In my forty (40) years of managing community associations, and providing building restoration management services,  I have experienced a wide range of repair solutions necessary for many different types of construction due to coastal environment corrosion.  The aging of buildings along Florida’s coast lines is not consistent, not typical, each is unique, and all require practical, knowledgeable, resourceful solutions and repair methods.  The fact is simple, as a result of the building boom of the 1980’s, a high volume of buildings are getting to the age where they need major restoration to various structural and non-structural building components.  The causes are many and depending on the component being repaired or replaced, the reasons vary.  A lot depends on how well they were maintained.  The only true common denominator is the unpopular, long, miserable, inconvenient, disturbing, expensive process that is hard to sell to the community, difficult to manage, and usually costs far more than expected or budgeted.  That means obviously, even if you had a small reserve for such things, that money probably only covers inspections and initial engineering services.  So those two nasty words actually get spoken, SPECIAL ASSESSMENT.  More on that later.

From discovery to completion, making sure that the Board of Directors’ accountability to their membership is maintained adequately.

So… who you “gonna” call:  manager, inspector, consultant, contractor, engineer, reserve specialist or other?

Fiduciary and accountability are two strong words that mean a lot, or should mean a lot, to a Board of Directors charged with the operation of their association.  The passing of the Florida Building Safety Law (AKA SB154) in 2023 only increased the depth and risk of meaning to the word “fiduciary”.   It actually took it to a possible criminal level, if not obeyed.  What is the risk liability then?  Being able to determine the extent of damages and whether they are cosmetic or structural is the key.  Can or should a board member or property manager do this?  In most cases, if not all, I say no. You are not doing anyone any favors by trying to save money on this account.  Keeping it quiet doesn’t help either, the repairs are only getting worse by the day.  Unless you are a structural engineer or a building consultant with training and experience in these matters, don’t even think about it.  Let me say here and now, easily, without hesitation, not hiring a professional who is well qualified to manage the “process”, you are in breach of your fiduciary duty to your community association members.  SB154 talks a lot to hiring an inspector to take on this risk for you.  Don’t try to be a hero,  because you won’t be, you will be the goat.  I know it’s difficult to give up control, but  you have to give that control to someone qualified to do this or it will cost you and your association more than you can imagine, to say nothing of the liability you are placing on not just yourself and your own assets, but also that of your fellow board members by going out on that limb.  You are not alone, you don’t act alone, as much as you try to do so.  Call a meeting, discuss it, be transparent, and vote.

Let me introduce you to a very, very important concept at this point.  It’s really just two words:  OWNER’S REPRESENTATIVE.

The reason you don’t want to give up control is you don’t trust anyone but yourself.  I know it, I get it. And you don’t trust anyone else to NOT run up the cost of this.  And maybe you have good reason, and I don’t blame you for feeling that way, but the bottom line is, unfortunately, due to SB154, YOU HAVE NO CHOICE.

But the question is, who do you give up that control to?  Good question!

Let’s get to know the game being played here and the players.

But before I do, let me interject a side note here.  Never, I repeat, never undertake this process unless you are fully insured.  To protect the membership they represent and to make sure that Boards act responsibly, laws were created to ensure that in certain matters a Board is required to hire the services of a licensed accountant, attorney, or other professional to determine whether certain actions are required of the association, unless the membership votes to waives those requirements . However, even though the law may be waived, the civil problem may still exist.  If an individual or group of owners challenges a Boards’ decision to act or not to act, then that Board will look to their Directors’ and Officers’ errors and omissions insurance to cover them.  By covering them,  if they are sued for their actions or for their failure to act,  the association’s insurance will pay to defend them in a law suit and/or pay for the loss if one required to be paid.  Never serve on a board unless you are fully covered for as much liability as possible. Demand to see the coverage, and pass it by your own insurance agent or attorney to be sure you are fully protected.

Preserving and protecting the structural integrity of your association’s building(s) is no small affair.  Life safety is nothing to mess around with.  Now back to our point, who you gonna trust, who you gonna call, who you gonna give up control to?

Lets name the possible players again:  property manager, inspector, consultant, contractor, engineer, reserve specialist or other?  Can any of these act in your best interest, and not their own, under any circumstance that arises in the entire building restoration process from inspection to job close out and final payments, with warranties?  Here is who cannot:  property manager, inspector, contractor, engineer, or reserve specialist.  Who does that leave?  An attorney?  Maybe, but that would not be practical.  A consultant?  Yes!  Before you say he is blowing his own horn, I say you bet I am.  Hiring a consultant to be an owner’s representative is the ONLY way to ensure that someone in the process that knows what all the other players know can represent you and your interest best and always.  In fact, those words are the job description of an owner’s rep.

In my many years wearing many different hats, and yes actually all the hats of those mentioned, I have seen condominium owners get “ripped off” simply because one of the players or a couple of them, conspired to run up the tab as they say, for their benefit.   A change order is not necessarily a dirty phrase, but it can be, and often is.  It means someone didn’t expect or foresee something, and now that thing has be to added onto the scope of work, and charged to the owner additionally.  An owners rep can evaluate whether that change order is legitimate, or it should be the responsibility of one of the plyers and NOT charged to the association.  There are many other marginally dishonest things that can happen, and the owners rep’s job is to watch and act on the best interest of the condo owners group, not one of the players.  Also, their consultant contracts indemnify them, so that blame has to be awarded to one of the other players and not the association.  They don’t have a dog in the hunt, but they are your best friend watch dog.  Some may think this additional cost is not warranted.  Most often the engineering firm will try to exclude this owners rep.  They want to be both engineer and construction manager, and owners rep.  But truth be told, they have to disclose, they are not an owners rep, cannot be that, and their contract basically will state that they are only liable for the specifications they produce, and not the actions of any of the players.

So when the stuff hits the fan, and goes wrong, each player will gather their wagons in their offices, and defend themselves, leaving the owner unprepared, unskilled, untrained, unaware, dangling in the air with no advocate.  The players usually will not suggest an owners rep,  because they will have more freedom , not being watched by an independent party looking out for the interests of the association.  And yes, that means the consultant can call into question the services of even the engineer, as well as the other players, including also the vendors that supply the materials.  See the rub now?  See why the players don’t like owners advocates at the party? Makes a lot of sense now that you’ve read this right? Why would any association ever undertake a building restoration project without the services of an owners rep, a construction manager, a construction consultant, and advocate for them.

Governments hire large construction management firms to be their advocate (owners representative), and manage their jobs.  They build in this cost, and wouldn’t dream of doing anything without them. Why is a community association any different?

I will end this post by saying this bottom line.  Don’t ever undertake a building restoration project without an advocate construction consultant and directors and officers liability insurance.

I will follow this post with others dealing with the many ins and outs of the building restoration process for community associations, condominium associations, and yes even some HOA’s.  Actually, any coastal structure that is more than a residence, and even some larger coastal homes, need advocates by their side to complete a successful restoration process.  I’ve seen some very terrible things happen.  I am not saying a consultant can prevent things, but they can minimize the errors, and at the very least they will justify the additional cost, if any, so that the owner/board member can fully understand and justify having to do the additional work.