Company |
Hired by |
Envirocare Systems Inc | the owner’s insurer |
Hidi Rae Consulting Engineers | the owners |
Fire Consulting Services Ltd. (FCS) | MTCC #985 |
Climanetics Inc. | MTCC #985 |
Dass Enterprises | Hidi Rae (the owners) |
Namcan Engineering and Construction Mgmt | MTCC #985 |
Terra Energy Management Services Inc. | MTCC #985 |
Carmichael Engineering Ltd. | MTCC #985 |
Pinchin Environmental Ltd. | MTCC #985 |
1. |
Sealing openings between the owners unit and the unit above to prevent air transfer between the suites; |
2. |
Establishing higher positive air pressure in the owners unit compared to adjacent units; |
3. |
Installing a make-up air system dedicated to the owners unit to ensure that their unit is positively pressurized; and |
4. |
Removal of the odour from the finishes in the owners unit. |
a. |
Isolate the immediate areas of smoke migration from the floor above into the owners’ unit; |
b. |
Verify that the fan coil units were defective (also permitting smoke to enter the owners’ unit); and |
c. |
Confirm that the pressurization of the building was significantly out of balance. |
(a) |
Has the respondent MTCC No. 895 breached its duty to repair the units and common elements after damage in accordance with s. 89 of The Condominium Act? |
(b) |
Has MTCC No. 895 breached its duty to maintain the common elements in accordance with s. 90 of The Condominium Act? |
(c) |
If (a) or (b), what must MTCC No. 895 do in order to comply with the Act? |
(d) |
Are the applicants entitled to costs of this trial of the issues? |
“(1) |
Subject to section 91, the corporation shall maintain the common elements and each owner shall maintain the owner’s unit. |
(2) |
The obligation to maintain includes the obligation to repair after normal wear and tear but does not include the obligation to repair after damage.” |
a. |
an order that they have not
breached
the condominium corporation's declaration with respect to the
humidifiers; |
b. |
an order requiring that the condominium corporation not mention various matters in any status certificate; |
c. |
an order that the condominium corporation has breached its duty to maintain and repair Ms. MacKay and Mr. Cheney's unit since a previous hearing before me in April 2014; and, |
d. |
a mandatory order that the
condominium
corporation deliver an engineer's report stating that all work has been
done and that smoke will not migrate into their unit. |
(a) |
The state of the air transfer between the units (once the drywalling is
completed) will be typical, reasonable and acceptable given: i. the age and design of the building; and ii. the applicable provisions of the Building Code and the Fire Code at the time the building was built in or about the late 1980s. |
(b) |
The building is performing as it should, according to its age and design and that certain amount of their migration must be expected and tolerated. |
(c) |
Smoke stops, now found in more modern buildings, which prevent fire
smoke from moving from one unit to another, are also effective in
preventing and migration as well. However, smoke stops were not a Code
requirement when the building was built. Rather, small breaches and
cracks with respect to a building of this type are consistent with the
applicable Code requirements at the time the building was built. |
(d) |
To complete the “perfect repair” it would be necessary to tear out the expensive finishes in both the Owners’ suite and the suite above (not to mention the other sweets in the building on the assumption that the fixes required throughout the building) in order to expose the slab and eliminate any remaining breaches and cracks. This would not be reasonable having regard to the age of the building and the other unit owners. |