Building Survey - Invoice

Hello all,

I've now received a letter  with the invoice from DM Hall, which as anticipated is for £600 (£500+20% VAT).

I will pay this just now, and trust that with the support so far expressed by the majority of you, I shall be out of pocket neither by too much, nor for too long.

The share per property (14 of us) would be £42.86 (although please do feel free to round that up to a slightly neater number!).

I am happy to take cash, cheque or the most preferable for me would be a direct bank payment. (If you contact me directly I can give you an account number and sort code).

Many Thanks,

Catriona (3F2)

Building Survey Report

Hello all, I've now received the report from Greig Adams of DM Hall following his 3 hour inspection on 3rd November 2011, and have his permission to share it with you on this blog, so you can read it here. It does take a bit of reading, and of course there have to be caveats as there is clearly a limit as to what can be seen from hanging out a window or prodding the roof....! What this does give us, though, is a much better insight as to:

• what may have been causing the water ingress problems over the years;
• what needs to be dealt with imminently;
• and what we need to be aware of/budget for within the next 5 - 10 years.

My interpretation of the report and recommendations is that the greatest prioity is the re-rendering of the chimney stacks (mutual ones to Montgomery Street, especially) as these are in very poor condition. Despite the challenge of dealing with all of their owners as well as ourselves, we will have to address this in the short to medium term. Although this is not really new to us, the extent of deterioration to the stone is probably a bit worse than I think we'd been aware of, and so we must be prepared for what may be uncovered when the preparation work for the re-rendering actually takes place. I was certainly rather alarmed to witness just how easily a substantial chunk of stone came away with barely a touch from my kitchen window area which I'd always thought looked just fine! I do now have a greater appreciation for why it is so hard to assess the condition until you get up close. Anyway, please read the report and let me have your comments or thoughts. This is going to need more careful consideration as to how we move forward from here, and I suspect we may need to aim to hold a meeting and/then engage professional services to help us. I'll see if we can get a date in within the next few weeks to maintain momentum. ****************** For clarity, it is my understanding that Greig's references to the chimney stacks correlate to our labels like this: West Mutual Chimneys (i.e. the ones we share with our Montgomery Street neighbours)

• South West Mutual = the one we have labelled G,
• North West Mutual = the one we have labelled H,

Chimney Stacks to Montgomery Street = the ones labelled E&F, Chimney Stacks to Brunswick Street = the ones labelled C&D, North Mutual Chimneys (i.e. the ones we share with our Brunswick Street neighbours)

• North West = the one labelled A,
• North East = the one labelled B.

I hope that helps it all make sense. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Catriona (3F2)

Building Survey Carried Out

This is to thank all those of you who expressed support for getting a full building survey done.

So far as is possible at this stage, (i.e. without erecting scaffold and literally going over the building brick by brick), a survey of the building and roof was carried out this morning (Thursday 3 November 2011) by DM Hall.  This will always be a best judgement, but it should give us a clearer idea of what work is required urgently and what might be appropriately planned/budgeted for in the future.

As soon as we receive the final report, which will probably be in a week or so, we'll let you know and share it with you.  We'll collect your share of the fee from you when we are invoiced.

Kind regards,

Catriona



    

Latest Update on Roof Work

Dear all,

We promised to aim to keep you as up to date as we can with developments, so here goes:

As you may be aware, it is now a month since we communicated with all our neighbours (in both this building and those on either sides) giving notice of our intention to instruct Bolton's to undertake repairs to our chimneys and roof, as per their quote dated 28 June 2011.  (Copy available to view here)

Since then, there has been limited communication back from anyone. We have, though heard from the Montgomery Street block, who are currently having their own work done on their roof and stonework. Their residents' association spokesperson suggested that a quote that they had received for those same mutual chimneys (G&H on the map) was less than our quote, but as we have not yet seen a copy, it is hard to assess if it is a comparable quote or not.

Next door have been using the surveying services of DM Hall and I have spoken to the senior surveyor Greig Adams. He has since forwarded information that confirms that the state of the chimneys at the Montgomery Street boundary are in a very poor state of repair. (It seems that they had opted not to do that particular bit just now because it was too complicated to involve all of us, but I think that they may now be planning to take action - although we have obviously yet to be notified of anything).

However, in the last month, Andy Anderson has had even more water coming in to his flat in 3F3 - but confusingly, this is in an area (to the front Montgomery Street side of the building), that is not mentioned at all in the Bolton quote. This makes us hesitant to actually instruct Bolton's, as clearly we want to ensure that we are paying for work that will not leave any leaks behind!

Alan Duff (3F1), Andy Anderson (3F3) and I (3F2) have therefore concluded that we need to know, once and for all, exactly what we are dealing with. We have therefore instructed DM Hall, as independent surveying professionals, to undertake a Full Building Survey to be completed as soon as possible. (See their website here)

As winter fast approaches and in the interests of maintaining momentum (and potentially making the most of the opportunity of our neighbours' scaffolding) Andy, Alan and I are prepared to cover the costs of this between us just now (estimated around £500 + VAT). We hope that as ultimately we may all benefit from it, others will agree to share that expense (It would be less than £50 per property if we all agree).

This action essentially takes us to where we would have been some years ago when we all agreed to the concept of the Edinburgh Stair Partnership, which would have provided such a survey, enabling us to plan and budget for short, medium and long term maintenance and repairs. An advantage of DM Hall is that they pride themselves on having remained independent of the Council and of any particular contractors.

Anticipating that work will be required, and that we really would benefit from professionals coordinating it, I have also requested a copy of their fee structure for further services such as co-ordinating further quotes and/or contractors.


So, to summarise where we are and what actions are and are not being taken at this stage:

• DM Hall have been instructed to undertake a Full Building Survey by Alan, Andy and myself.
• All those of you who agree that this course of action is wise and are willing to share the cost of the fee are invited to contact us.

• Bolton's have not yet been instructed to undertake the work detailed in the 28 June 2011 quote, pending the outcome of the survey.

I hope that helps keep everyone in the loop for now - happy to try and answer any questions if I can.

Kind regards, Catriona

PS If anyone else would like 'author rights' to be able to post messages on the blog, just let me know which email address you'd like to use and I can add you.

More water coming through the roof

This is just to let you know that Andy Anderson (3F3) has reported more water coming through his roof recently - this time on the front Montgomery Street side. There is a risk that this may already have carried right through to the flat below as it has only become visible during renovation work.

If you notice any leaks or damp in your own homes please let us know as soon as possible.

This underlines how important it is that we all continue to pursue the maintenance and protection of our building.

Some Guidance on Understanding Who is Responsible for What

It is understandable that some of us may be feeling somewhat perplexed at working out who is responsible for what in terms of the repairs currently being proposed, and so the following illustration and links may be helpful:

• This diagram clarifies that the ROOF is 'scheme' (i.e. shared by all in a building), and the CHIMNEY STACKS are 'mutual' (i.e. shared by all those properties directly connected to it).

• Shelter Scotland's page on Responsibilities for repairs and maintenance in common areas seems pretty clear and straightforward.

• For a more formal view, The Scottish Government's guidance for professionals on the Management and Maintenance of Common Property might be worth a more concentrated read.

If anyone else comes across any good clear resources, please let's share them!

Catriona

Brunswick/Montgomery Street Property Repairs - Notice of Work

Brunswick/Montgomery Street Properties

(Note: this is a copy of what was handed or posted through doors on Monday 26 September 2011, and emailed to those who had provided contact details)

Dear Neighbours,

Further to our communication in February/March of this year with those of you in the 46/48 Brunswick St /47 Montgomery block, we promised to keep you informed of progress.  

For those of you in adjacent buildings, i.e. 43/45 Montgomery Street, and 50/52 Brunswick St, we would like to first of all say hello, and trust that you will be as keen to protect your homes and investments as we are. (We note that you have been proactive in this already as evidenced by the current scaffolding.)

To enable easier communication between us all, you are all invited to subscribe to follow a blog that has been set up. This can be found at http://brunswickstreetblog.blogspot.com/ . (If you click on the 'subscribe now' link on the top right hand of the page, the instructions are self explanatory. If you choose to get updates by email, you may simply have to activate it from a link that will be sent to you automatically).

After some considerable effort, we have now finally managed to obtain some quotes for repairs to the roof, following several incidences of damp and leaks to top floor flats, particularly John Whyte's (now Andy Anderson's) at 3F3. 

The most comprehensive of these was from Bolton's, and is attached (or can be viewed at Brunswick Street Blog (BSB)). Simon Saffery (owner of 1F1) accompanied Mr Bolton on his inspection and kindly took several photos that you can now see on the BSB.

As you will see, much of the detail of the quote refers to the mutual chimney stacks as it is here that the work is really required rather than the roof itself. To make it easier to know which particular chimney stack is being referred to, it is suggested that we start at the top with A&B (i.e. Brunswick Street Mutual) and work clockwise round the edge of the building (C&D on Brunswick Street side, E&F on Montgomery Street side) to G&H (Montgomery Street Mutual).

In terms of where responsibility lies for different repairs such as this, please refer to the tenement act (attached or can be viewed at BSB). This highlights that for repairs to Chimney Stacks, the costs are shared between ALL the properties that share each stack. In the case of those stacks that are shared with neighbouring buildings, the costs then would be shared as follows:

i.e. A&B are shared with the 50/52 Brunswick Street building, and G&H are shared with the 43/45 Montgomery Street Building). 

Therefore, taking the Bolton Quote:

The first Stack referred to:

Front Right Hand Mutual Chimney Stalk to Brunswick Street (10 Vent): would be A&B (Or specifically B)

With 10 stacks, this would be shared between the 10 properties that use it, namely:

1F1, 2F1 & 3F1 46 Brunswick Street, as well as 48 and 48a Brunswick Street PLUS

1F3, 2F3, 3F3 (presumably) in 52 Brunswick Street, as well as 50 and 50a Brunswick Street.

The ESTIMATE for this work is £5,514.00 + vat, so would be £551.40 + vat per property.

The second referred to:

Front Left Hand Mutual Chimney Stalk to Montgomery Street: would be G&H (or specifically G)

With 10 stacks, this would be shared between the 10 properties that use it, namely:

1F3, 2F3 & 3F3 46 Brunswick Street, as well as 47 and 47a Montgomery Street PLUS

1F1, 2F1, 3F1 (presumably) in 43 Brunswick Street, as well as 45 and 45a Montgomery Street.

The ESTIMATE to carry out these works is £5,725.00 + vat, so would be £572.50 + vat per property.

The third referred to is:

Rear Left Hand Mutual Chimney Stalk to Montgomery Street: G&H (or specifically H)

This appears to have 7 or 8 stacks so:

Total ESTIMATE to carry out the required works is: £7076.00 + vat, so would be approx £1,010.00 +vat per property

Please note that these are ESTIMATES and as slating is counted as roof work this would be deducted from each quote for chimney work and, as per the tenement act, would be the responsibility of all properties in the 46/48 Brunswick Street/47 Montgomery Street building (i.e. divided by 14).

We would like to progress this work as soon as possible to ensure we are watertight for winter (as if summer hasn't been wet enough!) and propose 28 days notice before formally instructing Bolton's to proceed. If anyone would like to discuss this please contact us.

Your neighbours, including:

Catriona M Macmillan

Simon & Sharon Saffery

Alan Duff

Andy Anderson

Lesley Johnston

23 September 2011