Who is to pay for a technician house call - nothing to fix

[Ryan H.]

Hi All,

This past weekend I had a tenant in a single family house (in CA) report that the heater / furnace was not turning on. I had a technician come out to diagnose the furnace - the diagnosis was that there was no electrical power going to the equipment. This cost me about $90 - the minimum payment for a house visit which would have been deducted from the actual labor had there been any. I then called an electrician and he advised me over the phone that with all the recent rain, it was probably just a GFCI outlet that needed to be reset (it's a button on the outlets in the wet areas of the house).  In this scenario who typically would / should pay for the $90 furnace technician visit (landlord or tenant)?

Thanks!

[Matt M.]

@Ryan H.

Furnaces are supposed to be hardwired and not plugged into a GFCI outlet. There are GFCI breakers in electrical panels, but ive never heard of a heating system on a GFCI. Or am I missing something since this is in CA...