Condo Media - August 2020 - 20

Projects INTERRUPTED

CONSTRUCTION LOGJAM

If you envision a large number of
very large people trying to squeeze
through a narrow doorway, you will
have some idea of what contractors
are seeing as lockdowns end and
hundreds of community associations
move simultaneously to resume stalled
projects or launch new ones.
"There are three types of projects,"
Tony Chiarelli, president and CEO of
Landmark Associates, Inc., says: Those
that were stalled when lockdowns
were ordered; those on which work
was about to begin but couldn't; and
new projects for which associations
are now seeking bids and start dates.
The result is an "artificial backlog"
for contractors trying to juggle
scrambled construction schedules and
the demands of condominium clients
competing for their attention and
their time.

CONDOMEDIA August 2020

Balancing What Associations Want
and What Contractors Can Do

Boards looking to launch new projects
missed a window of opportunity during
the lockdown, Chiarelli says, when they
could have solicited bids and selected
contractors, who might now be ready
to begin work. But most associations
weren't allowing vendors on-site during
the lockdown, Chiarelli notes. If the
boards who called him in mid-May had
called two or three weeks earlier, "I
could have looked at their project." But
since the lockdowns have ended, "it's
gotten crazy again. Associations looking
for bids now [will be in a line with] 30
other associations" that also want them.
Scheduling will be a major challenge
for contractors who had stalled projects - on which work can now resume
- because those projects are bumping
into ones that were scheduled to begin
now. Associations planning new projects
should address scheduling issues in the

bidding process, Chiarelli advises.
"Find out when the contractor can
begin work. That may affect the board's
decision about the contract award."
With start dates likely delayed until
late summer or early fall, boards might
want to consider delaying the project's
start until next spring, if possible, Chiarelli suggests, to avoid the possibility
that the onset of winter may halt the
work after it begins.
Boards must also consider the interplay between scheduling and pricing,
he emphasizes. To meet a demand for
an early start date, "I would have to
pull resources from other projects,"
he explains. "And the association will
have to pay for that."
Pandemic delays have had a domino
effect on construction schedules that
will multiply the impact on individual
projects, Chiarelli notes. A construction
hold that halted work for six weeks on a
project that was underway won't necessarily translate into a six-week delay in
the estimated completion date, he says,
because the need to manage delays on
multiple projects will require contractors
to allocate work crews among them,
resulting in longer delays for many.
The expectations boards have for
start and completion dates may not
match the realities with which contractors are coping, Chiarelli says. Contractors need to understand and be
responsive to what boards need and
want, he agrees, but boards need to
understand what contractors can realistically deliver, which may not be what
a negotiated contract requires.
"Digging in your heels and insisting
on a black and white interpretation"
probably won't be productive, Chiarelli cautions. "If you put contractors
in an untenable position, they won't
move. You'll end up in court, and that
won't benefit anyone. The best results
come when contractors are working
in partnership with associations," he
says, "not when they are fighting with
each other."

https://www.nsins.com/

Condo Media - August 2020

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