Property Manager Success Stories: Choose wisely when selecting an Inspector/Building Consultant to assess the condition of your property

The Situation

We were recently contacted by a local property manager who needed a “2nd opinion”.

Puzzled, we naturally had to ask for more information on the subject to make sense of it and also “why?”

It turned out their client – a 40-unit townhouse complex – had hired an Engineering company to document the common area deficiencies for their 15-month warranty claim.

Having worked with this property management company in the past, we were curious why they had turned to us, once again, instead of using the author of this deficiency report.

“Far too expensive,” they said.

“We can certainly help!” we immediately replied.

After an exchange of additional information on the subject, it became clear the developer had advised the claim was “all done.” The Strata Council of Owners were so advised and the question raised was, “how do we know it was actually done and was done right?”

The warranty company was asked this, only to respond, “…that is not our job; it’s up to you”.

This was immediately a BIG problem for them. They had no reason to trust the developer and they didn’t want to pay dearly for the Engineer to come back and verify, so an independent (New Westminster) New Home Warranty Check professional was needed.

The Solution

Once we took this challenge on, it was clear it was a huge and demanding project – especially as we were not part of the initial review. It took many days to carefully review and compare the on-site conditions with the claimed “all done” response from the developer. The warranty company was calling for the client to accept this answer and the Council of Owners was naturally curious and worried. However – in the end, and with lots of patience on the part of all the stakeholders, we rendered our independent report to satisfy all parties (it was certainly NOT “all done” and not in an acceptable, workman-like manner, where it was attempted).

Bottom line – they were now empowered and the issue was as clear as possible. The property manager was relieved, once again, as the matter was now off the meeting agenda. The warranty company was now aware this was not such a good developer and their flag was raised, accordingly.

Duxbury & Associates solving this issue was a BIG stress reliever and this now allowed the property manager and his other clients to move on to other important matters.

CONTACT:  If you find yourself in a similar situation, or have any other home inspection or consulting needs, contact Glenn Duxbury at Duxbury & Associates.