Heat/Temperature Requirements for Commercial Tenant?

[supermavis]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IOWA

I rent a space for a vintage clothing boutique in Iowa. Its in a very old building, and a big space with a lot of windows, heat is boiler heat for the whole building including all the apartments above. I've been battling the pathetic condition of the radiator heat for nearly 3 years....asking for more heat, asking if its broken, etc etc. I'm always placated with a temporary boost in the heat, someone coming in to fiddle w/ the radiator or something along those lines but eventually its back to the same thing.

Yesterday it was 20 degrees and when I got to the shop the water in the toilet had a layer of ice over it. The radiators were freezing cold, clearly not on for a while. The heat didn't kick on til 2 in the afternoon...meanwhile, customers are complaining, not willing to try clothes on, leaving empty handed while I sat there freezing. I called the landlord and left a message asking if the heat was broken, said it hadn't been on at all (this before it came on)...he called back while I was busy and left a message saying he was out of town and needed "more details".

I've had it. More details? The heat isn't on. I have no more details than that. I left early, not even able to work online on my website because my hands were too cold to type. I have a space heater behind my desk, but I pay extra electric to run it....and of course, I can't sit them out in the shop for the fire hazard w/ the clothing.

I called the city inspector (who BTW knew my landlord by 1st name when I gave the address) who said he can't do anything unless the tenants who LIVE there complain. So basically, I'm wondering what my rights are as a commercial tenant for what level of heat/comfort I can require be provided so that my business doesn't tank over the long winter months here. There's nearly no point to being open when its this cold, and I'm losing business in the shop AND time working on my website because its unbearable to be there.

Thanks so much

 

[FarmerJ]

The inspector was correct , commercial leases have none of the protections residential renters have , SO unless the people who live in the apts above begin complaining to inspections then youll have to deal with it , NOW if you do not have a thermostat tied to the buildings heating system what you can do is learn what the cost of having a forced air furnace put in would be and the gas line work so you can pay for your own heat and then negotiate with the LL for a rent reduction if he is not having to pay your spaces heating bill any more. If LL wont budge doing a rent reduction you can still look into the cost of adding either a forced air OR better yet if the electric co offers it OFF peak electric heat storage system , which in combination with programable tstat in your space would run at night( lower off peak electric rate per KWH in my area is half what the normal rate is ) building up heat which later in the daytime warm your space along with the LLS system still running it shouldnt be too bad, Sad to say older boiler systems can take HOURS to recover , But with off peak heating not only would it be on the lower rate BUT it would use a tstat in your space to even out the temperature as long as LL leaves your rental space tied to the old system you would be paying for bringing up the difference. Or even a hanging electric furnace , that too would work and could be on programable tstat if its not on a off peak program, it could still be set to bring up the temperature in the morning hours and as old boiler does its thing the electric heaters tstat would still cut it off as old radiators get warmer.

 

[supermavis]

thanks, thats exactly what I needed to know (though not great news!). I'll talk to him about what we can do to get that space some heat. I've been a good tenant for 3 years and my presence has attracted 3 other business tenants since I came in....before that no one rented there, or if they did they didn't stay long. Maybe he'll be decent and work with me on this. Thanks so much~