of Isaac Houses this Summer, but what are the requirements for private rentals, condos, and co-ops.
The OLD city law mandated supports for 36,000 BTU and larger but this is talking commercial units...no apartments have these 3 ton units.
My advice to her so far is not to worry about it until she sees 2/3 of her felllow cooperators having the supports installed. In fact I would think the best chance of a unit falling would be while it is being pulled out for the bracket installation.
(I presume her super is being paid for this work in addition to his weekly union mandated salary? <full irony intended>)
Last edited by Kefir King; 02-10-2013 at 01:04 PM..
This is most likely a requirement by the co-op's liability insurance carrier. I am not sure it really matters what the city law says. If the coop's insurance carrier says they will drop the coverage unless everyone complies with this, then the coop has to make sure people comply. We went through this recently in my coop and we all complied. However, I think we were only required to bracket anything 8,000 btus and up.
One thing we were NOT allowed to do was hire the super to do the installation. I believe that was also tied into the liability thing. Probably if he had done the installation and done it improperly, and a unit fell, the coop would have been liable for that as well. They do not want any liability lawsuits against them. This make sense. People should be required to prove they have installed their a/c's properly. I don't think this is too much to ask, especially when I hear stories about some falling every year.
I don't understand why the residents weren't given more time to comply, though. That sounds odd, and sounds like they are trying to force people to hire the super and not an outside company. Weston Bros a/c will do it (as I'm sure other companies will as well), but they also charge a pretty penny.
Does anyone have the final word on the legal requirements of air conditioner support brackets.
It is not an issue for me becausue I have mine in sleeves through the 1 foot brick wall under the window. But a friend is all bent out of shape becasue she was told by her super (in a coop she owns) that she will be required to bracket her two small units, 10,000 and 6,000 at a total cost of $200 and BY FRIDAY.
Most people in her building have NOT had the brackets installed.
Brackets are really a good idea for her becasue she has wide windows, too wide for the accordion pullouts and so has plexiglass on each side of both units giving no frame support at all, just the window itself.
I would do it for her at the $40 cost of each bracket...or use a piece of wood atop the outside sill for $0 but I do not want to assume the liability.
I know the NYCHA has mandated the brackets after 2 units fell out of Isaac Houses this Summer, but what are the requirements for priovate rentals, condos and co-ops.
The OLD city law mandated supports for 36,000 BTU and larger but this is talking commercial units...no apartments have these 3 ton units.
My advice to her so far is not to worry about it until she sees 2/3 of her felllow cooperators having the supports installed. In fact I would think the best chance of a unit falling would be while it is being pulled out for the bracket installation.
(I presume her super is being paid for this work in addition to his weekly union mandated salary? <full irony intended>)
Your "advice" is incredibly poor, and what NYCHA does and requires is of absolutely NO relevance.
It is also, Not, necessarily a matter of LAW! It is a matter of legal financial responsibility! You s/n do the install, and are quite correct, that by doing so, you would open yourself to liability issues!
First, I suggest the correct perspective, your "friend" doesn't own a coop, she owns SHARES in a cooperative. Also, the super, in his capacity as the coop's employee, is an AGENT of the coop, and his instruction is more than likely, that of the cooperative.
In the event of a falling a/c, the coop, your friend, as well as the "installer" can be held liable for *damages* caused by negligence by any or all of the three.
If, what, and how, such an a/c install be done, s/b left, not only to the requirement, if any, of the law, BUT, most importantly to that of the Coop's insurance carrier's (written) instruction, and most significantly, to your "friends" insurer!!!
Given that *both*, the coop and your friend, are insured, then it is the insurers who assume liability, in the event of an incident causing damages.
In addition, if your friend fails to follow the instructions of the Coop, then the Coop will ave violated its agreement with its insurer, and consequently the insurer will refuse liability. In which case, your friend will be liable.
If your friend, also, does not **consult** her independant insurer, and fails to follow her insurer's advice and instruction, then the insurer will, also, refuse liability, as she will have iolated her insurance agreement. In which case, she will find herself PERSONALLY liable.
Also, if your friend does NOT cede to the Coop's instruction and requirement, she opens herself to the possibility of *eviction* by the cooperative
Lastly, even though the install may meet NYC's legal requirement, if any and whatever, such may not meet the standard required and demanded by the insurers! It w/n be surprising that an insurer's requirement to exceed that of government. An insurer would tailor its requirement to the specifics of the building and its environment. While government would place a *wide* requirement intended to cover most circumstances.
Meeting government requirements (the law) is NOT a defense in the event of a Suit for damages! Your friend and/or the Coop can still be found liable, as it is both hers and the coop's responsibility to *insure* thag the install will not cause *damage*.
The best manner to insure no damage, and therefore no liability, is to forego the installation altogether. Do the install, and liability is assumed.
****
Btw, unless there is some language in your lease/proprietary lease, in which the LL/Coop assumes ALL liability in the event of damage caused by YOUR a/c install, the YOU (KK) have assumed liability by *self* installing your a/c, even though your apt has a specific and dedicated "sleeve".
In order to protect yourself, you need to have the LL/Coop and/or its "agent" do the install; by doing so, the LL/Coop, then assumes liability. Yet, to be FULLY protected, you should consult and follow the directive of YOUR personal insurer!
It's likely a requirement by the co-op not the NYS/NYC law. But co-ops can't be discriminatory, so I'd call the Board and ask why they other residents aren't being similarly leaned on (or maybe they are).
The really interesting question is, who's financially responsible for it, because in co-ops, traditionally the owner is only responsible for problem that are within the perimeter of the walls, and the a/c, outside the window, might thus be considered not her problem.
I don't understand why the residents weren't given more time to comply, though.
Presumably everyone is being told the same thing, but many will simply ignore the request/demand/recommendation. I live in a co-op and experience first hand that ignoring new dictums of the co-op is more the rule than the exception. The president of my co-op has said that in fact it is nearly impossible to get rid of a tenant who flouts the rules. I have no reason to doubt him since he has been on the board since Eve ate the apple.
As far as liability goes, in her case she is above pretty much nothing. If there is a 1 in 100 chance of her unit falling out, there is a 1 in 10,000 chance there is somebody under it, on the lawn, next to the building so a 1 in a million chance of injury other than a huge dent in the lawn. Probably in the 11 years she has been there there have been 11 minutes when somebody was where the unit would land.
In fact in the history of New York City, nobody has been killed by a falling AC...although some have been killed by falling terra-cotta tiles or ather adornments. (Don't know about gargoyle deaths popular in horror films.)
But I suspect it will/might be an issue with the co-op's insurance policy.
So that's why I am recommending she do nothing until she sees what the consensus is doing. Her being in a minority with a pair of perfect installations will not change her large complexes' relationship with its insurer.
In my building SOME units are in the windows and the co-op will do the install for nothing, in fact they insist on it, with the cooperator paying for the hardware. But more than half of these units are just hanging out...some almost 36 inches unreinforced. Presumably my building's approach is that if we are going to bear the collective liability WE will insure everything is done correctly, by US.
(It's an odd situation in a coop for a former renter...the line between "them" and "us" gets muddled.)
I have a strong feeling that if my friend's co-op demanded an installation, a letter would be sent to all residents explaining what is required, by whom, and for how much. Absent such a letter I think my recommendation that she do nothing for now is sound. A super walking around a co-op mouthing off about how much he want to be paid does not carry the kind of weight as when he is acting as a "landlord's agent" in a rental.
My a/c broke this past summer so I went to PC Richards which is down the block from where I live, I bout the a/c and the salesman said I need to have the a/c bracket. He said anyone buying a/c's had to get them. So I bought 2 one for each a/c I have. They were like 25 bucks, give or take.
I like them, as it is so much easier to instal the a/c in the window because when you put the a/c out the window, it rests on it and you can slide it to the necessary position. The in the fall when I take out the a/c's I just unscrew the bracket and lower the screen.
The building across the street, every a/c has on of them. I am surprised our LL hasnt made all the tenants use them since he is pretty much up to date on law things.
whether it is law or not, I think everyone should have them, it isnt expensive and easy to install yourself. Plus, again, makes the installation of the a/c much easier.
to me, safety is more important that a few dollars.
In fact in the history of New York City, nobody has been killed by a falling AC...although some have been killed by falling terra-cotta tiles or ather adornments.
Air-Conditioner Falls, Killing a Pedestrian
Published: October 27, 1988
A man walking down East 23d Street was fatally injured yesterday when an air-conditioner slipped from the window of a building, plunged seven stories and struck him on the head.
The man, identified as Vito DeGiorgio, 37 years old, of Sand Rock Avenue in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.,was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead at 3:45 P.M.
A police spokesman, Sgt. John Venetucci, said the accident occurred at 1:20 P.M., when the victim was passing 36 East 23d Street, between Madison Avenue and Broadway, opposite Madison Square Park.
I stand corrected Henna. One man was killed by a falling air conditioner 25 years ago.
But the article makes a good point, and one that I made too:
Quote:
''A maintenance man was working on the window, and they unscrewed the bottom of the air-conditioner,'' Sergeant Venetucci said. ''When the top part of the window was lifted, the unsecured air-conditioner fell.''
It is quite possible that a maintenance man/super removing and reinstalling an air conditioner presents a more dangerous situation than just leaving it as is.
It is my understanding they (the city) are enforcing this rule so your friend will have to get it done sooner or later. Now what I am not clear on is whether the building permits her to use someone of her choice for the installation. It's not a particularly tough job but it requires a few tools and more than one person for safety.
In my drinking days, I did something that caused a window unit that was unsecured to go down 4 stories, luckily into an empty air shaft. Brackets are a good idea.
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