CCI-Review - 2020/2021 - #2

… Getting Ready for Construction

technical review. There are always options, and remember it’s never too late to ask for help.

came to a meeting of minds. This took dozens of hours.

The colour on the walls and the furniture was not what the Board selected, so repainting had to happen, with a better quality of paint and the furniture replaced. The lights and door hardware replacement was going to be done by unqualified contractors until we stepped in. Cost savings upfront can lead to increased costs later! The marble pieces to fix the lobby floor had to be ordered from overseas, so the lead time was significant. The contractor was holding off ordering until they could be paid for the moving corridor tiling. The flooring part of the project could have been completed in weeks instead of months if the project manager had kept on top of timelines and payments. Eventually, the work was done, and the floor looked great. There were many other issues coordinating this project halfway through, but residents and owners were the ones who suffered the most, living in some sort of construction zone for more than a year. Is your condo manager or designer is a qualified project manager? If not, we strongly recommend hiring an outside party to do this work. Everyone will be safer and happier with the results.

CASE STUDY: It is Never Too Late to Ask For Help

I took over management of a high-rise that was in the middle of a design revamp of their building. It included painting all hallways, fixing broken marble floors, replacing tiles in the moving corridor, replacing all light fixtures, replacing furniture in their lobby and board room, window treatments and the list goes on. They had hired their designer to oversee the project. The designer did not use email, own a printer at home and was difficult to reach. Project management was ineffective, and the project had stalled. The Board felt their previous Condo Manager was not transparent with payments to the designer, but it was due to a lack of clear invoices, as they were hand-written and no contractor invoices were shown, just a summary from the project manager was submitted. It took months to straighten out the invoicing and payments made, but the Board had not overpaid yet. They were on the verge of it and one contractor mentioned they hadn’t been paid yet for their work. This is a dangerous place to ‘sit’, as the contractor was within their rights to lien for their unpaid work. Finances were sorted and all parties

— JD & SN

2020/2021 - 2 — 17

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