The building committee (va'ad bayit) of a new building from a contractor asked us to carry out a home inspection (bedek bayit) of the common areas during the inspection period (the contractor's warranty period on the building).
We identified many construction defects, including this one:
Under the Planning and Building Regulations, access to fire hydrants must be kept clear. That means no one may park in front of the hydrants and block the way for the fire truck that has to reach the building when there is a fire.
The reason is obvious: the fire truck has to connect to the inlet valves of the firefighting system in order to put out the fire.
In addition, nothing may stand in the way between the fire truck and the building.
All the more so when what stands there is "legal", permanent residents' parking in front of those hydrants.
Section 7.00.04 of the Planning and Building Regulations*.
Absurdly, the contractor put up a "No parking" sign in this area (see the attached photo) and at the same time sold the spaces there to residents as parking property.
So cars are always parked in this area, in direct violation of the fire safety provisions.
Needless to say, this is illegal parking, and as such the owners of the spaces may find themselves required to vacate them.
Beyond that, parking there endangers the safety of everyone living in the building.
Once we have issued our expert opinion, the owners of the parking spaces will demand their money back, or a legal alternative parking space.
The engineers of Arad Bedek Bayit, led by building engineer Ron Arad, whom courts appoint as their own expert on construction defects. The company has been inspecting apartments and buildings since 2001. Engineer Ron Arad · More about the company