Building shut off water to replace bath fixture?

As someone once explained to me, until about the late 1960s goods were expensive and labor was cheap ... and so they didn't put shut-off valves in at every conceivable point, or any other unnecessary parts. And they *were* building a new building, after all, so who would want to replace brand new plumbing anyway?

not replacing plumbing..

bathtub faucet has slight leak (easy fix, change the washer which i've done before no prob).. since i'm unscrewing already, niece wants new fixtures (not plumbing pipes)..

find it weird mgmt needs to shut off entire building for such a simple fix..

If there're no shutoff valves for each fixture or group of fixtures, then no choice but to shut the whole riser down.

This is not unusual, but it is inconvenient. Typically, when a bathroom or kitchen is renovated, the building will require local shut off valves to be installed.

When I lived in a big prewar, it seemed like the water to the line was being turned off at least 5-6 times per year, usually during the day.

Even in my 1970 building, there are no shut-off valves for the bathtubs or the individual water heaters for each unit. The board is requiring a shut-off valve as the water heaters are replaced (the last of the original 1970 water heaters finally died last year), but there's not much we can do about the tubs because of the way they are positioned.

Apartments rarely have shut offs on shower valves. But most one piece shower valves made in the last 20 or so years has a service stop on it that enables one to remove the valve and repair/replace the unit.

damnnn...

so that means i have to pay a plumber $500 to replace a $2.00 washer which i can do myself??

mgmt needs plumber's license prior to any 'work' started.. unless i find a plumber buddy in short nick and pay 'em 20 bones for a 'license' copy..

$500.00? How about more

Most of the buildings I work in require us to not only install shutoffs but also change all the branch lines back to the riser. It does cost the owner more money but over time it does help in having new plumbing lines and causes less leaks