Aquarius Central Air Conditioning Contract – not all is clear

The official site of the Aquarius Condo. Association posts a contract celebrated for the replacement of aging Central Air Conditioning. You can see this contract in the aquariuscondo.net and as an attachment to this post.

The contract was signed by the President of the Aquarius Condo. Ass. and one of its Directors January 7, 2016. The consideration is of less that $ 400.000 (four hundred thousand) and should be completed  in 16 (sixteen) weeks after signature, that is January 7, 2016. After that a fine of $ 500 per day should be imposed excluded the conditions of the contract.

The contract was signed after six months the initial bid had been completed. A & P  have recommended the contract celebration with the firm awarded:  Vmech of Miramar, Florida.

A few owners have expressed a few doubts about this contract. Here a sample of messages that were exchanged:

• Arkady Chase, PH 05N, January 6th, 2016

Bill, [Bill Coleman, Regional Manager, Atlantic Pacific Management, Management firm for Aquarius Condo. Association]

A couple of weeks ago I discussed with you the status of our air conditioning system for the hallways, and even provided you with a report that was presented to our Association in 2010.  The report specified that this system needed to be balanced with other building systems.  Based on prior years experience, the hallway air conditioning system was a subject of seemingly endless repairs.

I believe that I am expressing not only my personal concern but also concern of many other residents who were constantly paying for these repairs, and replacement of compressors.  Although I am not an expert in this field, but by talking to some HVAC specialists, I came to the understanding that the hallway system must be tightly integrated with other HVAC systems in the building.  This is a process that apparently requires high level of skills  and substantial experience.

I overheard that your management recommended signing the contract with a company that apparently is doing work in our lobby, and so far has not completed the work to the satisfaction of the city of Hollywood (the work did not pass either of the two inspections).  What was the selection criteria for this company for this project?  Was it based specifically on the lowest price, or are there some other merits involved?  We will be living with this system for many years, and I, and I suspect other residents as well, would like to make sure that we are getting the highest level of equipment and service for our money.

Respectfully yours,

Arkady G. Chase, PH5N

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Cecilio-Augusto Berndsen, January 6th., 2016, 1005 N

Back in July 2015 we had 3 firm proposals from reputable HVAC firms.

At that time we already had the funds and the specifications.

Now, several months later, we are still debating the issue. We came to (1)  custom HVAC system (original competitive bid – RFP)  to   (2)  off the shelf approach and (3) back to custom, the original RFP.

I have two questions:

1) Could we see references of VTECH? Evaluations, Dun Bradstreet reports, jobs evaluation  ratings, credit rates etc would be of great value to assure the Aquarius Owners that we are hiring a company that will delivery the object of the contract on time and within budget.

2) If the original scope for HVAC was incomplete or wrong shouldn’t start a new RFP? Wouldn’t this be only fair, sound and proper?

On the theme of scope. VTECH was not to able detect problems in the duct-work of the Lobby how could they correct the scope of the Central System? The City of Hollywood refused their permit application and refused to close the partial permit more than one time.

Cecilio A. Berndsen, via email mail    ceciliob@gmail.com

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Pam Ippolito, January 6, 2016.  1104 N

For any of you interested we have an owner running for the Board,  who just happens to be a mechanical contractor that is:  handles AC, HVAC etc, his name is Sal Marmolino,1505N. His info was given to Sophia F. Vice President by Teresa Marmolino.

Did Sophia ever call for his assistance? “NO”.

Sal has his license renewed every year as required, should he be needed. He has a wealth of knowledge that Aquarius could be using, but does it sadly not.

People let’s unite and help with each others abilities. We are a wealth of untapped fortune.

P.S.:  A number of years ago Sal was on the board when an AC job was being done. Sal went to check on it. He found it to be in the process of being done wrong. Sal had it stopped and done over the right way. This was just one of the many examples where we all can bring our expertise into play.

Don’t be jealous of someone because of their knowledge. Let Aquarius benefit! Let Aquarius shine.  Don’t frown. Turn that frown upside down. Smile. We live in a paradise.

Pam Ippolito

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BHAGWAN (BUCK) GUPTA         Apt. S 804 Cell: 786-402-4269      bgupta1@yahoo.com          January 10,2016

I want to raise the following questions just for clarification:

Who is the Engineer of record for this project?
Have the plans been reviewed and approved by appropriate Agency ?
Did the Engineer approve an initial deposit of 50 percent of the contract?
Does the deposit represent acquisition of all equipment to complete this job ?
Has the contractor qualified and pulled a permit for his scope of work?
Are we going to have separate contracts for electrical, sheet metal, etc.?
Once the permit has been pulled, a notice of commencement needs to be filed to protect Association’s  interest that stub Contractor’s and suppliers are paid to avoid any lien being filed for non payment by our contractor.I
Who is going to monitor this project ?

Bhagwan  (Buck) Gupta     via email     bgupta1@yahoo.com

Bill Coleman offered several justification in two email messages and promised a meeting to better clarify the doubts.

A sinopse of this meeting will be posted. The meeting date has not been established.

Click HERE for the Vmech contract or click here     2016 01 06 Air Vmechac primeconstructioncontract

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