My stove failed to work. I called in the maintenance person in my building. He said that the shut off valve is useless. He will have to turn off the gas elsewhere. I bought a new stove from P.C. Richards. The technician told me that the previous owners had two flexi cords connected which was hazardous. He told me that in order for the stove to work he would have to connect a new pipe to the small valve that is already there. He also stated that the valve that is there should be a long pipe extending to the stove so that the installation can be done.

I paid $80 to install the pipe with a new shut off valve. The previous shut off valve did not work. If I bought a new stove, should I be the one paying for a new valve and pipe in order to install my stove? I believe I should just be able to connect my stove?

—Piping Up

It is hard to answer this type of question without more information such as is the building individually gas metered, is it a co-op or condo, and of course, depends what is in the offering plan and the proprietary lease,” says Peter Grech, a resident building manager, a building consultant and owner of Grech Building Operations Consulting in Manhattan. “However, based on the information provided and on the assumption this is a coop or a condo and that the offering plan is a standard kind then the answer would be yes, the owner has to pay for the pipe and gas valve.

“The co-op and condo would not be responsible for the gas line from the valve to the stove. The valve also would most likely not be a coop or condo responsibility. Co-ops and condos are responsible in most cases for what is known as "in common" or "common use."

Gas is "in common" within the risers and branch lines up to the gas valve, where an owner can then control the flow of gas without interfering with the "in common" part of the unit.    n