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Mar
24
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The first and most critical task when buying/purchasing any condo for first time buyers as well as experienced investors is, you must fully understand the bylaws of the condo corporation. You should have a lawyer review the documents for you, but it is advisable that you also fully understand the conditions and terms of the condo corporation.
After you are confident that you understand these documents then communication should commence by email with a condo board representative if you are purchasing a condo from a board member be sure that your emails are directed to an alternate member of the board. These should include questions like has there been any discussions regarding future special assessments or are any currently planned. What is the equity of the reserve fund, and its pan for the future. Has there ever been any moisture problems, or leaks of the windows.
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9:43
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Feb
21
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- How many contractors do you use when you are tendering a bid?
- Where have these contractors performed work with you? Can we get the boards contact?
- Who of these contractors have completed projects for you on time and on budget?
- What were these projects that have been completed on time and or on budget, who would we contact on those boards?
- If a project goes past the preset completion date do your fees remain the same? If not who is responsible for this cost, you, the contractor, or does this expense revert back to the board to pay.
- Who determines the time required for successful completion of any given project? The engineering firm or the contractors.
- When you give a budget price for construction costs what is considered an acceptable plus or minus percentage for cost variables.
- What percentage of your completed projects are within 10% of your initial estimated budget and does the percentage reflect the added time or is the project delayed considerably more on average.
- When you do the minutes of a project are there companies that require less supervision and inspection than others.
- Do you have a select group of building envelope restoration companies you like to work with? Can you provide us a detailed rating for quality and performance of 2 projects for each of these contractors?
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10:42
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Feb
16
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- How many people in your company have over 15 years experience in running projects worth over 2 million.
- What kind of project is your main discipline of work? How many building envelope restorations has your company successfully completed?
- What was the dollar value for these projects, and in detail, your scope of work?
- Upon receiving the award of these projects what was the preset completion date? Did you meet the deadline; if not can you explain why and how late you were to project completion?
- Was your price based on a change order process or a preset contingency percentage?
- What was the price before you started the project, and what was cost at the completion date?
- Have you had any accidents or safety infractions? If so can you explain why and if not can we review your safety documentation from 2 of your projects.
- How many complaints have you received for lack of performance for work being performed in an owners or tenant’s suite?
- Can we review 2 of your projects and contact the board for confirmation?
- Are you or your company involved in any litigation with a condo board, an owner or a condominium corporation?
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10:41
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Feb
1
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BUILDING ENVELOPE RESTORATION - The first contact you should make is with a competent contractor in this field of work, in most cases this is the first step because most restoration or building envelope restoration construction management companies will come out and look at your problem initially free of charge. If you find a contractor that has a designated engineer in house this can lower your construction costs and time of project, there are multifamily restoration contractors that offer these complete packages. The second contact if the contractor doesn’t provide an in house investigation would be to search the web in your local area for a qualified engineering firm that is experienced in building sciences and building restorations.
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19:48
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Jan
26
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There are a few obvious signs of leaky condo syndrome, a building with a stucco finish will have a deep dark staining that never seems to go away, this is a sign that the water is leaking directly behind the stained stucco and in most cases will get trapped, most noticeable around and below windows . The water at this point general penetrates inside the outer wall being generally, plywood, OSB, or exterior grade drywall. The later tell tale sign that your building envelope has failed is that you will see dark stains on the interior walls, around window trim, along baseboards even on the ceilings. You may or may not also see water damage around these locations. If the dark staining occurs it is likely to be mold! There are many species of mold and building materials are an excellent habitat for mold to foster growth.
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1:19
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