When the Boundaries in Condo Restoration are Blurred

As a condominium ages, the various building components will inevitably reach the end of their useful service life and will require some level of repair, renewal, or replacement. The board and condominium manager have the daunting task of selecting the appropriate parties to assess and resolve the various problems that arise throughout the building and surrounding property. Ultimately, this problem-solving exercise will lead to the construction phase once the scope of work and costs are established. Three parties that play a key role in the construction process of building restoration are the engineer, contractor and product manufacturer; each have distinct specialties that should not overlap.

An analogy can be drawn between the three parties that service their client's building and blood that services the various organs and protects the body. Blood consists primarily of white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets, which can be likened to the engineer, contractor and manufacturer, respectively. White blood cells protect the entire body from bacteria, infections and viruses. An engineer’s number one priority is public safety – protecting the building and the general public from harm. Engineers are bound by a code of ethics and held to account from the governing body for professional engineers. They are not allowed to engage in work outside their area of knowledge or to put themselves in a position that is perceived to be a conflict of interest.

Credit: Creator: Wendy Hiller Gee Copyright: ? Krames StayWell

Red blood cells remove carbon dioxide from the body and deliver oxygen to the lungs. The function of the red blood cells can be likened to the function provided by the contractor. The contractor removes deteriorated building components and delivers new components that improve performance, functionality and aesthetics of the building.

If the body suffers an injury to the blood vessels, platelets repair the injury by helping the blood to clot. Platelets can be likened to the materials that are used to repair a building. Both engineers and contractors rely on materials and systems that have a proven track record of solving real problems that affect the building occupants.

Each of the three components in blood serve an important function in the body and work in unison to serve the body as a whole. However, disequilibrium can occur if any of these individual components increase in their count higher than the normal range or overstep their boundaries; the consequences of this imbalance can be detrimental to the body if it is not corrected.

Each party in the construction process, engineer, contractor and product manufacturer, has a unique role and contribution to the solution of building problems. Between each party, there are boundaries and limits that separate each of them from impeding on another's role and responsibility. When any of the associated parties breach these limits and overstep their boundaries, such as if a contractor tries to do an engineer’s job, or the engineer and manufacturer tries to do the contractor’s job, there is an imbalance, which increases risk and liability to themselves and to the client they are attempting to service.

If the repair work is minor in nature, or mainly relates to the aesthetics of the building, then one may only need the services of a contractor. However, when a problem relates to a building component failure that has a health and safety risk or that impacts the performance of the building, then an engineer is required to assess the root cause(s) of the problem and to develop an appropriate solution. In that case, a scope of work is established in the form of a design that is conveyed to a qualified contractor who will use specialized skills, tools and manufactured materials to perform the construction work.

The aforementioned process is standard practice utilized by property managers and boards to ensure that they have qualified professionals to look after their condominium in the best possible manner. A significant and recurrent observation in my engineering practice has been that some companies are overstepping these boundaries between engineer, contractor and manufacturer and are targeting property managers and boards directly as a one-stop-shop for all their significant repair needs. 

In such a case, there is a higher potential for things to take a wrong turn for property managers and boards who think that they are being fiscally responsible. What one does not hear from the salesperson's pitch is the disclaimer and exclusions of what will not be covered when the finished product does not perform as promised and perhaps actually fails prematurely.

Contractors and manufacturers cannot claim that they do consulting, inspections or condition assessments of structures and critical components of buildings. This is false advertising for work that can only be done by a professional engineer who has the specialized knowledge, training and experience to review and identify the cause(s) of the problem and to provide the most suitable engineered solution based on sound evidence with a proven track record in the field.

The contractor's role is to take a design or scope of work from paper and deliver it to the field in the form of labour and materials using their specialized knowledge, skills, training and experience in the process. Manufacturers research, develop, and sell products and train contractors in their use to ensure the products are being installed and used as intended.

For example, twice I have observed cracks sealed on the soffit (underside) of a garage suspended slab.  The work was completed by contractors retained directly by management to prevent active leaks. Sealing the underside of the cracks is detrimental to the concrete structure. Water mixed with road salt during the winter will migrate into the concrete through the cracks in the top of the slab, and will then be trapped due to the sealant at the soffit; the trapped salt-laden water is thus provided ample opportunity to corrode the reinforcing steel, causing the concrete to deteriorate.

The appropriate solution would have been to deal with the root cause of the leakage, which was the failure of the waterproofing membrane above the slab. If repairs to the waterproofing slab cannot be done immediately, to prevent water dripping onto vehicles and pedestrians below, a galvanized sheet metal drip pan can be temporarily installed to collect and direct the leaking water to the nearest floor drain. 

Another problematic situation occurred when a manufacturer sold their waterproofing system directly to the condominium corporation prior to our involvement. We were then asked to perform quality control and field review during the construction work. We had never worked with this product and had some concerns about its properties and performance. During the final walk through, we discovered that, while it had originally appeared to have been installed correctly, the waterproofing membrane had already started to crack.

The product did not have the ability to accommodate movement due to thermal expansion and contraction. Over a dozen cracks formed over the next one to two years, requiring localized patch repairs, affecting the integrity of the concrete and the aesthetics of the waterproofing system. The lesson here is that due diligence and consultation should have been done prior to signing on to do repairs with a product manufacturer that the client knows little about.

We live in a digital age, where an ocean of information can be accessed at our finger tips. There are hundreds of blogs and forums on different subject matters related to buildings, materials, construction, inspections, testing, etc., but not all this information is reliable; the internet should not be relied upon by an owner or management team when making important decisions that have an impact on the building occupants' health, safety, comfort and financial well-being. If one is directly offered a product or service, a trusted engineer should be consulted who will advise if the product and methodology of repair is suitable for the given application.

The goal of the engineer, contractor and manufacturer should always be to deliver the utmost value and quality service to their clients without compromising the boundaries that maintain the balance and fairness of the construction process. This same balance exists in our blood and all the components work together to serve the organs and contribute to a healthy and sound body.