There's no hot water. Is it just me or the whole building?
Who pays, usually: A central plant is usually the building's or association's to fix. A heater serving only your unit is often the owner's or the landlord's, depending on the declaration or lease.
Filed under Not clear yet
No hot water in your apartment comes down to three checks: whether every hot tap is out, whether neighbors are out too, and whether your heater sits inside your unit or in the building's plant.
From the Whose Pipe Is It? desk. Sources last checked November 3, 2026. .
A few minutes of checking tells you who should get the call. Do these in order, and leave heater panels and burners alone.
Three checks
- Try hot at two or three taps. If one is cold and another is hot, the problem is that fixture, not the heater, and the shower page or the one-faucet checks will help.
- Ask a neighbor, and look for a notice in the lobby, elevator or building email. A shutdown or plant fault tends to announce itself this way.
- Find out where your heat comes from. A heater in a closet in your home means it is yours to report. No heater anywhere means a central plant.
What did you find?
| What you found | Likely problem | Who hears about it |
|---|---|---|
| The whole line or building is out | Central plant, or planned work | Staff or the emergency line |
| Only you, with a central plant | A branch, a valve or a crossover near you | Staff, and mention you checked with neighbors |
| Only you, with your own electric heater | A tripped breaker or a failed element | Check the breaker, then a plumber or landlord |
| Only you, with your own gas heater | Burner or pilot | Licensed pro, or the landlord |
| Water on the floor around your heater | A leak | See below, right away |
With an electric heater, look at the breaker only if the floor around the panel and you are dry. Tripped? Don't reset it if there's any water near the heater or the water was just shut off; tell staff, a plumber or the landlord. If it trips again after a reset, it needs an electrician.
Water around a heater changes the priority. If you know which valve is yours and the floor beside it is dry, close it, and leave the heater's power to staff or a pro. Phone staff or the emergency line either way, and keep well away from wet floors near anything electrical. Heater leaks in stacked homes travel, so see what to do if a leak reaches downstairs.
Did it go out just after a water shutdown?
Mention it when you call. After service work, San Francisco's water utility says to avoid using hot water until the cold runs clear, since DC Water warns sediment can settle in your heater. Building shutdowns have their own routine.
Is an old heater near the end?
DOE gives storage heaters a life of 10 to 15 years, and tankless ones can pass 20. If yours is in that range and failing, ask about replacement, which brings closet and drain pan questions.
If you own
A heater serving only your unit is often yours. In Florida alone, the statute leaves insuring such a heater to the owner, not the master policy. Elsewhere, start with your declaration's maintenance article. For a central plant, report it and ask when repair is expected.
If you rent
Tell the landlord the same day, in writing, and keep a copy of the message. Do not hire your own plumber and send the bill without checking your lease and state rules, and see when a landlord will not act if nobody responds.
The short of it
Check other taps, ask a neighbor and learn where your heat comes from. That tells you who to call.
Asked next
How long can a building go without hot water?
There is no single national answer. Local housing codes and state landlord laws differ. Your city's housing or code enforcement office is the place to ask if an outage drags on.
Why is there hot water in the kitchen but not the shower?
That points to the fixture or its valve, not the heater. Report just that fixture, and say which taps still work.
Should you run the hot tap to bring it back?
Not after a shutdown, until the cold water runs clear. Otherwise, a brief test at a tap is fine, but running water for long does nothing for a plant fault.
Read it yourself
- DOE, Energy Saver guide: water heater lifespan, read Nov 3, 2026.
- San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, dirty or discolored water: avoid hot water until cold clears, read Nov 3, 2026.
- DC Water, hydrant inspections notice: sediment settling in a water heater, read Nov 3, 2026.
- Texas Property Code chapter 92: 92.052 on hot water and notice, read Nov 3, 2026.
- California Civil Code 1941.1: hot and cold running water, archived copy of the official page, captured Sep 14, 2026, read Nov 3, 2026.
- California Civil Code 4775: restoring interrupted services, archived copy of the official page, captured Sep 14, 2026, read Nov 3, 2026.
- Florida Statutes 718.111: water heaters left out of the master policy, read Nov 3, 2026.