What happens inside your walls — and who pays for it. Owners maintain the unit; renters go to the landlord first. Shared spaces and building life are on Living here.
Water heaters
0–8 yrs8–1010–12: plan a swap12+: overdue
Individual-unit heaters often last 8–12 years.
Replacing one on purpose is far kinder than a leak into the homes below.
Check the serial/age tag; if it’s over 10 years, plan a swap.
The owner (or landlord) arranges replacement — this is not a building work order.
If water is already coming through a ceiling, follow the leak steps first, then deal with the heater.
Bills and utilities
Electric: EMS3 bills each unit for its use and its share of the building’s common electric (hallways, elevator, exterior lights, and similar). The charge shows in the Resident portal and is mailed to the address on file.
Water, sewer, and trash: covered through HOA fees.
Gas: covered through HOA fees. If you smell gas, leave and call 911 — see Emergencies.
Internet: the building is wired for Verizon Fios; other providers may also be available. Setting up new service? See the steps below.
Insurance: owners carry HO-6 (walls-in). Renters carry renter’s insurance. More under Owning your unit.
Setting up new internet service
An installer may need to get into locked areas of the building on your floor, and possibly the basement. Building management has to open those, so plan ahead.
Before you order, tell building management your plans through the Resident portal.
Once you have a scheduled installation time, contact building management again through the portal so access to every location the installer needs is set up for that day.
Find these before you need them
Yours may look different — find the red or blue shutoff lever, the breaker panel, and the heater’s age tag.
Hallway heat is a building system (setpoints). What cools and heats your apartment is separate — if it dies, that’s a unit or landlord problem.
Water shutoff — often near the water heater or where the line enters. If a hose or heater fails, minutes matter for the floors below.
Breaker panel — know where it is so a tripped circuit isn’t an emergency call.
Smoke and CO detectors in the unit — the owner’s responsibility to keep working. The building fire alarm is a different system; if the building is in alarm, leave by the stairs. Emergencies.
What you maintain vs the association: Owning your unit. Renters: ask the landlord once, then write it down.
How to ask for a repair
Inside your unit (finishes, appliances, windows, in-unit heat and A/C): the owner’s to maintain — Owning your unit. Renters: landlord first.
Shared building: owners log work orders and building questions in the Resident portal so they have a ticket.
Renters: landlord first for the unit, fobs, and mailbox. The owner (not the tenant) should open the portal ticket for common-area work.
Water through a ceiling, fire, gas, or a trapped elevator is not a portal ticket — call in that order. Do not use the emergency line for a work order that can wait.
Owning your unit
Floors 2–10 are condominiums. What is inside your walls-in space is yours to keep working — the association does not repair or replace it for you. Renters: this is your landlord’s job.
You maintain your part of the building. Finishes, plumbing and electric in the unit, the water heater, in-unit heat and A/C, smoke/CO detectors, and the exterior windows. If a window no longer opens, leaks, or needs replacement, that is the unit owner’s project.
Changing the space — adding or removing walls, new openings, major electrical or plumbing — needs ordinary City of Philadelphia permits and has to follow safety codes.
Tell building management before you start construction. Use the Resident portal so they know trades will be in the building. Freight elevator: Moving.
Warn your neighbors if the work will be loud — a note under the door, the Facebook group, or both. A few days’ notice is a polite thing to do.
HO-6 (walls-in) insurance is the owner’s. Association documents and any extra alteration rules live on the Resident portal.
What HOA fees cover
Shared building costs — official budget and packets: Resident portal.
Gas, water and sewer, and communications for building systems
Janitorial and trash
Management and admin
Front-door service and camera security
Maintenance of shared systems — elevators, hallway HVAC, roof, common flooring and painting, building electrical and plumbing, exterminating, snow removal
