Disasters, whether big or small, most often strike from out of the blue. They catch us unawares, flatfooted and feeling helpless at their impact. This is especially true when these disasters hit us at home—or within our shared co-op or cond…
New England is home to more than three million seniors age 60 and older, and about one in four suffers some type of physical impairment. When you factor in a climate prone to blizzards and heavy snow storms, a disaster plan is an obvious ne…
Condominium associations, whether housed in a single building or in a sprawling development, provide a reliably cozy and comfortable community in which to live. But this comfort requires vigilance on the part of both board and management to…
The synopsis for the 2013 horror film The Purge is pretty extreme: in the future, society implements a 12-hour period called “the purge,” wherein any and all crime is legalized. Always wanted to vandalize your boss’s car? Thinking about sho…
The most important aspect of managing a building is keeping it, its residents, and their property safe. In days past, 'safety technology' consisted mostly of well-lit exits, the installation of panic bars and glow-in-the-dark stripping on e…
It was January 1977 when the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) first identified and isolated a previously unknown strain of bacteria found breeding in the cooling tower of a hotel air conditioning system. The bacteria, subsequently named Le…
The contractors who helped dig out the region’s condo properties last winter agree on one thing—the associations that were ‘rescued’ first were the ones with solid vendor relationships. And a little reality-check doesn’t hurt either. Rob…
There is always work to be done on a building, whether it’s a simple lobby repair or a major capital improvement, but finding the right contractor for the job takes some work. If the vetting process is not done properly, the results could b…
Exteriors of buildings aren’t always smooth brick walls. There are all sorts of indentations and protrusions, from terraces to stonework to cornices. There are also items that are not part of the building, but are affixed to it, like scaffo…
Building amenities such as elevator systems are often taken for granted. But elevators are for more than just avoiding a workout and creating awkward silences between neighbors; they accommodate residents unable to climb stairs and are crit…