In Lesson 1: Lessons from Building 3, we learned that unnecessary, costly “engineering” produced many shortcomings, like the following:
1. That a current engineer recommended replacing all balcony decks of Building 3 before evaluating them, and that the like-minded builder may have kept as much as $20,000 of the deck-replacement cost.
2. That several specifications, affecting roof quality and roof warranty, and other matters could have been improved to produce better outcomes for Mirabella.
3. That the extensive repairs on Buildings 18, 20, 24 and 12 did not employ unnecessary engineers.
Mr Wemhoff’s expertise is summarized here.
In the file linked below the following points are explained:
1. Future “engineering” and more specifications are unnecessary, confirmed by the Jacksonville Building Official who states that no “new engineering” is required, that Mirabella need submit only “historical . . . elevations” and a Scope of Work to satisfy the “engineering” requirement.
The “historical elevations” are part of the original architectural drawings. Mr Wemhoff owns a full set. Costly engineers have been submitting Mirabella’s 25 year old “historical elevations” for years.
2. Mirabella boards waste other people’s money needlessly.
For Building 3 an uneducated, compliant Mirabella board awarded CSI, the initial engineer, $79,286.52 in fees, 12 percent of project costs. The second engineer, Alta, received at least $60,000, about 10.8 percent of project costs. More extensive state projects pay only 8.0 to 8.5 percent. Review the downloadable file below.
3. Engineers and architects are rarely used for residential buildings. Expanding Architecture Magazine reveals that “Architects [and engineers] directly affect only about 2-5% of all that gets built”; “only 2% of [residential buildings] are designed by architects.”
4. Wall repair bids can be obtained within two weeks, withOUT the assistance of a consultant. The Scope of Work, downloadable here, is merely sent to an email list of Builders obtained from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). Mr Wemhoff has the current DBPR email list of hundreds of local builders.