Page 10 - New England Condominium March 2022

10 NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM -MARCH 2022 NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM every five years on all buildings over six storeys, which amounts to nearly 15,000 buildings citywide. The resulting report must be filed with the DOB by a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector (QEWI)—a New York State-licensed professional engineer (PE) or registered architect (RA)—who is privately contracted by the building own- er, which in the case of a co-op or condo is the board. Finkelstein explains that there were changes to FISP requirements in the cur- rent Cycle 9, which started in February 2020. “In response to concerns about the accuracy of some of the prior reporting,” he says, “the City determined that more physical, hands-on inspections were necessary. And that requires putting up scaffolding and doing drops”—which Finkelstein explains is the process of us- ing cranes, hoists, and other suspension equipment against the building façade to allow inspectors to get up close to the bricks and assess and photograph their condition, as the new code requires. “All of this again leads to added costs,” he says. “It would be great if engineers were like Spiderman and could just climb up the building façade—but they’re not.” Pain Reduction Absent superhero abilities, one way to potentially mitigate the costs and unwel- come surprises related to a mandatory fa- çade inspection is to do some voluntary “pre-inspecting” by commissioning a pro- fessional envelope specialist to perform an exploratory evaluation. Eric Churchill, executive vice president of Schernecker Property Services (SPS), which provides building envelope solutions for condo- minium communities throughout New England, explains how the process dif- fers from a reserve study or technical report: “When we talk about an explor- atory evaluation,” he says, “we’re talking about actually taking siding off, removing roof shingles, removing trim, exploring around windows, and then educating the board on what we find, to start with. So if you find deterioration under the siding, if there’s rotten plywood or rotting framing, the question is ‘why?’—and the education starts there.” Arming the board and property man- ager with the facts on the structure’s ex- isting conditions enables the association to plan proactively for maintenance and repairs. Rather than waiting for a build- ing inspector to tell you your roof is de- teriorating—and then fine you for it—an exploratory evaluation allows a condo or co-op community to evaluate the cause and degree of the deterioration and then take the steps to improve that condition. Come official inspection day, you’ll be more likely to get that proverbial gold star. One caveat that Finkelstein points out is that “you may also want to speak this resident buy-in can be extremely dif- to your accountant to determine whether ficult to get. you want to finalize \[the resultant\] report, because it may trigger certain disclosure of Regency Management Group, also in requirements that would have to be made Howell, New Jersey, recommends mak- in your financial statements. If you can ing this Step 1 as soon as an association keep the report in a draft form, it would or corporation knows they have an inte- have the same informative value, \[but\] rior inspection coming up. She says that would possibly avoid a disclosure that in the Garden State, the Department of could prove problematic down the road.” Another way to simplify—and pos- sibly reduce the cost of—an exterior in- spection is to make use of drone technol- ogy. Michael Tynan, managing partner of These include smoke and carbon monox- Drone On Pro Aerial Inspections based ide detector checks, looking for tripping in Howell, New Jersey, started his com- pany after working for a New York prop- erty management firm and experiencing buildings, electrical panel function, and the frustrations and costs associated with more depending on the size and type of façade inspections for his clients. He says the building or community. She cautions they were racking up change orders that that requirements can vary in different sometimes drove costs 400% above the origi- nal contracted figures after re- pair crews got to work and dis- covered that the visual inspec- tions had failed to see the true scope of façade issues. So Tynan thought, “Why not use drones, which can get you up close easier and return trips to the property to visit ev- faster?” Equipped with sensitive thermo- graphic cameras that detect variations in not available in the afternoon, and I’m temperature on a given surface, Tynan’s not available on Mondays; I’m not avail- drones can locate areas of moisture pen- etration on façades and roofs; assess the try and get the inspector so that they’re energy performance of windows, doors, not coming back more than three days, or and balconies; and even identify water four days, or a week, because then you’re line breakage below ground. The drones talking about six or eight hours a day of are also equipped with visual cameras, or paying for your manager to be there. And RGBs, to show inspectors and engineers that’s going to be very expensive.” on the ground what’s going on in hard-to- access areas. Says Tynan, “What benefits has two strategies: put the time, proce- co-ops and condo associations by using dure, and expense of DCA inspections these drones is that we can provide a re- view of the building quicker, cheaper, and and establish a resolution to impose fines with better accuracy \[than a visual in- spection\]. Also, when you put a thermo- graphic camera on a drone, it gives you or delay compliance, thus incurring fines a certain advantage: we can look straight and penalties for the community. down, with the camera at a 90-degree an- gle, which takes away reflectance, so you most part, preparing in advance is tech- see the issue better.” Interiors While exterior inspections have the for the manager to also conduct pre-in- potential to cause disruption to people’s spections in advance of the DCA visits so lives with noise, dust, and vibrations—not they know specifically what areas are go- to mention the scaffolds, sidewalk bridg- es, and netting that are required to keep that if we know \[what the potential vio- pedestrians safe, but are often seen as an lations are\] in advance, and then obtain eyesore by residents—interior inspections contracts \[to correct them\], when the can be even more intrusive, and require DCA inspector comes, there is no penal- building-wide participation and coopera- tion. For property managers and boards, the corrections.” That’s why Elaine Warga-Murray, CEO Community Affairs (DCA) has assem- bled a list of required inspections that are meant to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of a community and its residents. hazards in and around units and in com- mon areas, proper egress from units and municipalities and re- gions, and advises every manager and board to go to the DCA website to confirm their specific checklist. Warga-Murray says that the DCA requires 100% of unit owners to comply. This is not only a scheduling challenge, but can also increase the costs of the inspections if the DCA inspectors have to make multiple ery unit, she warns. “People tell you, ‘I’m not available in the morning; well, I’m able on Tuesdays.’ And then you have to To mitigate these costs, Warga-Murray into the management contract up front; on unit owners or shareholders if they can’t be available for inspections or refuse Warga-Murray continues, “For the nically one of the most important aspects of this \[type of inspection\]. It’s important ing to be addressed. What I have found is ty; they see that we’re involved in making Bringing it All Together Since building inspections are a fact of life for property owners, it pays to be aware, be prepared, and have a plan. At the end of the day, completing an inspec- tion and getting that sign-off—whether it comes with a sticker or not—means that the community is that much more pro- tected from both burdensome penalties and potential catastrophes. As the pros say: instead of looking at inspections in terms of their cost, look at them in terms of their value. n Darcey Gerstein is Associate Editor and a Staff Writer for New England Condominium. BUILDING... continued from page 8 “It would be great if engineers were like Spiderman and could just climb up the building façade—but they’re not.” — Adam Finkelstein In the case of his own building— a high-rise constructed in the early 1960s—the materials used in construc- tion were less than optimal, though the builder wasn’t aware of any potential problem at the time. The structure was clad in what was then known as ‘light- weight’ concrete. “Lightweight concrete is a problem,” says Gaynor. “It contin- ues to cure over time—which effectively means that it keeps shrinking. So the original ceilings in the building were eight feet high, but now they are seven feet and 11 inches. Also, the brick around the concrete doesn’t shrink, which causes the bricks to bulge. “There are two possible approaches to correcting the problem,” Gaynor contin- ues. “You can take out two or three levels of brick at relieving angles \[to reduce the pressure caused by concrete shrinkage\], put in smaller, softer brick, and then re- place the grout with softer materials. It’s a very expensive, complicated job. The other option, which is what we decided to do, is to remove and replace ALL of the brick. It’s also very expensive—but that’s what the shareholders decided. Sadly, no regular maintenance ‘fix’ could have avoided this problem.” For owners in more suburban wood- frame and clapboard-covered townhouse communities—like the ones that dot the suburban New England landscape, for example—the situation is different, says Ralph Noblin, a retired engineer and former owner of Noblin & Associates, a building engineering firm located near Boston. “Condo owners often complain about the drab look their communities take on after a few years,” he says, “and want to repaint everything long before they need to. Often, the dull, shaded areas \[on their buildings\] are just the result of exterior mold and mildew—the paint underneath is fine. In these situations, we recommend pressure washing” to re- move the grime and restore the siding MAINTAINING... continued from page 1 continued on page 12