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Recently, we received a request from a property manager for a Reserve Fund Study proposal, thankfully a pretty common occurrence. They provided the usual property information along with a copy of the previous study. The property manager indicated that there was some dissatisfaction from the Board with the quality of the previous report. Great, I’m thinking, Delta Appraisal will do better. Things were looking positive, the proposal was well received and then the question: Will an engineer be putting their stamp on this report? Thankfully, we don’t hear this too often anymore. As they were unhappy with the previous report (completed by an engineer), I admit being somewhat dumbfounded. As we have always said, engineers are excellent at providing a building review, post construction audit or component study; however, very rarely are any of these items included in the cost of a reserve fund study. Like many things, the regulation of condominium properties is a provincial matter. The various Condominium Property Acts and Regulations that govern the western provinces are quite broad, whereas the Ontario Condominium Regulations actually set out the eight classes of professionals who can complete a reserve fund study. Along with engineers, engineering technicians and architects are members of the Appraisal Institute of Canada holding the AACI designation and members of the Real Estate Institute of Canada holding the CRP designation. Ontario Condominium Act, 1998: Person conducting studies At Delta Appraisal, we hold two of the listed designations. If we contracted an engineer to sign and stamp the Delta Appraisal Reserve Fund Study reports to give us three of eight designations, it might be a bit of overkill? Also, any additional costs for an engineer to become associated with our Reserve Fund Study process would be passed on to our clients and we have difficulty believing that there is a significant added benefit. At Delta Appraisal, we work with property managers and Board members to set realistic budgets and to prioritize maintenance and repair projects. Our functional Reserve Fund Studies are unbiased and we are not competitors in property management or maintenance. For more information about Delta Appraisal and our easy to read, functional (not engineered) Reserve Fund Studies or to request a competitive quote, please contact us. As always, no engineers were harmed in the production of this newsletter.
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