Request For Proposal for Building Repair Project

I would support the engineer giving a full report.
I would be ify on using the same engineer to select contractors (goes to the concern of perception of conflict of interests).

Richard,
So many times we see this exact scenario take place. The Board of inexperienced homeowners lets the PMC make all the decisions and pick and choose their own contractors. It is hard to create a RFP if you are not clear what the exact problem is and what actions need to be completed.

I think you are on the right track getting an independent engineer to look at the problem. He also could help create the RFP IMO. He should be paid on a Time and Materials contract. Once you have the scope of work you need to have the MC find 3 separate bidders for the job. Many times they will try and take a short cut and say they could only find 1 or 2 because they tend to use people they do other business with. I would go out and take the time to try and find vendors so that you know they are truly independent. All of this will take time and energy.

It sounds like you are taking your New Board position seriously and it also sounds like they needed you on the Board. Be prepared for a long road with lots of up hill battles. You did not mention anything about how financially stable your HOA/POA is today. How much funds do you have in your Reserves? That is where the repairs should be paid from. If you do not have the funds for the repairs it will really add to the problem.

Good luck

To add to Mark's point on reserves - do you have a reserve study? If so, take a look at the most recent one and see what it says regarding waterproofing. If the study's older than 5 years, you need an update and need to consider doing that as well.

And check out the Community Association Institute's website, where they have all sorts of educational materials for new and experienced board members - some of them address effective ways of working with a management company. Meaning, the newbies need to establish boundaries right now so the property manager can do what he/she is hired to do and the board can do what they're supposed to do according to the documents. There may be local CAI chapters in your area that sponsor seminars the board members can attend - if no one else wants to go, you take the time to do it (someone has to get some education on best practices of HOA management). You're already on the right track with your questions - good luck!

Outstanding feedback. Thank you so much for your time and expertise. We do have the funds for the project. We do have a Reserve Study in progress. I do Risk Assessments which includes assessment of buildings for Insurance Companies. The building was built in 2003. It is steel and concrete with some EIFS decorative components. The weep holes are covered by Landscaping material. The caulking needs to be updated. A heat map of the roof shows it needs some repair at least. In my research water penetration through stucco or EIFs happens through stress cracks or from the roof and migrates downwards. Water proofing isn't a solution until you understand where the water is coming from. The Water Proofing Contractor sold the MMC on his water proofing solution and suggested the whole building need to be waterproofed as well. About $900k and he needed each floor empty for up to 10 days... That's when I started asking questions about how we got to this point. The MMC at my request did bring a Structural Engineering Company to assess the issue and the solution. He agreed we need to find the source of the water ... including roof and caulking around windows and then investigate solutions. So next step is to convince my fellow board members on retaining a building engineer and develop a rfp process for future bids. The building engineer would help right specifications and review bid and interpret bid for board. Since we are going to have to correct Roof issues, Caulk issues to solve the walk issues.

2nd Issue The MMC recently had an appraisal company due a replacement value appraisal of the building. Typically we had Risk Management Companies due replacement cost appraisals using software that was very specific in determining the value. This appraiser used more of a professional opinion approach. The last appraisal was five years ago. This appraisal resulted in an increase of replacement value of $14M ??? An an significant increase in our insurance cost. I want to recommend to the board we have the building re-appraised by using Core Logic Marshall & Swift®
Commercial Building Cost Data. What has been your experience with this and what suggestions do you have ?
Richard

For insurance purposes we have our buildings and common areas undergo a "replacement cost" study periodically. It's a key element of deciding how much insurance coverage we need. We have that study done by a professional appraisal firm every 3 years and they issue us a detailed report. The methodology they use incorporates Marshall & Swift's Core Logic. I think it's something of an industry standard. Probably not the only one, but it's well respected.