Facade renovation: preparing, voting, tracking

Facade renovation is the biggest project in a building's life. It is also the one where quotes compare worst, for want of a written scope.

A facade renovation often commits hundreds of thousands and disrupts the building for months. Yet it is frequently decided on three quotes that do not cover the same scope — and the apparent price gap then means nothing.

First: knowing what is being renovated

A prior survey establishes the real state of the substrate: cracks, delamination, corrosion in balconies, condition of joints. Without it the contractor prices by guesswork and discovers mid-project — the number one source of variations.

Here the board brings the history: when was the facade last treated, with what product, and which defects reappeared? Exactly the information the building maintenance log should contain, and that the annual walk-through keeps at hand.

The items people forget to price

• Scaffolding: hire duration, protection of accesses, sheeting, and above all what happens if the project runs late.
• Railings and balconies: their repair is often excluded from the facade quote although it is inseparable from it.
• Rainwater downpipes, to be removed and refitted.
• Repair of thresholds, window sills and mouldings.
• Cleaning the surroundings and restoring trampled planting.
• Treatment of visible private joinery: allowed or not, and at whose expense?

These items must appear in the specification for quotes to become comparable: see requesting quotes from the manager and the comparison grid.

A cheaper facade quote that excludes the balconies is not cheaper: it is incomplete.

Funding, decided before the vote

The total interests owners less than the schedule of calls for funds. Present the cost per share and the payment calendar, what the works reserve fund covers and what remains to be called. The same logic as for the energy retrofit.

During the works

Keep a tracking table with actual dates, and photograph weekly from the same viewpoint. On a project running months, that photo series is the only document that later allows a delay or a defect to be discussed.

Record every meaningful exchange with its date. If the contractor stops or drags, see how to chase a contractor who never finishes.

Acceptance, the decisive stage

Snags are recorded one by one, with a photo for each, on the day of acceptance. A snag described without a photo is arguable; a snag not recorded is lost. Then track their clearing and note warranty dates — a defect appearing three years later is handled very differently depending on whether the warranty was noted or forgotten.

With CoproHarmony, quotes, decisions, site photos and snags stay together for the whole project, and the lot exports for the meeting. Create your space for free.

Two things to settle before voting: the manager’s works supervision fee and any rooftop antenna.

Use the project to deal with what goes with it: balconies and railings, and window consistency.