Frozen to Death, Almost

The 880 Grandview Way building finally changed over from cooling to heating on last Friday, October 23, 2009. (In 2008, the changeover date was October 24.)

Conservations were heard among some residents of the 880 building:

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Resident A:	Finally, the heating system of our building was turned on last Friday, October 23, 2009. I was almost frozen to death.
Resident B:	But it was turned on at about the same time last year. In fact, it was turned on last year on October 24, 2008.
Resident A:	I don’t remember what happened last year, but I only know that this year the Thanksgiving week (i.e. the week of October 12) was unusually cold with day time temperature in the single digit range, and night time temperature hovering above and below the freezing mark. I wish they could turn on the heat earlier.
Resident B:	But the week after that was kind of like “Indian summer” weather with day time temperature back to the high teens. If they had turned on the heat earlier, people would complain that it’s too hot.
Resident A:	If it’s too hot, I can just turn off the thermostat. At least I have a choice. Without heat, I have no choice but to endure frigid cold.
Resident B:	I think you are right. At least we have a choice.

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Resident C:	I think it’s against the law to turn on heat at such a late date. I check that there is a bylaw of the City of Toronto mandating that heat is to be turned on on September 15 of every year. [1]
Resident D:	I know about this bylaw, but I think this bylaw is for rental buildings only. So it is not applicable to our condo building, I think.
Resident C:	I don’t know about the legal coverage of this bylaw, but there are renters in this building, too. If they complain to the City of Toronto, or the Human Rights Commission, and end up with legal action against our condo corporation, we, the unit owners, will suffer financially.
Resident D:	You have a point there.
Resident C:	On the other hand, don’t you think that we, as unit owners, should deserve at least equal (if not better) treatment as renters?
Resident D:	I absolutely agree with you on this!

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Resident E:	During the freezing Thanksgiving week, I made a complaint to the management office, asking why the changeover date was so late. The management office told me that the Board made the decision. Why did the Board make such a decision to have heat on at such a late date?
Resident F:	I happened to run into a member of the Board of Director and asked the same question. The Board member told me that they made the decision on the advice of the property manager, who knows the best because he deals with the day-to-day operations.
Resident E:	What does that mean?
Resident F:	I dunno.

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The above conservations will not be heard among the residents of the 88 building or the casitas because each of their unit has in-unit control of their heating and cooling system.

Note:
[1] Read the Toronto Municipal Code about heating here at http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_497.pdf.

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