Can you sue the city govt for approving an illegal water heater installation?

Question

We have an 18 year old water heater that is leaking for the second time. Last time the plumber came out he said the it was illegal and not up to code to not have a "release valve" on it, and it never should have passed inspection or been installed. (This law requiring the valves has been in place for longer than that I was told).

My question is, since the original installer of the water heater is out of business, I can't sue them for damages. But, shouldn't the city govt. inspectors take the responsibility for this mess and pay for having it replaced? I don't know, but I assume they approved it when our house was built (it was all built at the same time when the water heater was installed). This doesn't seem right, and now I'm stuck with a dangerous and costly repair. Thanks.

Thanks for the answers.
We are the original owners, so it was installed only once for sure. My main issue is the safety of it and how the main safety feature (release valve) wasn't installed, which is required by code (and was at the time, I looked). Since the city did approve this, and it is potentially extremely dangerous, it seems that they should be held responsible. It sounds kinda silly, but these things can be very dangerous....

http://www.waterheaterblast.com/
http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/WHRpages/English/Longevity/hot-water-heater-safety.html (under 'Temperature/pressure relief valve (T&P)')

Answer 1

Yes, you can make the city officials responsible. Certificate Of Occupancy Inspector should have caught this.

Answer 2

It depends on the code when it was installed. Many mechanics claim to know the code but they do not. The fact it ran for 18-years is a good long life for an electric water heater. But unfortunately they do go bad with age. The first thing to go bad and easiest to replace is the heating element. Eventually the unit itself goes bad and leaks that is when you replace the entire unit.

Typically the waterheater is inspected only once after the house is built. If it has been replaced or repaired since the house was first built it is not inspected again unless it is a gas water heater then typically they are inspected by the gas company only for leaks on an anual basis.
You might have had a good case if the unit went bad shortly after inspection but 18-years after the fact I would not be optomistic.
I am no legal expert but it would require thousands of dollars to sue the goverment just to get a new waterheater.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I seriously doubt any 18 year old water heater is up to current code. The code has probably changed in the last 18 years. Even if the heater was not up to code 18 years ago, it has probably outlasted its normal life. My water heater had a 5 year warranty.
Phillip L said gas water heaters are only inspected annually by the gas company for leaks. If that's true, mine is 2 1/2 years over due for that inspection. the only time I am aware of any inspection was when the home inspector checked before I bought the place. The closest the gas company has come to inspecting my water heater was when they had to relight the pilot after replacing a gas line serving the area.

Answer 4

Is the lack of having a release valve causing the leaking? Probably not. All you could sue for is damage caused by the lack of a release valve. This is home ownership, hot water heaters will leak. I replaced mine for $125 and three hours of my time.

Answer 5

You could always try and sue but I guarantee that the court bill will be bigger than just buying a new water heater and replacing it. Like someone said earlier 18 years is really good to get out of a unit.

Answer 6

could be that it was never inspected when it was put in, may have been installed by a previous owner.