|
Tomorrow (22 October 2020), the contents of the garden bed near the top of the entry stairs will have the contents removed. A couple different landscapers have advised that it is prudent to remove and dispose of the contents rather than trying to preserve and reinstate. This garden bed is leaking into the garage and has affected the surrounding concrete. As part of an engineering effort for the entryway improvements, the Strata Committee will use this garden bed to help tendering builders understand what lies beneath the garden beds.
Please use the rear pathway to enter and exit the building while the work is underway. 
0 Comments
Our entry stairs continue to be troublesome. A number of people have slipped on the stairs when wet and wearing flat bottom thongs. We have tried anti-slip treatment in the past, but it has limited effect and doesn't last very long. Last week we had the outdoor surfaces jet pressure washed and that may have made it a little more slippery. Today, the strata committee has installed anti-slip tape as a temporary measure until the stair tiles are replaced. Improvements for the entry walkway are under an engineering and tendering effort with the intention to present a proposal to the Owners Corporation at the next AGM. 
As most owners are aware, there has been ongoing discussions and actions related to the entryway and the garden beds of 42 Victoria Parade. Please have a look back at earlier posts on this blog for more detailed information. After completing an aesthetic review for our building including group discussions with interested owners, the SC prepared a detailed brief in preparation for engineering considerations and request for tender from appropriate builders.
The SC engaged Northern Beaches consulting to undertake the engineering considerations, the request for tender documentation, and to assist in the tender evaluations. The engineer recommended that we remove the contents of Garden Bed 2 to allow better consideration of the work required and to improve tender pricing. The engineer advised that remedial building work is at an all time high level of activity and that it is difficult to engage builders at this time of year. Nonetheless, the SC instructed the engineer to tender the work at the earliest possible time. The engineer will wait for the SC to remove the garden bed contents before finalising engineer a RFQ undertakings. Northern Beaches Consulting will provide engineering on such matters as:
The Strata Committee has arranged for pest control service for all common areas; and for individual unit residents to opt in for their own self-paid unit treatment. Competitive Pest Services will be conducting a Pest Treatment to the Common Areas and the Car Park on Thursday, 5 November 2020 around 9:15am If you would also like to book for your apartment to be treated for pests on that day, please contact the CPS team at least 48 hours prior to the booking on 1300 766 614. The price for treatment for an individual unit is:
The service is payable on the day by credit/debit card or cheque. For your protection, Competitive Pest Services will only be using environmentally friendly products. Products used are in the form of synthetic pyrethroids, which are modeled on natural plant extracts. They are very effective on household pest species, but have a low toxicity to mammals, including humans. Pyrethroids are also biodegradable; they are broken down by naturally occurring microorganisms, so they don’t contribute to pollution or accumulate in the soil or water. For your reference, the products being used are all approved by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority. SDS Sheets can be supplied upon request. In accordance with the NSW Pesticide Regulation 2017, this notice is given in advance due to pesticides being applied in common areas of multiple-occupancy residential complexes. Please do not hesitate to contact the CPS office on 1300 766 614 or [email protected] to discuss any details of this treatment   
Jacob of Jet Pressure Cleaning cleaned the external areas of our building. The areas cleaned included:
Over the past several months, the Strata Committee and Bright & Duggan have filed three claims with our insurer:
As discussed in the 24/6/2020 blog post 'Fire Safety - Our Statutory Requirements', a qualified fire safety assessor will attend our building to:
Some residents have reported that the irrigation is not working adequately. The irrigation technician reported that settings are often changed. There is evidence that the control box has been pried open. With the aim of preventing any future tampering, the SC is arranging for a tamper proof box to enclose the irrigation control boxes.    Yesterday, someone was unable to exit the garage with the button near the visitor parking. The batteries may have gone flat. It seems, their frustration was a bit too much and the plastic button housing was smashed. The Strata Committee arranged to have the wireless plastic device to be replaced with a hard wired more solid button. Enjoy the new button, and please be gentle.  During the recent windy and wet days, one of the skylight covers above Unit 20 was blown off. The SC temporarily re-seated the cover, and has requested a work order to have it repaired properly.  
There is a very awful odour in the garage. It seems to be from an area between the garage entrance and the lift. Please check your unit garage for the source of the odour. An animal may have died in an obscure area.
The developer/builder of 46 Victoria Parade arranged for AusGrid to relocate the power line underground. This work required trenching the entire frontage of 42 Victoria Parade in the Council Reserve of the footpath and our driveway. A couple weeks ago, the builder arranged for some cement to be placed in part of the the trench. The cement work was very poorly conducted and incomplete. Council is aware of the issue and met with the Strata Committee on 27 July 2020 to assess the condition. The Council representative, Imran Khan stated that he will advise the Council's Compliance group to arrange for reinstatement of the footpath and driveway.
Fire extinguishers have been placed on each floor in the fire hydrant cabinets, in the garage near the lift, and in the lift motor room. The lift motor room fire extinguisher is the CO2 type (for Classes B & E fires); and all others are the ABE (dry powder) type (for Classes A, B & E fires).
There are six classes of fire: Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, ‘Electrical’, and Class F.
For most of us, calmly and quickly evacuate the building at the first indication of fire.
If a small fire has just occurred and you are competent and confident with the use of a fire extinguisher, you may consider using a nearby fire extinguisher.
Vicki (SC volunteer) arranged for November Gray of Divine Designs to show a group of owners some samples of tiles, carpets, and paint samples. This was an initial discussion to gauge opinions for shaping our collective aesthetic vision. Below are the samples presented by November.
Vicki also announced that she has some sudden family commitments which regrettably causes her to discontinue her volunteer role. The SC will continue with the coordination with Divine Designs. Thank you Vicki for all your contributions in support of our strata.
Most stratas must issue to Council an Annual Fire Safety Statement (AFSS) on their buildings annually to prove compliance with the regulations is achieved. The requirement for building owners to maintain a fire safety schedule came into effect in July 1988. Buildings built before 1 July 1988 and that have not had a change in classification, additions/alterations or fire safety orders issued since, would not have a fire safety schedule nor a requirement to issue an AFSS.
Pacific Harbour (our building) had the strata plan registered in December 1988. However, there is no record of an initial fire safety schedule, nor a requirement to issue an AFSS. Also, there is no available records of any fire safety orders, or voluntary periodic inspections for fire safety measures. It seems Pacific Harbour has slipped under the Council radar with regards to an AFSS. The Strata Committee met with Sean Connolly, Fire Safety Engineer to discuss the status of our building and fire safety measures. The SC also asked our Strata Manager, Bright & Duggan to research our fire safety circumstances. Both have recommended that our Strata establish:
Our strata has not consistently inspected nor maintained the fire safety measures. In particular, the fire doors have been neglected and modified to a point which is below the standard intended for fire doors. Wormald does perform semi-annual inspections of our fire hydrants; and have recently recommended that our strata place fire extinguishers on each floor and in the garage. The strata committee will arrange for the recommendations in the bullet points above; and for the installation of the fire extinguishers. And, we will post our voluntary AFSS in the building's notice boards. The Strata Committee Meeting to Prepare for the next AGM was our first opportunity in months to have an SC meeting with owners. The easing of the Covid-19 social restrictions allowed us to find and book a suitable venue. Below are some outcomes of the meeting, and attached are the meeting presentation slides with discussion feedback noted in [bold]. Below are some general highlights
Consensus
Attached are the meeting presentation slides with discussion feedback. The information included is considered sensitive, and all owners are asked to not redistribute the file or it's contents.
Dear 42 Victoria Parade Owner
Optimism comes as Australia begins to ease restrictions. Covid-19 is still here and we must continue to practice our new hygiene and social distancing skills. Most meeting venues remain closed, but we found one that will allow us to meet using the 4 square metres per person limits. You may recall that this year's AGM for SP34151 was postponed due to the very tight restrictions imposed earlier. These restrictions also affected the activities of the strata committee (SC). However, the SC has placed significant effort into a range of issues including:
42vp.blog Please read through the blog, and feel free to contact Edward Keller on 0411 406 463 if you have any questions. The path to the AGM will be in two steps:
11 June 2020 6:00pm to 8:00pm Community Northern Beaches - Main Hall 12 Wentworth Street Manly, NSW
The Strata Committee (SC) is developing a Master Plan to help navigate the numerous considerations required to restore appearance, amenity, value and harmony at 42 Victoria Parade. This master plan would be both the process by which considerations are undertaken and project strategies are prepared, as well as the resulting coordinated proposals for repairs, maintenance, improvements and community engagement. The intent for the Master Plan is to be a guide for:
Each of these elements should be considered for any repair or improvement undertaken at 42 Victoria Parade, and in some instances should be considered for non-routine maintenance. Consideration effort would vary for different undertakings and for individual efforts. However, it is important to ensure that due consideration of each element is applied in the planning and execution of each undertaking.
Aesthetic Vision The SC has engaged Divine Designs to support SC efforts of the aesthetic vision including: Colour Palette Texture Scheme Structural Variation
The SC is preparing the simplified version of the Fire Safety Audit Report to help inform ongoing proposal decisions and expenditure planning. 10-Year Capital Works Plan The SC will complete the planning of capital expenditure based on a well-informed OC that provides meaningful guidance to the SC. This would be a final step of crafting the Master Plan, and should be regularly updated and used to propose the annual capital works levy. The strata committee is looking forward to the relaxation of social restrictions to allow the opportunity to discuss these considerations with all OC members.
Apparently sometime in 2017, a strata committee requested the preparation of report on our building's compliance with current (2016) Building Code of Australia (BCA). It seems that an initial report was issued in January 2018, and another version submitted in April 2019. The reason for requesting the report was not revealed and it is unusual to request such a report without an order from relevant authorities such as a Development Control Order (DCO). The SC is unaware of any such order for our building.
Both versions of the report make it clear that all parties are to recognise that there will always be deficiencies in existing buildings when comparing them to buildings built to current building codes. During the period of preparation of the report, there were a number of changes to regulations including definitions for performance solutions and fire safety experts. There is an emerging profession of high priced fire safety engineers that promote consultancy services to help existing buildings to meet current standards for fire safety. The SC has met with such a professional to glean performance solution information related to our boundary with 46 Victoria Parade. A performance solution is viable without any structural changes, but documentation and complying development requirements would be disproportionately expensive. The report does have a list of recommendations to be completed over a three year period including:
Since the report, the regulations have continued to evolve with some which seem favourable for existing buildings such as fire hydrant concessions for existing buildings. Many of the recommendations would be intrusive to various areas of the building and it would be prudent to coordinate any building aesthetic improvements with fire safety recommendations. For this reason, the SC has postponed consideration of internal building improvements until discussions on this matter with the OC. The SC has been preparing a Fire Audit Considerations document to help sift through the extensive and convoluted jargon in the report. The intent is to simplify highlighted topics into Strata member friendly language that can be used to inform a master plan with a 10 year capital works plan and aesthetic vision. The SC wishes to assess the views of all OC members on a path forward for our response to the report. There are various options for the path forward such as:
The Strata Committee (SC) has been compiling considerations for improvements to the external entry areas of our building. These considerations also include addressing a number of structural and remedial issues. Please read some earlier blog posts (see below) related to this important post:
We are very fortunate to have a grand entry path stretching nearly 40 metres from the footpath at the portico to our main entry. Unfortunately, time has not been kind to the structures in this area:
Below is an elevation detail of the entry stairs. The SC has prepared dimensioned drawing suitable for tendering and constructing the new entry way wall, and to install the walkway lights.
In addition to the lights noted on the drawings above, three step lights would be installed on the curved wall stairway at the top, middle and bottom steps at the outer curve. The electric cabling would be cut into the outer perimeter of the curved stairway, these surfaces would then be rendered to match. A brass hand rail must be designed for the outer curved wall as is a climbable element and a hazard. Resurfacing (tiling) the curved stairs may not be necessary as they are not as heavily used as the main stairs, and resurfacing may trigger a rebuild as the variation in the risers does not comply with current building codes.
The image below is the step lights that we have already purchased for installation at the stairs and walkway.
Tiling of these areas would be expensive, but necessary as the degraded garden bed seal, degraded concrete and debonded tiles require existing tiles to be removed. the underlying surfaces must be repaired and water sealed before tiling. Water sealing Areas 1 & 2 and the main stairs can be completed with different materials yielding different warranty periods and costs. It would be prudent to incorporate strip drains into existing drain points which would allow for larger tiles. The tiles of the main stairs must have non-skid nosing with required contrast as required by BCA (recommended in fire safety audit).
There is evidence (see photos below) along the curved walls at the terraces of Units 3 & 4 that the water seals under the terrace surfaces are deteriorating. As such, it would be prudent to consider removing existing tiles, repairing water seals, and replacing tiles.
Painting of surfaces in these areas is necessary as the remedial work would require many of the areas to be resurfaced. Existing paint is worn, blistering, and colour mismatched.
During the glass balustrade installation contract award, there was a missed opportunity to paint balcony faces at a much reduced price. A painting quote at that time indicated that the painting would double in cost if painted after balustrades were installed, but the strata committee at that time chose not to paint these surfaces. The balustrade installation included touch up painting at the points where the old balustrades were removed, but the paint colour/texture match is poor. The inner face and top of the balcony hobs were painted with the balustrade installation, but the colour was not based on a long-term aesthetic vision (master plan) for the building. It is possible to paint the exterior faces and tops of balconies with a colour that that differs from the internal faces. From outside the building, there would be very limited visibility of the internal faces. It may be prudent to paint the exterior of the building in two phases: first would be ground level to complete the works noted above; and second would be all the upper levels. A two phase painting plan should be in accordance with a master plan aesthetic vision. Colour for our building has struggled for consistent appeal to various owners for many years. Recently, there have been a range of divided opinions and indecisiveness associated with partial undertakings. The SC had tried to use a former resident as a professional designer to fulfill an aesthetic vision for OC consideration, but unfortunately distance and illness led to the provider to withdraw from the undertaking. However, the SC has recently engaged a local professional to continue this process, and we hope to involved interested owners in this process of nominating colours, textures and fixtures for the exterior and interior of our building as part of a mid- to long-term vision. Tendering with a detailed scope with a number of suitable builders is essential to achieve a quality outcome cost-effectively. The SC has been preparing a request for tender document, but wishes to present these considerations to all owners before completing the document. The SC is looking forward to the relaxation of social restrictions to allow the opportunity to discuss these considerations with all OC members.
Our garden beds have shown evidence of water seal degradation for years. In the past leaks from the garden beds into the garage have not been repaired, but drip pans were installed to divert dripping water to the drainage system. Unfortunately, this masked the symptoms, but allowed the problem to get worse. The following diagram shows our 8 garden beds that are built into the structure of our building.
Garden Bed 1 (GB-1) is located above the garage entrance and in front of unit 4. The following photos show the garden bed from above, and a very large paint blister that is above the pedestrian door to the garage. When first observed, the paint blister was filled with water and then ruptured to release the water. It is most likely coming from water leaching through the garden bed base.
Garden Bed 2 (GB-2) is is the first garden bed on the raised entry walkway on the right along the Unit 4 terrace. A penetration through the garage ceiling (above guest parking) carries an irrigation pipe into this garden bed, and has been leaking for a number of years. A drip pan had been installed to divert the leaking fluid to the drainage system. The photos below show the garden bed from above, and the drip pan installed on the garage ceiling. Note the effect on the surrounding concrete.
Garden Bed 3 (GB-3) is the second garden bed on the raised entry walkway on the right along the Unit 4 terrace. The photos show the garden bed from above, and a nearby drain pipe from underneath. Note the drip tray beneath the drain pipe. The water leaching through the concrete may be from the garden bed and/or the walkway near the tile drain. The stalactites growing on the concrete is a result of calcium hydroxide being leached from concrete which indicates that the concrete is degrading.
Garden Bed 4 (GB-4) is the garden bed at the end of the raised entry walkway on the left. The photos below show the garden bed from above, and from the side along the boundary area with 46VP. Note the water leaching from the garden bed at the slab level. A tap test of walkway tiles near the garden bed and the timber balustrade indicated that the tiles are debonding.
Garden Bed Water Seals: A preliminary investigation indicates that our garden beds had been water sealed with bitumen which would be consistent with the method used in the original bathroom water seals in our building. It is not unusual for garden bed water seals especially with irrigation systems to degrade with time. It is clear that the time has already come for our garden beds to be resealed.
Water Sealing Garden Beds: Re-sealing the garden beds will be difficult, messy and expensive. Removing, preserving, and reinstating plants and soil in complicated. Also, repairing any degraded concrete would also be messy and expensive. Climbable Elements: A number of our garden beds do not meet current building code requirements as they are climbable elements near barriers meant to protect people in trafficable areas elevated >1m above a lower surface. Repairing the garden bed water seals may trigger a requirement for our garden beds to meet current building code requirements. The strata committee will discuss this issue with a BCS consultant. The relevant garden beds include: GB-1, GB-4, GB-6, GB-7 & GB-8. The most troublesome one is GB-1 as it is at a very high elevation above the garage entrance and may require a one metre high barrier above the current garden bed level. Degraded Concrete: It is difficult to accurately assess and quantify the degree of degradation in concrete from the surface. Intrusive inspections are necessary to reveal the extent of degradation. This type of work is priced on rates and can result in unexpected high costs. Delaying repairs on degrading concrete is very unwise as degradation and repair costs can exponentially rise with time. It is imperative to eliminate the source of the problem quickly and to repair the damage. Discussions with a reputable remedial builder suggest that current damage appears to be limited to the localised areas shown in the photos. Where do we start? The strata committee is currently working on an integrated strategy to address these issues concurrent with external entry way improvements. The strata committee is looking forward to the relaxation of social restrictions to allow the opportunity to discuss these considerations with all OC members.
The next phase of the external lights project is underway with Pagoda Lights installed on the terraces of Units 1 & 2, and the rear exit. Installations at the main entrance and the terraces of Units 3 & 4 will be next. There was a miscalculation with the original order and some additional pagoda lights are currently on back order. Some of the lighting components originate in New Zealand and are slow to make there way to Australia due to the current restrictions. As soon as they are available, we will have them installed.
At the last AGM, the OC approved a resolution for the owner of Unit 1 to select a screening system to replace the dilapidated timber screening along the unit's terrace edges up to a certain installed cost. The Unit 1 owner selected Eva-Last screening (see photo below) made of UV stabilised light-weight composite material. The cost to complete the installation is approximately half of the approved amount. The SC Volunteer, Vicki A. coordinated colour selection with our Divine Designs consultant, November and the owners of Units 1 and 3 to achieve a consensus on the colour: Spanish Saffron (photo on the right below). The SC coordinated with the Unit 1 owner's nominated builder to confirm Unit 1 installation measurements, and measure Unit 3 to obtain a quote to replace the Unit 3 dilapidated terrace screening. Many thanks to:
Finally, the outdoor taps are functional again. The leak has been repaired, and the piping has been reconfigured to a more sensible and tidy arrangement. Note that these taps are meant to be for fresh or bore water. Unfortunately, some years ago the bore water system was allowed to fall into disrepair. The SC will add the bore water system to it's list of 42VP assets to be brought back to sensible functioning.
Restrictions are beginning to loosen, but this is no time for complacency.
This is a bad virus; and it's a virus that spreads easily. We are all pleased that restrictions in our movements are lessened, but our newly adopted social distancing and hygiene practices must remain consistent to help prevent the threat of this bad virus. Please maintain those good practices as we begin to enjoy a little more freedom. |
|||||
