By JAY ROMANO
Published: September 17, 2010

Responsibility for Fireplaces

Q Who is responsible for maintaining a working fireplace in regulated and unregulated rental apartments — the tenant or the landlord? And who would be responsible should an improperly maintained fireplace cause a fire?

A Jeffrey McAdams, a Manhattan lawyer who represents tenants, said that the “warranty of habitability” in the state’s Real Property Law makes landlords responsible for ensuring that apartments are “fit for human habitation and for the uses reasonably intended by the parties” to keep occupants from being “subjected to any conditions which would be dangerous, hazardous or detrimental to their life, health or safety.” So the landlord would be responsible if improper maintenance of the fireplace violated that warranty. But if the tenant was negligent in using the fireplace, any damage that negligence caused would be the tenant’s responsibility.

Making a Spouse a Co-op Shareholder

Q I own a co-op in Queens and would like to add my spouse’s name to the stock and proprietary lease as co-owner. One board member said I would have to go through the same approval process as when buying. Do I need to go through the whole process and submit all financial documents just to get approval?

A “The answer will depend on the provisions of the proprietary lease or bylaws of the co-op,” said Steven Troup, a Manhattan co-op and condominium lawyer. Many leases and bylaws provide that this request does not require board approval, or requires only the approval of the managing agent, Mr. Troup said. Others make no allowance for this scenario. It would seem logical, he said, for a board to grant such a request since it will then have two named owners, both of whom will be liable to pay maintenance and assessments as well as to comply with all the other obligations of named shareholders.

When Heating Pipes Won’t Stop Banging

Q My wife and I moved into a newly renovated prewar co-op on the Upper West Side last fall. Once the weather got cold, we discovered that the pipes in one bedroom banged terribly when the steam heat came on. Nothing we did, including replacing the entire radiator and valves, made a difference. What can we do?

A Henry Gifford, the president of EnergySavingScience.com, a Manhattan energy consulting company, said that banging in steam heating systems is caused by steam forcing its way past a plug of water. The typical fixes for this are: making sure the radiator is slightly higher at the end with the vent, to allow water to drain back to the system; replacing the vent itself with one that has a smaller opening; and making sure that all valves are fully opened. Another possibility is that water is pooling somewhere in the pipe that leads to the radiator. Because the writer says that the radiator and valves have been replaced, the cause would seem to be either incorrect leveling of the radiator, the size of the vent, or the supply pipe. “The writer or super can put a piece of wood under the vent end to help the water drain out or try a vent valve with a smaller opening,” Mr. Gifford said. If the radiator still bangs, the problem is probably in the pipe in the wall, which would require opening up the wall to correct the pitch so water drains back into the system.

(Source: A version of this article appeared in print on September 19, 2010, on page RE7 of the National edition.)