- Investigative services with respect to leakage (roof/walls/below grade/windows), premature deterioration of cladding/roofing, structural capacity, warranty claims, and indoor air quality (mold);
- Detailed design (technical specifications and drawings, best-practice design);
- Construction services (tendering, contract administration, quality assessment and quality control)
- Litigation support and expert witness services; and
- Non biased third party facilitation between owners and contractors.
In the writer's opinion the most important distinctions between many contractors and engineers are the fact that engineers go through a rigorous education and engineers are professionals who are obliged by their professional organization, APEGGA, to act ethically. Lawyers are similar bound to act ethically. The Law Society of Alberta has endorsed a Code of Conduct which all lawyers must abide by in their relationships with their clients and with society at large.
Consultants without affiliation with an organization have no ethical obligation imposed upon them and may have insufficient education in the matters subject of the capital improvement. It is imperative that condominium corporations ascertain this before proceeding with a capital project. This is the heart of why I described contractors as potentially "self interested". A less than knowledgeable contractor may recommend an intervention to a condominium corporation without a substantive basis for doing so simply because the contractor wants or needs the work or is ignorant. Without an affiliation with a professional organization imposing an ethical obligation on the contractor a condominium corporation is relying entirely on the individual conscience of the contractor in respect of whether the intervention is necessary or if necessary if the contractor is sufficiently educated and skilled enough to conduct the capital improvement.
The lesson demonstrated by Michael Ball to condominium corporations is to not be "penny wise and pound foolish" when it comes to dealing with contractors. Obtaining the assistance of an engineer or similarly knowledgeable and skilled consultant will dramatically lessen the likelihood that condominium corporations will be taken advantage of by unscrupulous contractors.