Project Services, Inc.

Contracted to do job and pull permits.Company didn't pull permits and comply with NC Licensing Board requirements & caused water damage to our home.We contracted with this company to replace our existing hot water heater with a tankless hot water heater in our attic. The bill of sale includes the product, materials, exhaust flue kit and permits. At the time we assumed job was done. On 9/1/15 we found significant water damage through our home. We contacted PSI to come out and resolve the issue. Technician stated the issue was with a/c unit and left our home. We immediately contacted our a/c company and he came out and informed us the plumbing company had connected to our a/c unit and was sure that would not pass code. We then contact the [redacted] Inspections Dept. and found that PSI never pulled permits for the job. Permit was finally pulled on 9/11/15 and inspection failed on 9/14/15. PSI did some of the work but still has not passed the inspection per guidelines. 9/18/15 I received a call from [redacted] Insurance and declined to have his insurance issue a payment for damage as no estimates had been gathered and I was concerned about any additional work that may need to be completed should more damage be found. I filed a homeowners claim with [redacted] will then subregate once the job is complete. Water mitigation is complete and now we need to start the reconstruction phase. However, we are now struggling to have the repairs done to our satisfaction because of the differences between homeowners and liability insurances. The insurance company wants to cover only threshold to threshold leaving US to pay for 4 adjacent rooms to also be recarpeted to keep us from devaluing our home, as we are in the process of putting it on the market. Mr [redacted] is showing gross negligence for not pulling the permits in 2013, not bringing his work to code per NC Licensing standards/requirements.Desired SettlementBring job to code. Replace all damaged property caused by water damage to ensure we do not lose value in our home. Business Response Here is the letter we sent to the plumbing board;I am responding to a complaint letter received on Friday September 18, 2015. We did install the tank-less water heater in the attic of Mrs. [redacted] at [redacted] Holly Springs, NC 27540 on April 12, 2013. Ms. [redacted] experienced water damage due to water leaking out of the water heater pan because the air conditioner condensate line became clogged and the water backed up. Our plumbers in performing the replacement in 2013, made the assumption that the water heater existing drain line installed at construction was installed correctly. The drain line from the water heater pan tied into the condensate drain line approximately ten feet away from the HVAC equipment and exited the house. Our plumbers used the old water heater pan and the drain line under the assumption that everything was installed and inspected and there was no evidence of any water leak at the time of the tank-less installation. Ms. [redacted] has the idea that the drain line was tied into the condensate line at the time of the tank-less installation is incorrect. They did not run a new line and tie into the HVAC condensate line and reused the original water heater pan. They left everything original from the pan on. They, in fact did not even look at the connection of the two drain lines it being away for the focus of the work. We have spoken with the inspection department of Holly Springs and pulled a permit and had the unit inspected on September 14, 2015. We have since, September 14, 2015, repaired the drain by running an independent CPVC line from a new pan to the outside of the house at no cost to the customer and are scheduling to have it inspected this week. We have reported this to our insurance carrier on September 15, 2015, and they are investigating. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to these issues Sincerely, [redacted] Project Services Inc. Consumer Response The indication that my water damage came from the condensate line because it was "clogged" is absolutely incorrect. The water that caused the damage did come from the condensate line, but only because PSI failed to pull the mandatory permits and get the final inspections for the state of North Carolina licensing board and run their own exit line from the new tank-less hot water heater. Had PSI pulled the permits and had the inspections when the job was first done (and what we paid for) the job would have not passed inspection in this water damage would have never happened. It was PSI's responsibility at the time of the installation to bring the job completely to code, and have their own exit line for the tank-less hot water heater. They should've also installed a new emergency pan of their own, not the pan that was the original from the previous hot water heater. They failed to meet the terms of our contract with them.Please note that Mr. [redacted] stated that they pulled the permit on September 14, 2015, this is more than two years after the job was "complete" and paid for and only because of this extensive water damage to our home. Furthermore, I contacted PSI about the water damage on September 1st, 2015. On September 2nd I informed PSI that I had checked with the town of Holly Springs and they had not pulled the necessary permits to do the job. It took PSI two weeks to finally pull those permits. PSI did not bring the plumbing, electrical permits to satisfaction until October 28th, 2015. The mechanical portion is still not to code and they have not provided the measurements as requested by the town of Holly Springs for the gas line. This is six weeks from the time that the permit was pulled and it failed inspection. We are now almost 8 weeks from the time he pulled the permit, and 10 weeks from when the damage was discovered in PSI was notified. For Mr. [redacted], to state that this work was done at no additional cost us is absurd. There should've never been any additional cost as we paid for the inspection at the time of sale on April 12, 2013. This included the work to be done in full AND the permits. It is now November 7, 2015 and the job is still not done to code. I have included that failed inspection report from the Town of Holly Springs. I have also passed [redacted] information on to the [redacted] Board. Furthermore, PSI's insurance company did not "investigate" but merely made a phone call to me. It is our homeowners insurance that has covered the damage that is authorized per our policy. The points that PSI failed to address in their response to you was that they failed to the pull permits, as mandated by the state licensing board, in April of 2013. Had a PSI pulled those permits and passed inspection at that time, none of this damage to our home would have ever happened.