Criterium Engineers
Winter 2006 - Red Flags that Signal Structural Defects
Although the housing market has slowed, approximately 80 percent of new construction is still being built as a community association. The recent boom in the housing market has led more people to purchase condominiums and townhouses on impulse, without the benefit of several walk-throughs or an inspection by a Professional Engineer. More than likely, this has happened in your community as well. But what does it mean for the association and its residents?
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Is Your Community Dressed For Success?
Have you ever driven by a community and instinctively known its residents take great pride in where they live? The homes are all in excellent shape, with attractive landscaping and complementary exterior finishes on every one. The roads are free of litter and freshly paved, and the common grassy areas are neatly mowed with bright flowers dotting the perimeter.
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Outdoor Safety in Associations
Summer is the peak season for homeowners—barbecues, swimming, ultimate Frisbee tournaments, and relaxing on the front porch. Unfortunately, it’s also a time for increased accidents and personal injuries. Most accidents occur at home, including outdoor and association common areas, and too many of them are preventable.
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Community Essentials: Are you Reserving for Siding?
As associations continue to discover the benefit of reserve studies and the long-range planning options they provide, some Boards also unearth some less-pleasant realities about their current funding—especially where siding is concerned. The idea that siding should last “as long as the building” or at least in the 40-year range has been a common misconception of Board members and property managers. The truth is, your building’s siding takes the brunt of the elements and can deteriorate more quickly than expected.
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Repair, Replace, or Renovate?
How to Maintain Value and Improve Efficiency
Some associations struggle with long-range vision, especially if it means spending large amounts of money. It’s not realistic for a board to plan for the exact property value 10 years down the road or rely on an outdated reserve study to predict the remaining useful life of all common elements. But making it up as you go along is clearly a recipe for disaster! What’s a board to do?
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Spring Into A Maintenance Schedule
WINTER is drawing to a close, and your residents are eager to replace the snow shovels with tennis rackets. However, it’s not too late to implement an ongoing maintenance plan that will save your association time and money for many seasons to come.
View your association as a complete network with many important pieces working together, and ensure that each system is functioning properly.
Categories: Criterium Engineers
7 Things You Must Know Before Conducting Your Next Reserve Study
One of the primary business duties of Community Associations is maintaining and preserving property values of the Association’s common property. To do this properly, Associations must develop funding plans for future repair or replacement of major commonarea components. A reserve study is a budget planning tool that identifies the current status of the reserve fund and establishes a stable and equitable funding plan to offset the anticipated future major common-area expenditures.
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Snow on the Roof
The winter of 2009/2010 was remarkable in some ways and quite average in others. Remarkable in that measurable snow fell in 49 states.
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Energy Audits
Energy audits are popular again. They were first offered in the ’70s and ’80s, but owners and consumers lost interest as fuel prices stayed low relative to income.
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Chinese Drywall
So-called Chinese drywall refers to a product imported from China to be used in the construction of walls and ceilings of homes and other buildings.
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Paying For Green
One cannot help but notice – every magazine and every professional publication these days has at least one article on green building technology.
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Curtain Walls
Curtain walls are common today in commercial construction, adding simplicity and design options for buildings of all types.
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How Long Will It Last?
Determining how long a building component will last before it requires repair or replacement is one of the primary tasks in performing a Property Condition Assessment (PCA).
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How Big Is It?
When performing a Property Condition Assessment (PCA), we are often asked to confirm building dimensions.
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Fiber Cement Siding
Fiber cement building materials are being used more and more in new construction, primarily for siding. In fact, it is used by most large builders in about 20 percent of the new home market.
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Facility Management and the Bottom Line
Corporate real estate owners and real estate investors have traditionally viewed Facility Management (FM) as an expense.
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Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER)
As of January 23, 2006, manufacturers of heating and air conditioning equipment can no longer manufacture single-phase central air conditioners and heat pumps with output of 65,000 BTUH (British th
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Commercial Painting
Approximately $7.6 billion was spent on architectural coatings in the U.S. in 2003 according to the National Paint and Coatings Association, Inc.
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Cost Segregation Studies
Depreciation enters significantly into the financial performance of commercial buildings. Typically, property, exclusive of land, is depreciated over 39 years.
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