Condo News for February 2015

Man dies, others injured after carbon monoxide leak forces evacuation of condo in Brossard, Que.

Approximately 75 people were forced to leave condo complex
CBC News (abridged)
Posted: Jan 27, 2025

A man in his sixties has died after a carbon monoxide leak affected a large condo complex on Montreal's South Shore Monday, forcing about 75 residents out and leaving four others injured.

Longueuil police said a total of four victims were transported to hospital, including two police officers.

The two officers were conscious and feeling ill, having had fainting spells, according to the local ambulance service, Coopérative des techniciens ambulanciers de la Montérégie (CETAM). Two others were ill, but not seriously, CETAM said.

The fire service reports that a high level of carbon monoxide — 1,500 parts per million — was detected, with the leak likely originating in the building's furnace room.

Carbon monoxide poisoning in apartment buildings and townhouses happens more often than you may think. There are annual reminders to check your smoke detectors but very little is said about CO detectors.

If you live on the same level as a parking garage, or above a garage, or on the top floor and there are natural gas boilers on the roof, you need a CO detector. It is in the fire code. If you have a gas or wood burning fireplace, same thing, you need a detector on the same floor. If you live in a condo townhouse and you have a gas furnace or a gas water heater, then you need a CO detector on the same floor.

Fan coil air filters

In most condo residential towers, every spring and fall, technicians will come into your unit to service your fan coil. They should vacuum the coils and the bottom of the unit, check to ensure that the water drain line is not plugged and then they replace the air filter. However they install the cheapest filter that they can find.

I suggest that you buy your own air filter and have it installed instead of the cheapy.

I suggest that you buy a MERV 8 furnace filter. Canadian Tire has the best price that I could find at two for $11.00. The prices at Amazon are far too high.

Be sure to measure the size of your existing filter before you go shopping.

Automated external defibrillators (AEDs)

Automated external defibrillators are quite common now and many condominium buildings have one, either in the lobby or in the fitness centre. That’s great.

However after the condo board approves the purchase and congradulates themselves for being so progressive, the machines remain on the walls and are ignored.

However, as you see above, these machines have expiry dates. In 2020, when I worked at one condo, I saw that the expiry date on the AED was July 2018.

Nobody, or almost no one, checks these things. I do.

Ceramic tile flooring

Almost all condos now have ceramic floor tiles in the kitchens and bathrooms. However, when you first inspect your new condo, did you check for floor tiles that have not been properly adhered to the concrete?
(In townhouses, the tiles are glued on top of wood floors. Wood floors flex.)

The lose tiles may crack if something heavy drops on them. That is not too bad if the builder or the previous owner left you a few spares.

Guess what, they never do that, do they.

The Three Knows

Keep the peace in condo land (and avoid going to court) with this lawyer's tips:
1.) Talk out disputes and Know your rights, says Chris Jaglowitz.
I would add: Know how to prevent a dispute with the board
and then if that doesn't work;
Know the name of a good lawyer experienced in condo law.

(Yes Chris Jaglowitz, in Toronto, is one of them.)

Election leaflets

To help an owner get elected to his condo board, I wrote three leaflets for his campaign. To save on costs, there were two leaflets printed on single letter-sized pieces of paper. That cuts the printing cost in half.

He was elected and the board selected him to be the president.

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