Strata and Commercial Roofing

What a council is actually deciding

A council is not choosing a roof. It is standing in front of owners explaining why it is spending their money, often out of a contingency reserve fund or a special levy, and it needs to be able to show its reasoning. That means a quote that says what is included, what is not, and what happens if something is found once the old roof is off.

We write quotes to be read out at a meeting. If your depreciation report flagged the roof, bring it and we will tell you plainly whether what it says matches what is on the building, because reports are often several years old by the time anybody acts on them.

What goes wrong on strata roofs

• A number that was never the number. A low bid wins, the deck turns out to be soft, and the change orders arrive after the contract is signed and the scaffold is up. We quote what we can see and tell you what we cannot see yet.
• Nobody told the owners. Thirty households with no notice of which building is next, where to move cars, or which days are noisy. It turns a straightforward job into complaints at the next AGM.
• Access that was never walked. Shared driveways, visitor parking that is not ours to use, a crane position nobody checked, landscaping that gets destroyed by a materials drop.
• Water in during the work. A multi unit roof opened up wider than a crew can dry in before the weather turns. One building at a time, sequenced, is slower on paper and cheaper in reality.
• One section done, the rest left. Patching the leaking building while four others run to the same age gets a council through a year and costs more over five.

How we run a multi building job

A site walk first, with whoever will be making the decision, and a written scope before any number. We identify staging, crane position, debris routes and which units are affected on which days, and that goes in the quote rather than being worked out in the first week.

Then one building at a time, opened only as far as the crew can close it the same day. Owners get notice of what is happening and when. Photos are taken as the work goes, so when an owner asks what was done under their unit there is an answer with a date on it.

The paperwork a property manager needs

Before work starts, and without being chased for it:

• WorkSafeBC clearance letter. Fraser Roofing Ltd. is registered and in good standing, account 201893485. The clearance letter is the document that means the strata is not liable if someone is hurt on site, and you should ask every contractor who quotes for one.
• Certificate of insurance. $2,000,000 commercial general liability, placed through HUB International, with the strata named if your manager needs it.
• Who is on site. Kory and Johnny Peters are Red Seal Journeyman Boilermakers and members of Local 280, and they work on the roof rather than sending a crew and a phone number.
• A written scope and schedule you can attach to a council package or circulate to owners.

We are not bonded. If a contractor tells you they are, ask to see the bond, because on strata work that claim gets made more often than it is true.

Commercial, and working under a general contractor

On a new build or a tenant improvement we are used to being one trade among several. Send the drawings and the roofing specification and you will get a price against what is actually specified, with the assumptions written down.

If the specification calls for an assembly or a third party guarantee we are not set up to provide, we will say so at the start rather than quote around it and hope. That is a short conversation and it saves everybody a month.

Scope boundaries get named in writing, because that is where commercial jobs go wrong: who supplies the deck, whether insulation is in our package or the envelope package, and who is prime contractor for WorkSafeBC on a multi employer site. Gutters and rainwater leaders are not ours. We do not install gutters. We work with Gutters Canada, (604) 362-3488, and we are happy to bring them in and coordinate it, or leave it with whoever you already have, as long as it belongs to somebody.

Pricing and timing

The inspection is free, including for a council that is gathering numbers and has not decided anything yet.

Larger jobs are quoted with a payment schedule that matches the work rather than a flat deposit, and we will set that out before you sign. On a construction contract with a head contractor, builders lien holdback applies and we will tell you how we have allowed for it.

All of it carries the same 10 year labour warranty as our residential work.

Start with a walk

Send the depreciation report, the drawings, or just the address. We will come out, get on the roof, and give you something you can put in front of a council or a client.