I am little confused and will be hiring a licensed electrical person to look at it, but wanted to get an idea of what maybe going on or if anyone has any experience seeing this type of issue.
In 2006 the building was converted from a 2 family to a 3 family by a licensed electrician with permits.. The building has 4 Main breakers connected to each electric meter. 1 common main breaker which control all the common lights in the lobby and hallways in the multifamily and seperate main breakers for Apt 1, Apt 2, Apt 3. Each main breaker is connected to a main electric meter. Total 4 electric meters.
Recently I discovered when I wanted to close the main breaker for Apt 2 the lights remained on, only 1 bedroom light went off.
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When I closed the (Common lights) breaker the 2nd apt light went off along with all the lobby lights. While the common lights main breaker was off.
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I turned the 2nd apt main breaker on and all the common lights and 2nd apt lights went on.
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When I leave the lights on in the 2nd apartment and lobby lights and when I close the (Common Lights) main Breaker the electric register on the 2nd apartment electric meter.
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When I close the 2nd apartment main breaker and keep the (Common Lights) main breaker on the electric register on the 3rd apartment electric meter.
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The 1st apt and 3rd apt main breaker have no issues they turn off their apartment lights when I shut then off independently.
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Each apartment has a sub panel.
- the 2nd apt sub panel shuts off the lights.
- However to close the 2nd apt from the main. I have to close the common and 2nd apt main breaker to close the power for 2nd apt.
Thank you again for your help.
Best Answer
There is some confusion reading the question, for example "closing" a breaker normally means turning on the power, the off position is the "open" position.
However I think I get the gist of it, and I think you know what's going on. You have some loads in apartment 2 that are on the house-common service, and some house-common loads that are on apartment 2's service. This happens all the time when houses are divided up, and in my experience it's rarely caught by inspectors.
The landlord is of course obligated to correct the issue. It is a bit of a cost issue, the landlord is paying for some of apartment 2's lights, and apartment 2 is paying some of the common area lighting for the landlord.
It is also a safety issue. Say someone is servicing apartment 2's lights, and they open (turn off) the main breaker for apartment 2, but the light they are working on is on the house-common panel. If they assume power is off, and neglect to verify by testing voltage at the light, they could get zapped.