Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Make It Right

This strata complex was vandalized during the building envelope project with damaging design defects to our addresses, taps, windows and doors, wanton destruction of trees and patios, and all kinds of downgrades, resulting in much higher expense for future maintenance. 

Strata owners should not be vilified and attacked in their own homes for trying to hold accountable those acting, if not with criminal intent, in major conflicts of interest to escape paying their fair share.
This is Al MacLeod. The strata corporation has never held him accountable for his conduct as he churned strata managers, owners, common property, and bank accounts in shocking conflicts of interest. Mr. MacLeod retaliated against challengers - claiming that he had a right to act against them - which influenced others to attack as well. 

This is Cindy Norman, Al MacLeod's girlfriend who was working in the accounting department of Teamwork Property Management when Mr. MacLeod arranged for their strata management services - in Abbotsford - for Sunridge Estates in Coquitlam.














This is Teamwork, Mr. MacLeod's long-distance property management company hand picked in the most alarming conflict of interest, fined $7,000 for professional misconduct.

http://www.stratawatch.ca/directory/411/SR-News/special-report-teamworkpm.html

Leaky condo owners should be able to trust their members of council not to tamper with strata funds, act in violation of the law and bylaws, or willfully destroy property.


Equal protection before the law should be a true Charter right - not legal fiction.  The courts should ensure that law abiding homeowners who are deprived of affordable access to justice are not bullied by those with a monopoly on the practice of law and ensure that they are able to rely on legislation, terms of contract, and Project Specifications without having to litigate in a system of discrimination against the vulnerable and deference to the elite. 


Anyone who nefariously betrays the trust of homeowners, violates bylaws, legislation, and terms of contract, or otherwise plays a role instrumental in creating foreseeable damage to others should be held accountable for the resultant damage and loss.  

With all due respect to Al MacLeod, and others acting contrary to law for their own unjust enrichment, the whole of the circumstances raise apprehensions that I was assaulted and the property was vandalized in a deliberate 5-year plan to swindle owners out of almost half a million dollars of special levy funds to entrench illegally added extra decks, avoid paying user fees, and destroy landscaping to create unobstructed panoramic views for the principal benefit of himself at the expense of the strata.

Al MacLeod was also reprimanded by the Real Estate Board for misconduct arising out of what appears to be a $10,000 embezzlement and money laundering operation that may have placed the strata corporation at risk of liability for the resultant loss to the Halfords, former owners of 518.


Professional people should not cause injury to their clients or pretend to be deaf and dumb for years - instead they should be quick to provide reasonable explanations and corrective actions -
worthy of respect. Professional reputations should be able to withstand reasonable scrutiny.

I would hope that this blog might motivate 

MORRISON HERSHFIELD
 and HEATHERBRAE CONSTRUCTION
 

to admit responsibility for causing foreseeable damage
and avoid defective designs, materials, and work in the future.


We ask Morrison Hershfield, Heatherbrae Construction, the Condo Advocate, Alan Cadwell

the Homeowner Protection Office,  this Strata Corporation and its former agent, Al MacLeod 

and lawyers, Stephen Hamilton
 and Adrienne Murray 
to stop looking for excuses to avoid responsibility for the roles they played and put their heads together to make it right.


**********
    I would like the strata to reinstate the original swing-in door design and restore the complex to a standard that at least meets its original condition and function of the buildings



     so it is not vandalized the way 409 was


















    negligently - or maliciously
     
     I would like Morrison Hershfield or whoever is responsible for the change to
    1. reinstate the building numbers on lower units to their original proximity to the light so ambulances and visitors can see the numbers - coming from east or west - day and night


    I would like Heatherbrae to
     extend the pipes to 409's exterior taps as required in the project specifications, and as Heatherbrae did for others









      and reinstate 409's east window flashing
      which Heatherbrae damaged, removed, and never replaced
      and replace the east siding on 409 that Heatherbrae left damaged

       

       I would like those responsible to compensate me for motel bills
       and personal injury from toxic sealant formulated for outdoor use being applied inside 409 by Heatherbrae in copious quantities
       















      knowing I had lung disease
      Heatherbrae removed the old weather stripping around 409's front door and left it off for months. We wanted it replaced with new, the same as on other units.  Eventually we had to replace it ourselves.
















      We would like the cladding that we paid for to be put on the hydro kiosk where it belongs instead on on the ground where it is wasted

      p
      so that the kiosk in front of 409 matches the building again, the way it did originally


       The stucco on it no longer matches - and was left is shocking condition - for years 
      We would like 405 fixed so the front wall dries without leaving a wet spot after it rains 
      We would like the front staircases in Phase 2 replaced with cement 
      because for YEARS the strata management team failed to maintain the paint
         
      We would like the strata management team to restore the common property and buildings to good condition and reinstate the trees.

      For approximately 6 million dollars we would like owners to get fair value from the engineers, architects, contractors, lawyers, and others involved in this project 




      Uwe Naumann, a former BCIT building-envelope-technology instructor, is a German-trained engineer with suspicions that the rain-screen requirement for residential buildings adopted as part of the 2006 provincial building code benefits mostly engineering and construction companies, not homeowners, and is the “biggest fraudulent thing going on in British Columbia.”

      There’s also no substitute for good, old-fashioned design sense. “I always say the old architects, they knew it was raining in Vancouver,” he said. “The new architects, they don’t seem to think that it’s raining in Vancouver.”  I say, the architects ARE NOT STUPID, there is method to their madness. They know how to pull the strings to PROFIT FROM THEIR OWN WRONGS.

      According to Naumann, stopping water penetration is as easy as putting the right flashing or weatherproofing material on windows, doors, vents, and other openings. 

      “And if people do it that way right, I tell them the building is good for as long as a whole building lasts.” 


      All that is true - it’s common sense. But who can the homeowner trust? We KNOW what happens when the job is NOT done right.
        
      If you want the job done right the safest way is to DO IT YOURSELF if you are competent to do so. 

      The problem is that most home owners are not competent builders, and construction companies ARE NOT STUPID - they know “doing it right” spoils their opportunities to PROFIT FROM THEIR OWN WRONGS.

      When we complained about defects to Heatherbrae Construction they retaliated

       They took off the head, and left it off with 409's siding all gouged






      Heatherbrae left the matching foot on, with progressively growing black at the bottom of 409's window. We don't know if it is mould, or rot, or Heatherbrae's idea of a logo


      The principle of 90% planning and 10% implementation is no secret. The secret lies in WHO is doing the planning, and WHO is doing the implementation, and - in the case of unjust enrichment - WHY.  


      The truth must be exposed, and penalties must be much swifter and harsher than they are  to motivate these jerks to DO IT RIGHT. Effective solutions are obvious for not just construction failures, but for corruption in governance.


      So let’s say that, although architects are not stupid, politicians ARE. To put it kindly. Having said that, politicians, just like architects and construction companies, are expert in putting their own interest above the public interest. Historical patterns shows that too many politicians operate on the principle of “look good” at the expense of society.

      I really believe that legislation should stop pretending that corporations are people and start making politicians and professionals accountable and liable with imprisonment and compensatory damages, instead of promoting further profit from their previous misconduct at the expense of the innocent. These pillars of power and privilege should spend a couple of hours in the local community, immobilized in stocks, with a photo and report in the sport pages. I think the prison population would be the opposite of what it is today if levels of responsibility corresponded to levels or power, remuneration, and damage, and the well-being of society would sky rocket along with the Earth’s.


      In October 2008, three years after the October 2005 completion of leaky condo repairs 

      this is just one of the problems owners had to deal with:


      If any building envelope professionals or strata agents
      have reason to be less than proud of their role in this project
      please change your conduct.

      MAKE IT RIGHT

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