For those of you who were sufficiently dedicated to wade through Peel & Stick, April 8, 2007, there’s more, and it gets worse. I had requested a copy of the contract with the “consultant” who had inspected the roofs of the seven community centers and branch libraries, prepared a report of the condition of the roofs with repair recommendations and finally prepared the specifications for $518,900 of work.

Click here for a copy of the roofing report, and click here for a copy of answers to my questions posed at the City Council meeting of April 3.

It turns out that the City’s technical advisor for this entire project, John Bennett had no contract for his services and did not charge the City for them. If there are any errors or omissions in his work product that result in damage to the City, there is no recourse, since he apparently performed his services as a huge favor. It’s hard for legitimate consultant’s to compete with a deal like that.

Question:  Provide a copy of any contract between John Bennett and the City.

Response:   There was no contract between the City and Mr. Bennett.  He provided his services without expectation of remuneration.

Question:  Provide amount paid to (or billed by) Bennett for his services.

Response:  Mr. Bennett has not requested any remuneration for his services.

Regarding a lack of warranty for work on the Westside Library/Community Center, not to worry. We’ll just ask the contractor to provide one. Anyway, the project has been put on hold while the City evaluates moving the library into a privately-owned building for which the City will pay rent.

Question:  Why is there no warranty specified for repair of the metal roof on the Westside Branch Library?

Response:  The metal roof on the West Side Branch Library did not have a specified warranty period.  It is a repair and thus not subject to manufacturer’s warranty.  The contractor will be asked to provide, at no additional cost, a two year warranty of workmanship provided that this roof remains in the project.  This specific building has been put on hold pending review of its long-term use.

Regarding the pre-roofing conference required by Specification Section 07511, paragraph 1.6.B, the: “Every party who is concerned with the work, or required to coordinate with it or to protect it thereafter, should attend this conference, including the authorized representative of building owner, the roofing system warrantor, and the roofing contractor. A record of all decisions and agreements made at this meeting, as well as a list of attendees shall be recorded for the job record. The building owner’s representative is responsible for this documentation and shall initiate and chair this meeting.”

Question:  When will the pre-roofing conference be held and who from the City will be conducting it?

Response:  The pre-roofing conference was held on March 29th in anticipation of contract award on April 3rd.  City representatives who participated in this conference were Ralph Lloyd and Alvin Shanklin from Public Works, Fred Lucero from Employment & Training and Roger Helbig, Purchasing Division.  John Bennett attended this conference.  Emigdio Robles, Northern California Superintendent of Best Contracting Services, Inc. and his subcontractor for roofing tearoff and asbestos removal Omar Garrido, President of Heritage Contracting Services, also attended

There was no roofing system warrantor present at the pre-roofing conference, as required by the contract, although Mr. Bennett was kind enough do once again donate his services for this affair.

There are some ways the City can avoid these situations:

1. Develop and conform to a project management manual for capital projects.
2. Anticipate projects sufficiently in advance to retain appropriate consultants.
3. Develop a list of “on-call” consultants in various disciplines for projects like this.

 These types of problems seem to be continuing. Apparently the City is planning to install some emergency generators at fire stations and had solicited architect/engineer firms to prepare specifications. Then, yesterday, the same people who brought you this roofing contract wrote:

“Unfortunately, between last Thursday and today, our time line got substantially shortened and we will not have time to hire an A&E firm for this job.”