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When our lift provider suggested a full replacement at a cost of $260k, the committee engaged an independent lift consultant. After assessing the equipment, the consultant confirmed that replacement was necessary.
However, the consultant also identified specific maintenance failures that had been causing the frequent breakdowns. Following their intervention with the service provider, call-outs were reduced to zero.
At the consultant’s suggestion, the committee further engaged them to tender the project to several companies and manage the selection process. They subsequently reported back with an assessment of the bids based on their professional experience with each firm.
Based on this advice—taking into account cost, estimated construction time, building design, and the consultant’s track record with the bidders—we accepted a tender that was $100k less than the one provided by our existing lift company (even though their new bid was significantly lower than their original quote).
The project was managed by the consultant and completed six months later, including a two-month period where the building was without a lift. Notably, the new system eliminated the need for the lift motor room above the top floor. This reclaimed space may now be used to house batteries for solar panels—but that’s a story for another time.
I no longer smoke but the high moral ground is easy to invoke in the case of smoke drift. While overwhelming evidence of adverse effects of passive smoking exist these studies were conducted in cases of confined spaces ie indoors.
I have no doubt some people find the smell of cigarettes offensive but it is less clear that it is a significant health hazard. How would you eliminate the effect of other toxins in the air. Diesel and petrol exhaust emissions in particular are far more toxic. Even BBQ smoke is in theory carcinogenic.
In my block we have a by-law banning smoking and we still get oke drift from the street. Honestly there are more important issues and bigger safety issues. In the future when combustion engines are no longer a feature we will complain about the smell of vintage cars.
I question if the lift needs to be replaced immediately or if at all. My strata recently received a proposal from the company that does our lift maintenance. The lift is probably out of service a couple of days a year for maintenance.
The estimated cost of replacement is $130,000 and the work is estimated to take 8 months. The cost could increase in certain circumstances so is likely to cost more and if more work is needed, the time to complete the work would also obviously increase.
As it stands the lift works and if the lift is out of service a few days a year it is less inconvenient for elderly and disabled residents than the eight months minimum it would be out of service to replace.
My real issue is if owners should accept the claims of the company that does the maintenance as it is sole source of information on the merits of replacement versus repair. The company in my view has a real conflict of interest as it may lean to the option most profitable to the company. We have at this stage no plans to accept the offer from the lift company but before we did I would want an independent assessment of the merits of repair versus replacement.
Most ovens and air conditioners need phase three power which is a bigger cable that needs to be separately wired. In my building circa 1965 we did not have such wiring.
Fortunately owner’s voted, after years of disagreement, to rewire. The issue of safety, however, wasn’t an issue. As it is impossible to install most ovens and air conditioners without the higher capacity cables.