Norwich — The Building Code Board of Appeals voted unanimously Thursday to reject an appeal by the owner of a Boswell Avenue rooming house who claimed city inspectors wrongly condemned the house on Jan. 2 and demanded financial compensation for lost rental income.

Four members of the appeals board agreed that many of the accusations and complaints raised by Jimmy Liang, owner of the 12-unit house at 41 Boswell Ave., did not fall under the jurisdiction of the board. They also agreed that city building, fire and health inspectors acted appropriately in response to what they believed were legitimate health and safety issues at the house.

Assistant Building Official Greg Arpin condemned the house Jan. 2 after receiving a complaint of no heat in at least one unit. Pipes were frozen and a bathroom was inoperable. Arpin also discovered numerous other alleged violations, including a rotted sink and counter and unsanitary conditions in the common kitchen, garbage and debris piled up on a deck and unsafe stairs on the front. The inspectors also found many broken doors that would not seal — a violation of fire safety codes — and missing doorknobs.

In his passionate appeal testimony in a hearing Feb. 16, Liang blamed shoddy work by a heating contractor in November for the heating problems and accused city inspectors of protecting the contractors. He also blamed tenants for breaking doors and said they stole hardware and sold it to scrapyards for cash.

Liang said inspectors should have cited the violations and given him time to make corrections, rather than ordering the house closed, and having city Human Services officials place tenants in emergency temporary rooms in hotels — costs that will be billed to Liang. Liang said he faced numerous violation notices in the past, and city inspectors gave him time, just eight hours in one serious sewer malfunction incident, to correct the problem.

Liang did not attend Thursday’s appeals board meeting. Afterward, Liang could not be reached by phone, but in a text response to a request for a comment, he wrote: “Old boy club members are alike.” Liang did not respond to a question on whether he will appeal the Norwich board’s decision to the State Building Code Commission. He has 14 days, from the day he receives the city’s certified letter informing him of the board’s vote, to appeal to the state.

During Thursday’s discussion, Norwich appeals board member Scott Barbarosa said Liang “has a conflict more with his contractors than the city.”

Board Chairman Robert Phoenix said inspectors don’t have a lot of time when they encounter conditions they deem to be life-threatening situations. Inspectors returned to the house on Jan. 8 with Liang to review all violations and what it would take to reopen the house. Before that date, Arpin told the appeals board at the Feb. 16 hearing, someone turned off the furnace, causing much more extensive frozen and burst pipe damage.

Arpin told the board that he wanted the heat left on to prevent freezing pipes and to protect tenants’ cats left in their rooms temporarily.

c.bessette@theday.com