Maybe the scope of work on this is to clean up the "nuisance" the last
Contractor did behind the elevator shaft?  :+)

I concur with jc on the quality of construction management (and would roll
in the inspection/quality control).  We have a SUNY/SUCF job that finished
Phase I about a year ago (tomorrow is supposed to be the Warranty Closeout
meeting).  The aluminum thermally broken window frames sweat so the Engineer
tells us it's been a cold winter, turn the humidifiers down (they're at 30%
and the windows sweat at 10-20F outdoor air temp--they're supposed to be
good to less than zero at that humidity level...).  A disassembly of a
window apparently revealed we got what we ordered "but maybe the blocking
around the window is allowing cold air from the cavity wall to get on the
frame or maybe the sill flashing is compromising the thermal break."  Damn,
I wish the Architect's site rep had made sure the installation details were
followed properly (maybe they should've had two inspectors on the job)...

Phase II (the final one for the building envelope) is nearing completion.
Somehow we got windows that swing out instead of in (for ease of cleaning).
And some of the windows really can't be left open because they are too big
and will sag (making it hard to close them, I suppose).  And the opening
mechanisms for the "small" ones (still pretty large) aren't really strong
enough for the windows anyway (we paid extra for that option).  And the
building wasn't meant to have occupant-operable windows but since they'll
now swing out they're considering putting sensors on the windows to shut off
the HVAC for those rooms where people have decided they'd rather have
outside air rather than the air we've heated and humidified or cooled and
dehumidified (more complication of the HVAC control system is not what we
need).  All because someone approved a submittal that was wrong.  I just
hope they resolve the thermal break problem before they put them in (we're
considering deleting humidification from the rest of the building--why pay
for installing it if you can't use it?).

I know the job of construction management/quality control is a challenging
one but I see a lot of mistakes that are very costly to fix after the fact.
It's just very frustrating when you spend $10M and end up with so many
problems--pretty hard to explain to people why a modern building isn't
comfortable (we saved money on construction but it'll cost more to operate
and won't work as well).

-----Original Message-----
From: John Callan [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 10:53 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Brooklyn Borough Hall



The mandatory pre-bid meeting is part of the attempt to get decent honest
contractors. It at least cuts out the ones that would bid the work without
seeing it at all. Of course, if the owner's contract manager has no
construction contract experience...there's little benefit.

I'm going to be sounding a lot like my friends the contractors soon. I fear
a real dumbing down of owner's contract managers. -jc

On Tuesday, March 18, 2003, at 09:20 AM, Ken Follett wrote:

Ralph,

We got one of them postcard notices in the mail from the city advertising a
bid for Roof Replacement/Ext Rehab @ Brooklyn Boro Hall... call them at
212-669-8265 and for a modest $35.00 you can get the plans & specs. Or you
can attend the Mandatory pre-bid at the hall on 03/27/03 10:00 AM. How much
was spent when on the last roof? You would think that someday someone would
figure out how to get decent and honest contractors on public work.

 ][<en

--
To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>