Heightened concerns

By: Kristie Cattafi
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... The structural condominium collapse that left nearly 100 people dead in Surfiside, Florida last month, [06/2021] has New Jersey officials questioning whether they need to beef up requirements for homeowner and condo association to keep up with repairs to prevent a similar tragedy from happening in the Garden State.
..... while Governor Phil Murphy says New Jersey has one of the strongest building codes in the country, local officials are weighing whether they need to do more to intervene.
..... "These are the toughest decisions right now in politics and property management," Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich said. "Those are long-term decisions that right now aren't an eminent threat to safety, but you have to decide if you are going to make it right for the next 30 or 40 years."
..... In 2020, over 74 million Americans lived in community association, according to the Foundation for Community Associations Research.
..... In-house fighting is common among those boards that are mainly made up of resident volunteers - especially when it comes to the cost of repairs.
..... Before the 12-story Champlain Towers South Condominium collapse in Florida, the owners and the complexes board of directors fought over the cost of safety and structural repairs.
..... "Why is all of this so complicated and expensive?" read a question that topped the board's meeting minutes over a list of major structural problems last October [2020] as the deadline for a state-required recertification of the Surfside building approached.
..... The condominiums at City Place in Edgewater, meanwhile, are in the middle of a four-year structural repair project that was approved by their homeowners; association board, but it initially came with resistance.
..... The $8 million project to fix many issues, including water infiltration in concrete, was found after a special assessment or "reserve study" report was ordered by the condo's board of directors.
..... The work began two years ago and has another two years before completions, said Jim Tracy, chairman of the condo's volunteer board of directors.
..... "The difference with Florida is we proceeded with the work,: Tracy said. "It was a huge burden to everyone, retail and residential owners."
..... City Place is eight stores tall with 600 residential condos and 31 retail stores. The average home sells for $489,857, according to the website.
.... There was water infiltration in the rebar - steel rods that strengthen the concrete. "When it rusts, the concrete turns too brittle and will crack," Tracy said. "We immediately put up support beams that were expensive."
.... A 40-foot piece of beam costs about $80,000, and City Place needed at least 10 of them.
..... "People wanted to recall me and they wanted a new board of directors,: Tracy said. "They didn't want to hear the truth."
..... A reserve study is a plan to save for major cost repairs such as a new off, and is a taboo word for some associations, because it means more money must be collected, Tracy said.
..... Only 11 states require condo and homeowner associations to fund reserves fro major costs, said Dawn Bauman, senior vice president for government and public affairs of the Community Association Institute. they are Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio and Oregon.
..... "When you make a decision to move into a community and not a private home you give up some things," Tracy said. "There's a possibility you get slammed with an assessment and it becomes a big uproar. Residents will want to have a recall vote and remove you, but then you think of what potentially could happen if we didn't do it."

New Jersey's high-rise inspections:

..... New Jersey's Department of Community Affairs Bureau of Housing Inspection oversees regular inspections for high-rises, including hotels, motels and multiple-family buildings that contain three or more housing units.
..... The introspections are done on a five-year cycle and include habitability provisions for heat, infestation and lead hazards in specific conditions. Inspectors also perform a visual inspection of accessible foundation and structural members, according to Gina Trish, communications director for the department.
..... "The inspectors are not engineers, but if they notice something that looks questionable for structural purposes, they would alert the building owner and the local construction officials," Trish said. If the local construction official cannot make a determination, the municipality may be required to have an engineer or someone licensed or certified in the appropriate field to make a determination.
..... However, provisions exist that allow condominium associations to assume control of building inspections under certain circumstances, Trish said.
..... Those include when buildings are not more than three stories tall, were not built before 1976, and are 80% owner-occupied. And condo building taller than three stories is regularly inspected by the state, with the exception of condominiums issued a full exemption under the law.
..... "The kind of tragedy that happened in Florida last month [06/2021] is the reason why New Jersey has one of the strongest building codes in the nation and why DCA has a capable team of building codes experts who establish and enforce these rigorous health, welfare, and safety standards, said Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver, who serves as the agency's commissioner.
..... Pradeep Kapoor, a partner at Hasbrock Hight-base DMR Architects and their director of sustainable design, agreed that the laws in new Jersey are some of the most stringent in the nation.
..... In Florida, engineers did the inspections and reports, but the work wasn't completed Kappor said.
..... "The issue is the implementation of these things,: Kapoor said. "That would be something to be more stringent about. What happened in Florida was rare, but the good thing is it's bringing awareness so people can be more proactive."

Action at the local level limited:

..... Edgewater Borough Administrator Greg Franz said the mayor and town attorney are having preliminary discussions on what they can do on a local level.
..... In the meantime, local officials can only intervene if their is a citizen complaint or if something else happens such as a car hitting a concrete beam in a parking deck.
..... In that case, the construction officials will make a report and require a professional to conduct a report on the damage.
..... "The heart of the matter is a lot of it has to do with the condo and co-op boards," Franz said. "Are they willing to authorize the extensive work that is sometimes required in some of these older buildings?"
..... In Fort Lee, Sokolich said while there is nothing local officials can legally do, he trusts ht the condo and co-op boards will not act responsibly.
..... As part of a good faith effort, Sokolich sent a letter to all associations in town to encourage them to perform a structural assessment survey.
..... "There is no obligation to do that, so we thought to do the letter of in light of what happened to be even more vigilant," Sokolich said. "I have a lot of confidence in my boards and think they will do the right thing."
..... Jersey City introduced an ordinance on Jul 14 [2021] in response to the Florida collapse that will require certain buildings to conduct, through a licensed professional, an inspection of the building's structure every 10 years and the building's facade every five years.
..... Ron Simoncini, executive director of the Jersey City Property Owners Association, agreed that more scrutiny of buildings structures was needed. However, the association felt that part of the ordinance was redundant with a similar examination performed under inspections required by the Department of Community Affairs.
..... Instead, they asked the council to consider an amendment to allow building owners to supply the five-year inspection report in lieu of performing a duplicate inspection.
..... "The first obligation of any property owner is to safety, and we share the Mayor's perspective that the disaster in Miami shows that you can never be too vigilant,: Simoncini said.

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