Who's responsible? the gas co. detected a gas leak in the gas line and turned the gas off. The gas co. said

Question

due to the location it's not their responsibility to repair the line & suggested that I call a plumber. I called my landlord ( who lives in a diff. town) He did not want to pay for the repair. He suggested that I pay half. I own a hair salon - 12 booth renters (stylists) are w/out hot water . The salon is locaed in a shopping plaza. The landord owns 7 connecting businesses that are leased to others for their businesses.The line thats leaking gas only goes to the salon. My lease doesn't say I'm responsible for this. It is imparative that the salon have warm water. My stylists threated that they are'nt paying full rent this week w/out their lease I can't pay my lease. My landlord told the plumber that he would pay & to send the invoice to him. The plumber said he wants his money as soon as the job is finished and doesn't want to mail the invoice to get paid. what can I do ?

Answer 1

this is a very inexpensive repair.

just have it done so you wont lose more than what it costs to fix it.  have it fixed by the plumber and pay him your half (or all and deduct from the rent).

but number one priority is your business running smoothly.

dont lose revenue over some very inexpensive repair job.

Answer 2

Who is responsible should be specified in your lease agreement.

In most of the commercial leases I have seen the only thing the landlord is responsible for is the roof.  Everything else is the tenant's responsibility.

If that is the case you will have to pay the plumber to fix the gas problem.  

Since the leak is on your side of the meter the gas pipes should be visible and it shouldn't be an expensive job.  It entails locating the leak and replacing part of the gas line.  I suspect that the plumber will spend more time locating the leak than it takes to make the actual repair.

Call the landlord.  Tell him that the plumber insists on being paid when the work is performed.   Tell him that you will pay the plumber and just deduct the cost from your next rent check.  

Hope this helps

Jerry-the-bookkeeper

Answer 3

STBU

Buy your own shop.

Astrobuf

Answer 4

Pay the plumber and take it off your rent.