Maintenance & repairs
Regularly scheduled maintenance must be done from day zero and it can
never be neglected. All major repairs need to be done immediately and
temporary fixes must be temporary, not a sloppy and quick job that gets
forgotten.
Maintenance
logs
Work with your management and engineering companies to create
weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual maintenance schedules. You will
also need to record records for some of the important building systems.
Make sure that all maintenance records are up-to-date. One of the
directors should be checking to ensure that the superintendent is not
merely pencil-whipping the check lists. (Faking the actual checks.)
Why Boards
Should Never Defer Maintenance
Here is an article on why boards should not defer maintenance. If
anything, this article is not strong enough.
The three
major sins
All water leaks must be discovered, the source found, and the leak
repaired as soon as possible. It is the same for deteriorating concrete.
Water damage will destroy a building whether it be a wood constructed
townhouse complex or a concrete apartment tower. It doesn't matter if
the leaks originate from the roof, the building envelope, the balconies
or from the water pipes (risers) the source must be found and repaired
quickly.
An engineering company should be doing annual inspections of the
underground parking garage and the balconies to see if there are any
signs of water penetration, rusting rebar and deteriorating concrete.
Exponential costs
The above mentioned items are very expensive to repair. must be done as
soon as problem is
identified. Ignoring these problems means huge future costs.
Water leaks and deteriorating
concrete needs to be repaired quickly
because the damage spreads exponentially. That means that it may cost
$2.00 a square foot to repair damaged concrete that is caught and
repaired quickly but it may cost up to $19 a square foot if the
repairs are done years later.
That is why if an underground parking garage is neglected for years,
the repairs can run into the millions.
It is like when you are driving down the road and you see the engine
light come on. If you get it looked at right away, most likely it will
cost you a couple hundred bucks. Ignore the red light and in a few
days, or weeks, you will be paying for a tow truck and a new engine.
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