REVITALIZATION UPDATE – 25 AUGUST, 2010

 

Demolition is progressing on schedule.

 

The abatement of the CE building is complete.  InAir is expected to report back on their inspection and testing of the chapel and narthex tomorrow.  Further abatement may be required.

 

August 25 was the date we had hoped to have the building permit issued by the city.  Unfortunately that has not happened.   The delay in issuing a building permit will have a negative effect on the outside demolition and construction.  Delay in completion until after Christmas becomes a possible outcome.

  

Tenders were due on Monday, Aug 23.  The tendering process did not yield as many tenders as we hoped for.  In talking to the sub trades a number of reasons were given.  The most frequent was that they were too busy.  In some cases they found the drawings and specifications difficult and they had too many questions.

 

MPLundy has spoken to a number of sub trades and has extended the tendering process to Aug 27 and assures us that more tenders will come.

 

The tender packages received show that the budgeted amount for the project has been exceeded. The builder and architect will now be meeting to review the tenders in detail and make decisions that will result in the budget being met.

 

 

REVITALIZATION UPDATE – 12 AUGUST, 2010

 

As per Gord's Aug 10 update, Gord and Bill met with Matiss and Florencia to review the demolition budget and tender results. The demolition costs showed an overrun of $83 350 when compared to our cost plan estimate. Please note that additions, such as demolition of the flat portion of the narthex roof, were made and are not in the cost plan estimate.

 

Matiss met with the contractor to go over the tender in detail and was able to negotiate a $15,000 reduction in the tender. He also confirmed that no abatement costs were included in the tender. He reviewed the cost plan estimate and found $35,000 of demolition costs included under mechanical and electrical (M&E). Therefore, the current overrun for demolition is projected to be $33,350.

 

This shortfall includes $30,200 estimate to complete as an allowance and projection of possible extras to come. This safety net will help us deal with various unforeseen or anticipated site conditions; costs of which may or may not be realized at 100%. For example, $7,200 to remove the existing foundation wall waterproofing may not be needed, and $7,200 could be injected back into the contingency.

 

This morning Bill reviewed and accepted the revised tender evaluation on behalf of EUC, and asked Matiss to proceed.

 

Some of you met Warren Brownly, the MP Lundy construction site superintendent assigned to the EUC Revitalization Project. He will supervise onsite contractors and construction activities. Warren reports to Matiss Silins, the MP Lundy project manager assigned to our project. Matiss remains our single point of contact on all issues related to our project.

 

As construction heightens, health and safety concerns gain increasing importance. Unsupervised, unannounced site visits can pose a problem for both workers and visitors. Such visits can even be embarrassing for both workers and visitors (for example, workers in the shower when we arrive!!).

 

Please contact Gord or Bill to arrange a planned and supervised visit. Because we welcome congregation interest in this major project, perhaps we should arrange for periodic monthly (or even weekly) visits at a time convenient for MP Lundy and their construction crews. Comments?

 

 

REVITALIZATION UPDATE – 10 AUGUST, 2010

 

Bill and Gord met with Matiss and Florencia this morning to review the demolition budget and a few other items.

 

The demolition budget has an overrun of $83 350 when compared to our estimate.  Last week I reported that the demo tender had come in under budget.  Matiss had not noticed that the abatement estimate of $85K was included.

 

Matiss is meeting with the contractor today to go over the tender in detail - to fine tune the figures, make certain that no abatement costs are included etc.  He hopes to reduce the tender but it won't be by $80K.

 

When we look at the original estimates some demolition costs are included in the M/E estimates.  Unfortunately we don't know how much, but that may be a source of savings in the future.  In addition demolition of the flat portion of the narthex roof is included which was not in the original estimates.

 

Matiss will come back to us with the final tender tomorrow for our approval.  We will inform you how much it is.

 

Other items:

 

RMA and MPL are exploring other ways to save on costs.  MPL is looking at their up front costs as a potential.  E.g.  They won't require a site trailer at EUC as they can use the narthex as an office.  This saves $8 000. RMA will be looking at various aspects of the design.

 

Tenders for all remaining packages go out tomorrow and are due back in in two weeks.

 

InAir is sending us a proposal today to do analysis of the stipple ceiling in the narthex and the pipe insulation in the narthex. for possible abatement of the chapel and the CE end of the narthex.

 

Bill and Gord are very conscious of the budget.  As you may recall we have a contingency of approx $81K.  We have added to the contingency approx $6K through insurance savings.  We have added to our costs in the following areas:  painting $25K, AC for the sanctuary is unknown but potentially up to $50K; roofing of the flat portion of the narthex is unknown and added into the roofing budget; demolition overrun of $83K.  Both MPL and RMA are aware of our concerns and aware of the draws on the contingency.  Our objective is still to work hard to bring this project in on budget.

 

 

REVITALIZATION UPDATE – 6 AUGUST, 2010

 

We are still on schedule.

 

The abatement of the lower level is now complete.  Today InAir carried out the inspection of the lower level.  Abatement of the upper level begins Monday and will take two weeks to complete.

 

One little glitch in the abatement has come up.  When the hazardous materials testing and inspection was done, it consisted of the CE building only.  Since we are also doing renovations of the chapel and Narthex we have asked InAir to test the stipple ceiling in the chapel and Narthex, the pipes insulation in the ceiling and the joint compound used in the drywall.  If there are any hazardous materials found that will also have to be abated.  Keep your fingers crossed.

 

The tenders came back for the demolition.  All of them are below budget.  As Matiss is still negotiating details, we don't have a final cost as yet.  Demolition of the lower level is scheduled to commence Monday, August 9.

 

The design work for the project is now complete (almost).  All tender drawings for the tender packages were delivered to Lundy today.  Tenders for all packages will be sent out early next week and tenders will close August 19.  Two items have yet to come.  The first is the millwork which will be developed later.  The second is the design of the sanctuary air conditioning unit.  We have signed off on the design and this will come out as an addendum to the tender package shortly.  It should be noted that the AC unit is not in the original estimates and will the cost will be added.  We have included it in the scope of work to reduce costs as much as possible.

 

The schedule calls for the city to approve the building permit by Aug 25.  So far it has cleared zoning and is currently under code review.  RMA is in contact frequently with the city to answer any questions and to hopefully speed the process along.

 

Last Friday Bill and Ed met with the electrical consultant to review the drawings and final designs.  On Tuesday Bill, Ed and Gord met with the mechanical consultant to review the plumbing and mechanical systems and to talk about the air conditioning unit.  Getting from the meeting to our cars was a chore as it happened in the height of the storm.

 

Wed Bill and Gord had our weekly construction meeting.  The meeting went well.  Again it poured cats and dogs at the end of the meeting and again we raced to our vehicles.  Poor us; both Bill and Gord had trees come down in our back yards during the storm.  It was a busy Wednesday evening.

 

Tuesday evening  (it didn't rain)  many members of P&G and RCC met at RMA to review the options for exterior cladding.  The options being considered range from good to excellent choices.  Option A - cement panels and metal cladding and Option B - cement panels are both being costed in the tendering process.  Depending on how the tenders return (i.e. all of the costs) we will determine which option we can afford later in August.

 

It was noted last week that there was an error in the contract - both parties had agreed to a 30 day billing period but signed off on 15 days.  That was corrected at the meeting and the 30 day period was signed off.  Bill has the document at his house.

 

 

REVITALIZATION UPDATE – 31 JULY, 2010

We held our weekly construction meeting Wednesday July 28. 

Following is a summary of where we are at and ends with an invitation.
 
The hazardous material abatement for the lower floor is almost complete. Once the asbestos is removed from the heating system hot water pipes found in the ceiling, abatement will move to the upper floor. These pipes and the mechanical room ceiling were not included in the tender, and the additional cost to abate is $9.5K. The abatement contract tendered was under budget. The additional costs discovered places abatement, back on budget (i.e., savings gained by the tender are now spent).

The demolition tender closed Thursday July 29.

The building tender packages are being prepared and scheduled for release Friday August 6 with a tentative close of Thursday August 19.

The building permit from the City of Ottawa is expected on or before Wednesday August 25, and is now a critical milestone in the construction schedule.   
As we reported previously, Direct Energy has been approached to be the complete mechanical and electrical subcontractor. Since then, we received a proposal from Direct Energy. The design team, including architects and mechanical and electrical consultants, rejected the proposal and recommended that Direct Energy be invited to respond and compete for the building tender packages they are interested in.

We continued to discuss the waterproofing and membrane surrounding the basement walls and the need for excavation.  Excavation and insulating the walls on the outside will proceed. The architects advised that the membrane or drainage board is ideally located on the outside of the insulation; the construction manager identified situations where the membrane remained between the foundation and the insulation. Life expectancy and sustainability are the issues; stay tuned for more discussion and decision making.

We met with the design team yesterday to review the electrical design and answer questions regarding the telephone, computer, and audio video connections, exterior door alarms and keyless entry systems, and other requirements, such as the needs for the barrier free washrooms for the handicapped. We will meet with the design team on Tuesday August 3 to review the mechanical systems (i.e., heating, ventilation, and air conditioning).

Other news. We provided the list of material Habitat removed that will be added to our LEED certification application, and signed the EcoEnergy Retrofit grant application and Enbridge gas supply application. The ceramic tile in Narthex is no longer available; the architects will be examining and designing ways to pleasingly incorporate new tile in areas affected by construction.

Invitation for 7:00PM Tuesday August 3 at RMA Office   
 
You are invited to attend a brief meeting at 216 Pretoria Avenue, the office of Robertson Martin Architect, on Tuesday August 3 at 7:00PM. The architects will present design options for the building exterior and will look for our reaction to aid in their design decisions. Ed Langner has the three design palette boards prepared by RMA. Please contact Ed if you wish to view the design options before Tuesday.

 

REVITALIZATION UPDATE – 21 JULY, 2010

 

We held our weekly construction meeting today.  Following is a summary of where we are at.

 

The setup for abatement is almost complete for the lower floor.  Our consultant InAir will be at the church tomorrow to assess the setup.  The actual removal will begin next Monday.  While assessing the church the abatement contractor discovered an error in the church description.  It was thought the mechanical room ceiling was concrete.  Unfortunately it is not.  It has the same ceiling as the rest of the building.  We were presented with two options - test the ceiling and abate if there was asbestos present or assume it is asbestos and abate the ceiling.  We opted for the latter.  It is obviously asbestos.  This will save the two weeks of testing the ceiling and paying for the testing.  We expect the cost will be approximately $2K to 2.5K based on unit prices.  The additional cost will come from the contingency allowance.

 

As we requested Lundy arranged for Builder's Risk, Wrap Up Liability and Boiler Machinery insurance naming Emmanuel as additional insured.  The cost for this insurance is $5200.  The budgeted amount was $11300.  The difference has been added to our contingency allowance.

 

As we reported previously Direct Energy has been approached to be the complete mechanical and electrical subcontractor.  One of our conditions was that our mechanical and electrical consultant was comfortable with the situation.  They report that it would not be a problem.  We expect a complete proposal from Direct Energy tomorrow.

 

The construction schedule has not yet been updated but will be shortly.

 

We discussed in detail the membrane surrounding the basements walls and the need for excavation.  The issue of not excavating at all and insulating the walls on the inside was discussed.  The engineers present, the architect and the construction representatives from Lundy all advised that while it could be done, they strongly recommended that we proceed as planned.  The decision was made to proceed as planned.

 

Tenders for the demolition will be closing July 29 and will be awarded shortly after that.

 

We expect all tender drawings to be complete on or before Aug 5.  All remaining tenders will close Aug 19 with all contracts awarded shortly after.

 

We are still on schedule.  The major concern is the final building permit. The schedule is based on the city awarding the building permit on or before Aug 25. 

 

 

REVITALIZATION UPDATE – 19 JULY, 2010

 

Work has begun.  The pre-demolition team was on site at the church.

 

 

REVITALIZATION UPDATE – 14 JULY, 2010

 

Since last week Bill and Gord have had a couple of meetings - July 12 with Robert and Florencia and today with Florencia and Matiss Silins (our project manager).

 

At the Monday meeting we clarified a number of issues pertaining to communication and spent a good deal of time dealing with the Narthex.  The Narthex was largely ignored in the workup of this project.  However the flat roof portion of the Narthex needs to be redone.  It is now included within the scope of the project.  There will be sloped insulation installed on the roof with much better drainage.  The problematic drain on that roof will be redirected from the catch basin in the parking lot to a path inside the building then to be joined with the two other roof drains into the storm sewer system.  There will be valves used to control the flow of runoff and in the event of larger than normal rainfalls, water will be forced to spill over onto the sloped parts of the roof.  This should occur only very infrequently.

 

Our major problem is the air conditioning unit for the sanctuary.  The chiller is located in the attic of the narthex.  It cannot stay there as it presents freezing problems and flood problems.  Unfortunately it cannot be located outside as it is an indoor unit.  As well the AC system is beyond its service life.  Our ME consultant has suggested a new unit often used in schools.  It would be located in the new storage room off the sanctuary and use little space.  His projected cost is $50K.  This is not included in the project.  We believe the price is high and can be reduced significantly.  Robert has requested clarification and a fee proposal.  When we have a better handle on price this will have to come back to RCC for action as it is outside the scope of the project.

 

July 13 Bill and Gord received the tenders for the abatement of hazardous materials and signed off on the winning bid.  Good news - the winning bid came in at almost $10K under budget.  The money under budget will be added to the contingency fee (remember it was about $80K) and cannot be spent without EUC approval (Bill or Gord)  The abatement work will begin next Monday.

 

We had concerns raised about how habitat for Humanity will affect the work.  Bill sent out a message to Pierre and Ed a couple of days ago.  Anything Habitat wants any further material, it needs to be removed this week before demolition begins.  If we have a contractor remove items to set aside for Habitat and not just trashed, it will add significantly to our costs. 

 

Today we had our construction start up meeting.  The building permit was signed and will be delivered to the city tomorrow morning.  We hope to have approval within 6 weeks or less.

 

Tenders for the rest of the demolition will go out next Monday, July 19.

 

Drawings for all building tenders will be delivered to Lundy on or before Aug 5.  Tenders for construction will go out shortly after that and the tenders will be back in about Aug 19.  This should coincide with building permit approval. 

 

By the end of August we should have a pretty good idea about just how we are doing budget wise as about 90% of the tenders will be back.  Gord did ask about price guarantee as outlined in our contract with Lundy.  If we decide to use that option it will probably be able to be set sometime in September.

 

Matiss indicated he would email us a cash flow sheet shortly.  We can expect to receive a bill for about half of the abatement at the end of July and a bill for the rest of the demolition at the end of August.  These costs are in the estimates we received in June.

 

We agreed to have Direct Energy submit a proposal to carry out all of the mechanical/electrical design work as long as they can effectively coordinate with our M/E consultants.

 

As you know we opted to take the Lundy insurance and have asked for a certificate adding EUC as additional insured on the project.  That will be forthcoming.

 

Matiss is already making suggestions to RMA on cost saving methods as we hoped would happen by involving the construction manager at an early stage.

 

Lastly we discussed the schedule in detail.  Actually we discussed it first.  The schedule is aggressive.  The key event is city approval of the building permit.  Lundy is certainly pressuring RMA to stay on the case of the city to have it approved quickly.  Apart for that, there is some float time built in to the schedule and hopefully the middle of December is quite possible.

 

 

REVITALIZATION UPDATE – 5 JULY, 2010

 

As most of you know the church is now largely vacated and moved to St. Aidan`s.  Malcolm reports that the move went very smoothly.  There are just a couple of minor things to be done at the old church.

 

Matiss (project manager) picked up the church key.  Tenders have been called for the abatement and demolition and that should start early next week.  The building permit that was issues last Friday is for the first stage of the building - namely the demolition.  RMA plans to complete drawings to the 99% stage by early next week and apply for the remainder of the permit.

 

Concerns have been raised about building security once demolition begins.  Matiss assures us that the building will be left completely secure each and every day of construction - so not to worry.

 

Insurance needs have been a bit of a pain.  As you know we did not take out the performance bonds.  With respect to liability insurance, boiler and machinery insurance and builder`s risk insurance, we have decided to accept the insurance which will be arranged by Lundy.  Matiss informs us that clients rarely get rates from their own providers that are competitive with those generated by Lundy`s insurer.  Costs for this insurance were included in the estimates.

 

Sue Hackland, Betsi Collins, Bill and Gord met with a kitchen designer at Russell's and Florencia last week to complete the design of the kitchen.  The cost for the session which also provides the M/E people with the information to complete their design cost $1100, however this can be applied to purchase of equipment later in the process.

 

The Ontario Trillium Fund application has been completed with two quotes for the work and the application was filed this afternoon, prior to the July 5, 5 P.M. deadline.