Do I have ground to sue a plumbing company for negligence?

[Michael Maliszesky]

I want to know if I have ground to sue a plumbing company for negligence.

Hindsight is 20/20.

My tenant reported smelling gas. Later on he told me he noticed the gas smell before, but apparently wasn't concerned. So I found a plumber to fix it. It was a big company with different plumbers and HVAC.

The plumber comes over and tells me he can't find any leaks in the gas line... In retrospect I recall him saying something about not wanting to go into the crawl space…he tells me the leak must be coming from the water heater somehow… in retrospect, this is absur. We eventually found the leak in the crawl space… I didn't understand how gas can come out of the water heater, but the company said he had 11 years experience, so I just figured he knew better than me.

He gives me a quote for about $2,000 and told me to report the gas leak to the city and have a "red tag" put on the gas meter.

I had to wait a week for the parts to come in, and then when they finally came in, it was the wrong parts. 2 technicians came in but didn't get anything done that day. I had to wait a couple more days for the correct parts to come in. Then 1 technician came in, not 2 this time for some unknown reason. He repaired the water heater, they gave a discount (about 20%) for everything taking so long.

After he finished the job I asked about getting the gas turned back on, and I was told the city inspector needed to come in and turn it on.

Getting a hold of the city inspector was another debacle. When I call the office they told me I need to contact a specific inspector, but she never answers her phone, I called like 5 times a day for 3 days. She also never responded to emails I send asking about how to get the gas turned back on. After ANOTHER WEEK of no replys, I call the office and the inspector is not in, so I get her supervisor contact info. Fortunately, the supervisor was helpful and I was able to contact him. He told me there was no permit filed, and there needs to be a permit involved with gas leak fixes.

I was told the technician should have filled a permit. However, when I try to call the technician company the call goes to a call center, and they take a message but no one calls back. The city instructed me on how the file the permit my self after I explained how the house hasn't had gas in over 2 weeks. The first time I put in the application I did it wrong, and as I was talking to customer service the technician company called me back and the guy told me he didn't know he was supposed to file for a permit (...because permits are for gas and a water heater repair isn't gas…) so the technician company finally filed the permit, and the city inspector came.

While the gas guy from the city was there a different plumber, I called for an unrelated issue, was coincidentally there at the same time.

The first technician did not fix the gas leak at all. The other plumber was able to fix the leak while he was there, thankfully. It turns out there was a bunch of leaks in the crawl space, it was a 5 hour job, that cost about $1,000.

Do I have legal ground to sue the technician company for negligence?

First of all it is a gas issue in a rental house so I am legally obligated to fix the problem quickly. So I took the advice of a licensed contractor, as I am legally obligated to do.

Suggesting that fixing the water heater ducking would stop the gas leak is absurd. Luckily a different plumber was able to actually fix it.

It seems the initial plumber just didn't want to go into the crawl space to property asses the leak. And he told me the an unrelated issue would fix it. The plumber that actually fixed the leak also told me the repair job they did on the water has a bunch of unnecessary and expensive components in it.

After the second, competent, plumber explained everything to me I understood the first company basically scammed me.

I feel like this is gross negligence that affects the health and safety of my tenants on behalf of the first company. This company is also messing up my reputation as a respectable business.

What is the best action I should take? Should I call a lawyer or talk to small claims court?