Services provided for commercial tenants

[Joe.B]

This is an interesting one that has never come up for me, I'd love to see what (if any )experience others may have had with this. Thanks in advance.

We got a call from a tenant who runs a small retail business in our downtown area and wants to know what codes exist regarding facilities that the property owner is required to provide to their tenants. This comes up a lot in residential and it's easy to point to several code references to show that basic facilities (hot/cold potable water, heat, cooking appliance, bathroom, etc...) are required for a legal rental unit. This seems like it's a whole different thing because I can think of many commercial facilities that share bathrooms with multiple tenants and often no other services are provided.

My gut reaction is that this is between the tenant and owner and should be clearly spelled out in the lease. Thoughts?

 

[e hilton]

It’s in the lease. Or its not.

 

[cda]

I would say the same thing, read the lease,,,

Are we missing a few pieces of the puzzle??

Sounds like an existing business, in an existing building

Maybe there are some health regs, or building up keep, that may come into play???

 

[mp25]

There is a chapter in the international fire code that applies to existing building (chapter 11). That should be the property owners responsibility to meet the code rather than to a specific tenant though. Property Maintenance Code also has some sections that can be used in non-residential applications.

 

[e hilton]

There is a chapter in the international fire code that applies to existing building (chapter 11).

I‘m not familiar with that code or chapter, but i bet it says something like “... landlord shall make a available ...”. And the LL tells the tenant the main water meter is in the alley, connect to it at your own expense.

 

[Joe.B]

All very good input. Thanks!

There's definitely more to the story, I just got a voice mail yesterday evening and I haven't called back yet, I wanted to educate myself first. I'm guessing there's a dispute between tenant and land lord and from what I can find so far, it's all about the lease.

 

[Joe.B]

There is a chapter in the international fire code that applies to existing building (chapter 11). That should be the property owners responsibility to meet the code rather than to a specific tenant though. Property Maintenance Code also has some sections that can be used in non-residential applications.

I'll check out the Fire code, thanks. I looked through my copy of the 2018 IPMC and I could see general requirements for property maintenance, prevention of unsafe conditions, garbage, pests, etc from chapter 3. Maybe light and ventilation from chapter 4? But I didn't see anything that would require them to supply specific facilities. Help me out if I'm missing it.

 

[cda]

I'll check out the Fire code, thanks. I looked through my copy of the 2018 IPMC and I could see general requirements for property maintenance, prevention of unsafe conditions, garbage, pests, etc from chapter 3. Maybe light and ventilation from chapter 4? But I didn't see anything that would require them to supply specific facilities. Help me out if I'm missing it.

You got it

Just enforce what is in the code

and

Let the attorneys do the rest

 

[Joe.B]

I spoke to the tenant and (surprise, surprise) they didn't know what their lease says. It sounds like there is a shared bathroom that multiple tenants use and "someone" stopped paying the water bill so it was shut off. Landlord says it's the tenant responsibility, tenant I spoke to says she doesn't pay, and doesn't want to pay, and doesn't know who is supposed to pay. I asked if there were other issues and it sounds like no, the property is otherwise well maintained. This is between the LL and tenant, no code enforcement. Thanks again for the help!

 

[cda]

Sounds like it’s the houses bill to pay, if shared / common bathroom.

If you have access to water bills, you can see who has paid it in the past

 

[Joe.B]

Sounds like it’s the houses bill to pay, if shared / common bathroom.

If you have access to water bills, you can see who has paid it in the past

I agree that is a good next step and the finance department should be able to help her with that, but before I do anything else I want the tenant to study her lease agreement and call me back, as I recommended she do. Thanks.

 

[mp25]

If there is no water to the bathroom then 505.1 could be applicable as the required hot/cold water is not being supplied to the lav. Or 504.1 that requires that plumbing fixtures must be in functional condition. If there are other bathrooms available then this might be harder to apply.

 

[Joe.B]

If there is no water to the bathroom then 505.1 could be applicable as the required hot/cold water is not being supplied to the lav. Or 504.1 that requires that plumbing fixtures must be in functional condition. If there are other bathrooms available then this might be harder to apply.

Thanks, good input. I had similar thoughts but I need to see her lease first because if access to the bathroom is not part of the lease agreement then I don't think I could enforce that. Why anybody would sign a lease without explicit access to a bathroom? I don't know. There is a public restroom a block away. There's a vacant space in the building and I'm beginning to suspect that was the tenant who paid the bill. Maybe they left because they were tired of paying for a shared bathroom.

 

[cda]

Not into potties, but

So how did they get in the space to begin with?

Is one required for the business/ es ??????????

 

[Joe.B]

That is at the heart of this discussion and why the tenant is upset. She, as an employer, is required to provide facilities for her employees and feels like that requirement should extend to the owner who is providing the space to be used for business. All I can find is that it comes down to the lease. The business owner is responsible for providing that to her employees and therefore needs to rent/lease a space that is adequate for her needs. The building owner could rent this out to any kind of business and presents a lease that defines what is provided. If the tenant signed a lease that doesn't clearly provide access to facilities than they need to operate within those limitations or they are in violation of... something... my brain hurts. I picked a bad week to quit drinking...

 

[Sifu]

Quitting the drink is easy, I do it every week!

Codes would require facilities be provided from within or from outside the space, and within a distance of 500'. However, once a CO is issued it becomes difficult to compel compliance. How many bubblers and urinals have been taken out of commission due to corona? What can be done about it?

Tenant needs to voice her opposition with her feet. Also, go long enough without the bathroom and there might just be plenty of rather aromatic reasons to turn it back on.

 

[Joe.B]

Quitting the drink is easy, I do it every week!

Codes would require facilities be provided from within or from outside the space, and within a distance of 500'. However, once a CO is issued it becomes difficult to compel compliance. How many bubblers and urinals have been taken out of commission due to corona? What can be done about it?

Tenant needs to voice her opposition with her feet. Also, go long enough without the bathroom and there might just be plenty of rather aromatic reasons to turn it back on.

Hahaha yeah I quit drinking all the time! Usually around midnight or so... I must be getting old if I'm throwing an "Airplane" reference out there... Yes, once we issue the occupancy people do whatever they want, I don't lose sleep over it though, if they really foul something up it's on them. As is so often the case I never heard back from the tenant. She didn't like what I had to say so she's probably calling someone else. Or she read her lease and is realizing it's not in her favor. Yup she's got plenty of other places she could move her business to, or shutter entirely until things go back to normal. If they go back...