Page 9 - New England Condominium March 2021

NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM -MARCH 2021 9 Many unit owners come to the condo- minium experience directly from rental units—and consequently, often continue to think like renters long after they be- come owners. In the rental universe, the bylaws, CC&Rs, and so forth — before HOA — but so should reducing potential function of the association’s most impor- landlord—and by extension the building determining how best to accomplish a liability to the association. Often it is not. tant physical component: the property staff—are expected to make repairs on project,” says Wayne Dow, a partner in “There’s always this desire for people to itself. The value of individual units will almost anything, exterior or interior. “Condominium owners need to un- derstand that the workers and staff of clients in New England. “Oftentimes, in JGS Insurance. “Quite often, the true from parking lots to roofs, façades to their association are there for the com- mon areas of the property, not individual units,” says Wolf. That’s very different from living in a rental, where the land- lord is responsible for all repairs. “Staff may not be insured for work in or around individual units,” says Wolf. “They can- not work on personal projects—only common area work. Some associations allow for private work after hours. We discourage it, but if staff members do this kind of private work, they must be licensed and insured.” According to Ellen Shapiro, an at- torney with Marcus, Errico, Emmer & capital improvement projects are to be a third party and making sure they have Brooks, a law firm located in Braintree, performed, and by whom. Running afoul their own workers compensation cover- Massachusetts, when it comes to individ- ual condominium associations, “No one of directors and other insured persons, It also protects the budget from unfore- size fits all. Everything depends on the such as the property manager, to claims seen additional premiums, or unexpect- type of management the property has, of breach of fiduciary duty or other ed payroll. Specialists are specialists for and what management is required to do causes of action. You also want to ensure a reason. When you hire one, you are under their contract. Otherwise, govern- ing documents dictate what a board or the scope of ability and expertise of the ensure a job well done.” association is required to do” in terms of person who’s been given the task.” maintenance and upkeep. Insurance Concerns “I would suggest reviewing your as- sociation’s governing documents — the handle the business of their building or systems are key to the continued optimal New Jersey-based JGS Insurance, which get things done cheaper — no matter the rise and fall based on the condition and writes policies nationally, including for job,” says Ryan Fleming, also a partner function of these systems—everything such documents set out mandates as to costs and risks inherent aren’t fully ap- how certain maintenance, repairs, or sation benefits if there’s an injury. Hiring staff. of any mandates could expose the board age provides a solid layer of protection. that the work to be performed is within hiring their many years of experience to Worker safety and proper systems multitude of factors when making deci- maintenance should of course be front- most in a board’s collective mind as they their exterior building systems. Those preciated. When considering a project, time, community administrators must be the work that needs to be done is only ever-mindful of finding the right people the beginning. There’s also property ex- posed to damage, and people exposed to the property, from inspections to repairs potential bodily injury. Insurance prod- ucts provide coverage for these expo- sures for sure — but are those exposures credentialed and qualified, both for the worth the risk to a building’s insurance benefit of the association and for the policy for the savings in project cost? sake of their own safety. Never be pen- Hiring someone internally to perform a ny-wise and dollar foolish when dealing job of any type will indeed expose the with both the physical health of your association to paying workers compen- In the final analysis, management and association boards must consider a sions about the appropriate upkeep of windows, doors to gutters. At the same to handle the many facets of maintaining to major capital projects. Those chosen to do this work should be appropriately property and the physical safety of your n A J Sidransky is a staff writer/reporter for New England Condominium, and a pub- lished novelist. “If they are qualified to do the specific work, they should do it. If they aren’t, they shouldn’t.” — Scott Wolf