Policy Regarding Unlocking Crawl Space & Boiler Room Doors

In order to improve the efficiency of maintenance operations, the Board of Directors approved a revision to the policy regarding unlocking of crawlspace and boiler room doors. The revised policy is as follows:

Boiler Rooms and Crawl Space areas (hear after referred to as "crawl spaces") under GHI town homes are classified as confined spaces. For safety and liability reasons, GHI enforces restrictions as to who can enter and what type of work should be performed in these areas.  The following procedure shall be followed with regard to unlocking of crawl spaces:

1. Members who wish to personally enter crawl spaces shall first contact the Staff Engineer and fill out a member request form.  If the request is approved, the member will be requested to sign the form which releases GHI from any liability that may arise from the member entering crawl spaces. Staff will then make arrangements to open the locked doors to provide entry and will close the doors upon the member's exit.
2. GHI will provide access to crawl spaces for Utility Companies (PEPCO, WSSC, etc) and Cable/Phone Companies (Comcast, Verizon, etc) for service with the following restrictions:
   1. For service during normal GHI business hours (7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every other Friday), members shall advise the company technician to pick up an access key at GHI offices at 1 Hamilton Place. Technicians will be asked to produce identification.  They shall lock the crawl space and return the key to GHI offices upon completing their work.
   2. For after-hours and weekend service requests, members shall contact GHI's after-hour emergency maintenance answering service (301-474-6011) to arrange for crawl space access.  Non-emergency service requests are subject to a $50 after-hour access fee to cover staff overtime costs. Refer to GHI On-Call Emergency Response List (below) for board-approved emergencies.
3. GHI will provide access to crawl spaces for certified contractors conducting work for members with the following restrictions:
   1. All access must be authorized by the GHI Staff Engineer and contractors are requested to sign a form which releases GHI from any liability that may arise from entering crawl spaces. Contractors shall produce a copy of approved GHI permit(s) for the scope of work before beginning any work.
   2. For work during normal GHI business hours (7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. M-Th, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every other Friday), members shall advise their contractor to pick up an access key at GHI offices at 1 Hamilton Place.
   3. For scheduled after-hours and weekend contractor work, members shall advise their contractor to make arrangements to pick up crawl space access keys during normal business hours.
   4. Contractors shall lock the crawl space and return the key to GHI offices at the end of each working day. Special arrangements may be made with the Staff Engineer for contractors to retain a crawl space key for approved work spanning multiple days on a case-by-case basis.

All technicians and contractors are liable for any damage occurring while they are in the crawls. Special exceptions for crawl space access may be accepted on a case-by-case.

Unlocking Crawl Space & Boiler Room Form

GHI On Call Emergencies