Tabletop Tuesday: Edition 5 - A Tenant Just Reported a Strong Gas Smell

Jun 13

Here's something I've learned from years of managing buildings and running emergency exercises.

The scenarios that catch teams most off guard aren't the dramatic ones. They're the ones that feel unlikely until they're not - the ones nobody scheduled a drill for because they seemed too rare, too awkward, or too specific to plan around.

The best emergency response doesn't happen during the emergency. It happens in the 45-minute exercise nobody thought was worth scheduling.

Every experienced leader I know has a version of this story. The incident that went sideways. The vendor gap nobody knew existed. The communication failure that was entirely preventable. The decision that took 20 minutes because nobody had talked it through in advance.

Tabletop drills don't eliminate those moments. But they compress them from 20 minutes of real-time confusion into 3 minutes of practiced decision-making. That's the gap between a controlled incident and a chaotic one.

Welcome to Tabletop Tuesday - a recurring format where I drop a real building emergency scenario, walk through the decision framework, and surface the gaps that only show up when you actually try to answer the question.

This month: a reported gas odor in an occupied building. This scenario has a shorter decision window than almost any other building emergency. The sequence of your first four decisions determines whether this stays manageable or becomes something far more serious.

The Scenario

It's 10:18am on a Thursday.

A tenant on the 4th floor calls. She's in the kitchen area of their suite and says there's a strong smell she thinks is gas. She says it's been there since she arrived this morning, about 20 minutes and it seems to be getting stronger.

The building is at 80% occupancy. Approximately 600 people are in the building.

You know that some of the building equipment and kitchen appliances are gas powered.

Your engineer is on a vendor call in the loading dock area.

The tenant is still in the suite.

Security is at the front desk.

Stop here. What are the first three things you do in order and what do you not do?

Recognizing Gas Exposure in Your Tenants

The tenant who called you has been in that space for 20 minutes. That matters.

Symptoms of natural gas inhalation include nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness, confusion, changes in vision, memory problems, loss of coordination, and unusual fatigue. These aren't subtle, but they're easy to dismiss as a bad morning, too much coffee, or not enough sleep. A tenant experiencing early exposure may not connect what they're feeling to what they're smelling.

When you get that call, ask two fast questions: How are you feeling right now? and Has anyone else in the suite mentioned feeling off this morning? If the answer to either involves headache, dizziness, or nausea - that changes your read. You may have people who have been sitting in an accumulating concentration for some time.

One critical thing to understand: the intensity of the odor is not a reliable indicator of concentration. Extended exposure fatigues the sense of smell - meaning the tenant who has been in the space longest may report a weaker odor than someone who just walked in, even as the concentration has been building. Don't let 'it doesn't smell that strong anymore' reassure you.

If anyone in the space is reporting confusion, difficulty walking, or loss of consciousness - you have a medical emergency layered on top of a gas emergency. Call 911 and lead with both.

One more note: Tell the tenant not to use her phone inside the suite. Standard fire and safety guidance is clear - do not use a cellular phone inside a space where gas is suspected. Electrical signals from a phone can be an ignition source. Tell her to have everyone leave the floor.

The Decision Sequence

Step 1: Get the Tenant Out of the Space - Right Now

Before anything else. Before you call your engineer. Before you call the gas company. Before you know whether this is real.

WHAT YOU SAY: "Please leave that area of your suite right now - without turning any lights or switches on or off as you go. Move to the corridor or the stairwell and get some fresh air. Do not use your phone until you are out of the suite."

Gas can ignite from electrical arcs - light switches, outlets, appliances, and yes, cell phones. A tenant who stays in the space and turns on a light or makes a call while you're making decisions is an unacceptable risk.

Step 2: Call 911 - And the Gas Company in Tandem

This is the sequencing error most building teams make. The instinct is to call the gas company first, confirm the leak, and then decide whether to escalate.

In an occupied building with a reported gas odor that is strengthening - you call 911 first. The fire department has gas detection equipment, the training for confined space gas events, and the authority to make the evacuation call. Make the 911 call immediately, and if you have a second person available, the gas company call happens simultaneously or the moment the fire department is en route.

WHAT YOU SAY TO 911: "We have a reported gas odor on the 4th floor of a fully occupied commercial building at [address]. We need the fire department here immediately."

Note: In many jurisdictions, the fire department will notify the gas company themselves once on scene - it's a standard part of their dispatch protocol. Before your next fire drill, ask your responding fire department directly: Do you notify the gas company on a confirmed odor call, or do you expect the building to do it? Get that answer and document it in your emergency plan. It's a five-minute conversation that closes a real gap.

Step 3: Evacuate - The Affected Floor First, Then Reassess

While 911 is being called, security begins evacuating the 4th floor. Use the stairwells. Elevators are off - electrical components in an elevator cab are ignition sources.

The question you'll face immediately: do you evacuate the whole building or just the affected floor?

Most guidance encourages you start with the affected floor and let the fire department make the whole building call when they arrive. A premature whole building evacuation of 600 people into a storm, onto a busy street, or into a parking garage creates its own set of risks. A floor level evacuation contains the immediate exposure while the fire department assesses. If they arrive and determine a full evacuation is warranted - you execute it.

Step 4: What You Do Not Do

Do not send your engineer into the space to investigate before the fire department arrives
Do not tell the tenant it's probably nothing and ask her to stay
Do not turn off electrical systems by hand in the affected area - this creates arc ignition risk
Do not allow anyone to use elevators in the building until the fire department clears them
Do not make a building wide PA announcement that says 'gas leak' - this creates panic. Use 'please evacuate Level 4 using the stairwells'

The instinct to investigate before escalating is understandable. In most building emergencies it's the right call. In a gas odor situation in an occupied building - it is not. Escalate first. Investigate with the fire department present.

While the Fire Department Is En Route

Your engineer meets the fire department at the entrance and walks them directly to the 4th floor. They have access to the mechanical room, the gas shutoff, and the building drawings. They are a resource for the FD - not an investigator working independently.

Security is managing the stairwell evacuation and keeping people off the 4th floor. Nobody enters until the fire department clears it.

You are managing communication. The tenants who have been evacuated need a calm, brief explanation:

WHAT YOU SAY TO EVACUATED TENANTS: "We're investigating a reported odor as a precaution. The fire department is on site and we'll have an update as soon as they've completed their assessment. Please stay in the gathering area."

The Gas Company Call

Once the fire department is on site and the immediate life safety situation is being managed, confirm whether the FD has already contacted the gas company. If they haven't, you or your engineer makes that call. Your gas shutoff location should be known to your engineer and documented in your emergency plan. If it isn't - that's what this tabletop just found.

Ownership Notification

Once the fire department is on site and you have a basic picture of what's happening:

OWNERSHIP MESSAGE: "We had a reported gas odor on Level 4 at approximately 10:18am. Fire department is on site, Level 4 has been evacuated as a precaution, gas company has been contacted. Will update you once the FD completes their assessment."

What This Drill Reveals About Your Building

Does your team know to call 911 before or in tandem with the gas company for an active odor in an occupied building?
Does your engineer know the location of the main gas shutoff and can they communicate it to the fire department immediately?
Does your team know that elevators are off during a gas odor event?
Have you confirmed with your responding fire department whether they notify the gas company, or whether that falls to the building?
Do you know what gas fired equipment is in your building and where it's located?

Know Your Building's Gas System Before You Need To

Where Gas Enters the Building

The gas meter is typically mounted on the exterior of the building, but may be located in a meter vault, utility room, or other interior space. Many commercial buildings have multiple meters. From the exterior meter, the service line enters the building at or below grade and runs to a distribution point - almost always in the basement mechanical room. In older buildings, the meter may be inside near the point of entry.

What your team needs to know: where is the meter, where is the main shutoff, and can your engineer walk the fire department directly to both without hesitation.

What Uses Gas in Your Building

Common gas fired equipment in Class A and B commercial buildings includes domestic hot water heaters, boilers, make up air units, kitchen equipment in tenant suites or building cafes, some rooftop units with gas heat sections, and in some configurations, emergency generators.

A reported odor on an upper floor doesn't automatically mean the source is on that floor. Natural gas rises, and it will follow penetrations, pipe chases, and HVAC pathways. It can also build up inside wall cavities and continue accumulating until it reaches an ignition source - which may be on a different floor entirely.

Why Gas Lines Fail

The most common failure causes in commercial buildings:

Corrosion - the leading cause, especially on aging black iron pipe in mechanical rooms with moisture exposure or on underground service sections. Some commercial buildings are running original 1970s and 1980s infrastructure.

Fitting and joint failure - wear at connections over time, particularly near high-use equipment that cycles frequently.

Appliance connector aging - flexible connectors behind tenant kitchen equipment are a known failure point that often goes uninspected during routine PM cycles.

Construction and renovation activity - drilling, anchoring, or cutting through walls near gas runs is a live risk during any active tenant improvement project. Know where your gas lines run before you issue a permit.

Thermal expansion - repeated heating and cooling cycles stress older fittings over years, especially in mechanical rooms with significant temperature swings.

Gas pipelines are engineered to last decades, but time and environment work against them. A building with original mid-century gas infrastructure warrants a proactive inspection conversation with your chief engineer.

Proactive step: Walk your mechanical room with your chief engineer and confirm you can identify every gas-fired piece of equipment, the shutoff for each, and the path of the main service line from the meter to the distribution point. If you can't do that walk confidently today, this tabletop just gave you a work order.

Run This Tabletop With Your Team

Setup (10 min): Print the 4th floor plan and the building entrance. Mark the kitchen area, the stairwells, and the gas shutoff location in the basement. Assign roles - PM, security, engineer, fire department liaison.
Run the scenario (25 min): Walk through the first 15 minutes in real time. Practice the call to 911. Practice the evacuation instruction to the tenant. Practice what you say to the 4th floor tenants in the corridor. Include the symptom check - ask your team what questions they'd ask the tenant before getting off the phone.
Debrief (10 min): Did the sequence feel right? Where did the team hesitate? What information was missing? Could your engineer have walked the FD to the shutoff without looking it up?

If you found this newsletter interesting, consider checking out these past editions:

Matt Faupel