Wires stapled to walls. Is this legal?

January 10, 2007 1:36 PM

My girlfriend's landlord ran a wire from her fusebox to a new water heater stored in her bedroom closet. He punched holes in the hallway, bathroom, and closet, and stapled the wire to the wall. What recourse does she have?

She lives in an apartment, and since she moved in there has been a water heater in her bedroom closet. Hers is the only apartment in the complex that has its own water heater, which was put in because of a request made by a previous tenant.

About 3 weeks ago, they replaced the water heater, instead of doing what she asked for, which was to be put back on the main water heater that the rest of the complex uses. There is currently a thick-ass orange wire that comes out of the wall located by the fusebox outside the bathroom. The wire then goes into the bathroom (via a small hole that looks like it was punched by a screwdriver), runs along the wall of the bathroom (at about a foot down from the ceiling), goes through another punched hole into the bedroom closet, and then gets plugged into the water heater.

It is horribly unsightly. I get upset every time I see it. My girlfriend found some stuff in the National Electric Code that suggests that electrical wires stapled to bathroom walls may not be kosher. The questions are:

1) Is the hackjob that was done legal, or illegal? I live in Austin, TX.

2) If illegal, what does she have to do in order to force the people to hide the wires? She originally asked them to hide them in conduits or run the wire through the ceiling, and she was told that the wires would only be painted and left where they were. If there is some law on her side, what should she be doing? Who should she be contacting to get them to comply?

posted by 23skidoo to law & government (25 comments total)

Was the work performed by a licensed electrician? If not, it's a building codes violation.
posted by IronLizard at 1:47 PM on January 10, 2007

Sounds like a code violation, contact the City of Austin:

Apartments/Rentals in Substandard Condition Landlords are obligated to maintain their rentals to the minimum standards set by the Uniform Housing Code and the Dangerous Building Code. Examples of violations include heating problems, plumbing problems, electrical problems, lack of weather protection and structural hazards.

Report suspected violations to 3-1-1 or send an email.
posted by Floydd at 1:48 PM on January 10, 2007

From the Texas Statutes website:

"417.008. RIGHT OF ENTRY; EXAMINATION AND CORRECTION OF
DANGEROUS CONDITIONS. (a) On the complaint of any person, the
state fire marshal, at any reasonable time, is entitled to enter any
building or premises in the state.

Also:
The state fire marshal shall order the removal of a
building or structure or other remedial action if he finds that:
...any other condition exists that is dangerous or is
liable to cause or promote fire or create danger for fire fighters, occupants, or other buildings or structures.

So, call the State Fire Marshall's office and complain.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 1:48 PM on January 10, 2007

Hey, more info Here.

Including a dedicated email address for requesting an inspection: fireinspection (at) tdi.state.tx.us.

Doesn't get much easier than that.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 1:53 PM on January 10, 2007

If it were me, I'd probably just paint the wire, perhaps cover it with a tapestry, and forget about it. It's just an apartment.

My guess would be the landlord put it in to address the fact that there were too many apartments on one heater, and now that he has changed the plumbing, it'd be too much of a hassle to put it back the way it was. And besides, the next tenant would probably complain.

After a decade and a half of cheap-ass landlords, I bought my own house. Now when I jerry rig something, there's no one to blame but me!
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 2:02 PM on January 10, 2007

You know how on the news when there's a fire it's sometimes blamed on "faulty wiring"?

This is exactly the sort of thing they mean.
posted by bondcliff at 2:05 PM on January 10, 2007

If it were me, I'd probably just paint the wire, perhaps cover it with a tapestry, and forget about it. It's just an apartment.

She doesn't have a house, this is the only place she lives, and it looks ugly. Thanks for the advice, but I'm looking for ways to legally get them to change, not ways to feel better about the situation.
posted by 23skidoo at 2:06 PM on January 10, 2007

This is in Austin? Is this in South Austin? Because if so, I think I know what complex :]

I'm so, so sorry. I don't know if there is anything that can legally be done -- I had a 6 month dispute with a complex after I was having $250 electric bills in a 1 bedroom apartment. (It was their fault, and it was the water heater/plumbing.) I eventually got a refund: I wrote letters in hard copy, and threatened to CC them to 7 On Your Side. They got busy in a hurry after that, but they were still jerks about it. I ended up moving out of the apartment and subletting it.

Best of luck. I understand, and it sucks.
posted by fiercecupcake at 2:22 PM on January 10, 2007

1. Express to the landlord she is dissatisfied with the job, and mention he too would be unhappy if it were his dwelling this kind of work was done in. Sometimes you don't have to get the state involved in simple disputes.

2. If no relief offered by the landlord, call the Building Codes department.

3. If no relief from the Building Codes department, call the Fire Marshall.

4. Check batteries in smoke detectors, buy a fire extinguisher that has effectiveness versus electrical fires (that means Class C rating), and go over your evacuation plan. (I'm quite serious about all this, as my family lost a house to a wiring problem).
posted by Ynoxas at 2:26 PM on January 10, 2007

Step 1: request to the landlord to fix it (in writing, in case he prefers to evict her instead). ask nicely. at this stage, politeness is all you've got since you don't know of anything obligating him to fix it. do mention any safety concerns, though. it's cheaper for him to re-run the wire than deal with the fallout from a negligent fire or injury.

Step 2: if he says no, then you request the fire inspector to check it. if there's a violation, they'll tell your landlord what to do. if there isn't, you probably are going to be stuck unless the lease says the landlord isn't allowed to ugly-up the apt.

on preview, pretty mch what Ynoxas said. Good idea on the extinguisher and evacuation plan.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 2:28 PM on January 10, 2007

NakedCodeMoney is right. Make a written request and politely state a deadline for action/response. Be very polite.

If the landlord says no or does not respond, call your city's bylaw enforcement officer and the fire inspector. When I was in one complex, I wrote a letter to the fire hall. They did an inspection and found 19 violations of the fire code. The fire chief came to my door and told me that, for my safety, I should move as soon as I could. He said he was afraid that the complex would burn down.
posted by acoutu at 2:41 PM on January 10, 2007

Thick bright orange cable? How much you wanna bet it's an extension cord?

I would call the fire marshall TOMORROW first thing and ask him to please come down and inspect it.
posted by SpecialK at 3:04 PM on January 10, 2007

Yes, if it's orange, it's an extension cord, probably modified to hard-wire the water heater on one end and the box on the other end.
posted by Danf at 3:20 PM on January 10, 2007

If it were me, I'd probably just paint the wire, perhaps cover it with a tapestry, and forget about it. It's just an apartment.

Hello, this would make it *more* dangerous.
posted by Listener at 3:20 PM on January 10, 2007

Thick bright orange cable? How much you wanna bet it's an extension cord?

It's totally not an extension cord. It's a completely different style of wire (flattened, instead of tubelike), and it's stiff as hell.
posted by 23skidoo at 3:26 PM on January 10, 2007

We have a huge roll of extension cord in my garage, which is bright orange, flattened, and stiff. It's industrial grade. Yours may have come off of a roll similar to mine.
posted by Verdandi at 3:35 PM on January 10, 2007

Orange does not imply extension cord, I've certainly seen orange household wiring. One time in particular it was 10-3 for a dryer. If you google orange romex, it seems like that is the standard.. That would be a very appropriate wire for a water heater.

On the other hand, code probably requires that the wire be concealed in living spaces (i.e. not required in a utility room), although it will vary by region.
posted by Chuckles at 3:56 PM on January 10, 2007

220v extension cord doesn't look like the little round cords used in 110v outlets. This may be why it looks unfamiliar to you, 23skidoo. If the water heater is electric, odds are it's 220.
posted by IronLizard at 3:57 PM on January 10, 2007

As far as I know, if you can see romex, you had better be in an unfinished space, like looking up at wires nailed to the first floor joists in a basement. Even then there you can't do things like nail it along the bottom of the joists.

There is armored cable out there. Usually it has this spiral wound metal coating on it but there are probably versions with a plastic coating over that. That might be acceptable to some area's building codes. Maybe.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 5:27 PM on January 10, 2007

23skidoo writes "It's totally not an extension cord. It's a completely different style of wire (flattened, instead of tubelike), and it's stiff as hell."

It's probably just 10 Guage Romex (IE Household wire).

M.C. Lo-Carb! writes "If it were me, I'd probably just paint the wire, perhaps cover it with a tapestry, and forget about it. It's just an apartment."

Bare romex like that, especially if it's not at least 4' above the floor, is a pretty significant electrical hazard and not even close to being code legal in Canada. Romex has to be protected from abrasion and punctures.

The thermonuclear option is to call the building inspector. IIRC tenants have few rights in Texas though, you'll probably be evicted before the probelm is fixed just out of spite. At a minimum the land lord should either run the romex thru conduit or replace it with a teck cable or other armoured cable.
posted by Mitheral at 6:12 PM on January 10, 2007

Y'know, there are a lot of landlord questions that come from the state of Texas. I'm sitting in a hotel in Austin, TX right now and was thinking that it's a pretty awsome place. Now I'm kind of scared about the apartments!

anon: Your friend should give the fire marshall a call first. Explain the situation and explain your concerns. They can probably point you in the right direction.
posted by drstein at 6:38 PM on January 10, 2007

It's been quite some time since I rented, but I used to have very, very good experiences with the Austin Tenant's Council. They offer phone counseling - hours at that link.
posted by Addlepated at 6:49 PM on January 10, 2007

Having a water heater in her bedroom closet may not be legal either. If she really want the thing out of there, she should look into that as well.
posted by Holy foxy moxie batman! at 7:26 PM on January 10, 2007

Do what nakedcodemonkey and Ynoxas said. And move the minute your lease is up. Don't forget to give this jackass 30 days notice in writing and demand a receipt for same. Heck you might send it registered with return receipt requested

I say move because [deity] alone knows what fire hazards this guy has created in every other apartment.
posted by ilsa at 10:30 AM on January 11, 2007

I say move because [deity] alone knows what fire hazards this guy has created in every other apartment.

This is a superb point. People who do substandard work don't just do it once, they do it over and over again and it's possible for every one you see there's 99 you don't.
posted by phearlez at 12:35 PM on January 11, 2007