The negligence of Kier Property Management
endangered tenant's lives AND the lives of their own employees
Kier Property Management failed to pay the Questar Gas bill, which had been delinquent for nearly 2 months on the day our contract terminated .... even though there was over $7,000 in the building's bank accounts. (Related: Kier Property Management steals nearly $7,000 to pay themselves for their mismanagement ).
I was not able to pay the delinquent gas bills immediately, so Questar shut off the gas service to the building in June, 2010.
I called Questar Gas to explain the situation to them and to make sure that they realized that the delinquent account they had shut-off the gas over, belonged to Kier Management. The account was opened by Kier, in 1987, (almost 20 years before I bought the building) and had been in their name ever since.
Evidently, in an effort to cheat Questar Gas out of the $2,400 deposit that would have been required from me as a new customer, Kier decided (without my knowledge or permission) to leave the account in their name. A deception that they had used on Questar at least twice since 1987.
In order to get the service restored that day, I had to pay Questar Gas $8,000. (Nearly $4,000 in Kier's delinquent bills, plus an additional $4,000 deposit).
After the delinquent bills and deposit had been paid, Questar Gas sent out a field technician to restore service to the building. (which they charged me an additional $100 for)
After inspecting the water heater, Questar’s field technician refused to turn on the gas and red tagged the water heater for being ILLEGALLY VENTED. The boiler was also red tagged, because one of its safety valves was leaking gas.... A leak that would have been discovered, during the required biennial inspection and re-certification of the boiler, had Kier bothered to have the boiler inspected or certified...
...the permit was expired for more than 2-years.
(as evidenced in this video)
The water heater had been vented into the chimney of the building's original coal fired boiler. Rather than using double walled vent pipe and running it up to the top of the 40+ foot chimney, as required by International Building Code, the single walled vent pipe was terminated, immediately after penetrating the chimney wall.
According to Questar Gas, the vapor from combusted natural gas carries as much as 2 gallons of moisture per hour and is highly corrosive to masonry, (such as a brick and mortar chimney). Over time, the combusted natural gas vapor ate away at the chimney flue lining, causing it to deteriorate and ultimately collapse onto the vent pipe, which was buried under the debris. The result was the 100% back-flow of deadly carbon monoxide gas back into the boiler and supply rooms, and the adjacent laundry room. These are also the rooms where vendors and Kier’s own employees spent most of their time at the building.
Kier's negligence not only endangered my tenant’s
it placed the lives of their own employees at risk
it placed the lives of their own employees at risk
The illustration below, depicts the illegal venting of the water heater.
Rather than using a double walled vent pipe and running it up and out of the chimney, as required by building code, a single walled vent was routed through the chimney wall, where it terminated. Over time, the vapor from the combusted natural gas ate away at the chimney flue lining, causing it to deteriorate and collapse onto the vent pipe, burying it in the debris and sealing it off and forcing 100% of the water heater’s exhaust to flow back into the building.
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| Click to enlarge this image |
Kier Property Management seriously endangered tenant's AND their own employees
Kind of puts things into perspective, huh?
Another example of how Kier endangered tenant's lives can be seen by
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UPDATES:
It has since been discovered that at the direction of Kier Property Management, Boyd Hoskins Jr. & Son Plumbing and Heating, Inc, installed and vented a new water heater and hot water holding tank, without obtaining the required building permits from Ogden City. According to Questar Gas Company, the water heater was illegally vented, causing tenants to be exposed to the deadly carbon monoxide exhaust, for as many as 8-years.
Not surprisingly, Kier’s attorney denies any responsibility for failing to obtain the required building permit, stating that, “If a permit was required, Hoskins would have obtained one.” A similar response also came from Hoskins’ attorney, who placed all blame back onto Kier Management.
According to Ogden City, the responsibility for ensuring that any required permits are obtained, ultimately lies with the owner, or the property management company, in the absence of the owner.
Below, are copies of the letter and supporting documentation
that I sent to Hoskins & Son Plumbing and Heating on May 18, 2011.
His attorney denied all responsibility, even though Hoskins signed and dated his work.
Ogden City defers to State rules for determining what work requires a building permit for rental properties. (Construction Trades Licensing Act 58-55-102[12]). Those rules also apply to any property that is not the owner’s primary residence.
According to the document below, that was obtained from Ogden City Dept. of Building and Safety, replacing the water heater absolutely required a building permit. Given that the Kier Corporation’s primary business is construction and Hoskins is a licensed Plumbing and Heating company, both were certainly aware that a permit was required to replace the water heater, yet both parties blame each other for failing to obtain one.
After all, it was only poor people that were being gassed... for 8-years
The document above, clearly states that a permit is required before replacing a water heater, or installing a hot water holding tank at a rental property. After contacting Ogden City on this matter, I am informed that, while the plumbing contractor should have obtained a permit, the responsibility for ensuring that the building permit was issued, ultimately lies with the property management company.
Kier Property Management Company
