2007 Nov
Focus on... Building System Maintenance

Maintenance Restoring Buildings After Emergencies
2007 Nov Restoring Buildings After Emergencies

Apartment buildings, whether cooperatives or condos, are inherently fragile. When that many units share the same plot of land, and the same walls, the same floors, the same elevators and stairways, standpipes and boilers, lobbies and roo…

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Maintenance Chute, Vent and Duct Cleaning
2007 Nov Chute, Vent and Duct Cleaning

In a multifamily building with families who are cooking, cleaning, dusting and breathing, it's no surprise that airways, chutes and garbage rooms can get clogged and dirty over time. Garbage, debris and allergens build up in a building's…

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Maintenance True Life Stories of Residential Breakdowns
2007 Nov True Life Stories of Residential Breakdowns

Ask a veteran building manager about his scariest horror story and he may recount a freezing winter night when the heating system went kaput, leaving a 400-unit building ice cold, or the time the sprinklers decided to kick on for no reas…

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Maintenance Dealing with New Building Construction Woes
2007 Nov Dealing with New Building Construction Woes

You can't walk around in any community these days without spying a new construction project—rows upon rows of condos seem to go up overnight and there's no shortage of people looking to get while the getting is good on brand new bui…

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Maintenance How to Minimize the Chaos
2007 Nov How to Minimize the Chaos

Any time a brand-new building or development is proposed in any given New Jersey community, there will be objectors. Residents might voice concerns about urban sprawl or the impact on their neighborhood's character, or they might just be co…

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Maintenance The Sounds of Silence
2007 Nov The Sounds of Silence

For more than 60 years, the Greenbrook Sanctuary has served as an unparalleled refuge of natural beauty and wonder for city dwellers and suburbanites in search of a landscape without cars, without noise and without the flat grayness of c…

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Q&A Q&A: Clubhouse Rental
2007 Nov Q&A: Clubhouse Rental

Q I live in a 133-unit HOA in New Jersey with a nice clubhouse. The residents of the HOA are allowed to rent out the clubhouse. My question is, can a clubhouse be rented out to persons not living in the community? The association is look…

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Q&A Q&A: Structural Change Issues
2007 Nov Q&A: Structural Change Issues

Q Our original condo declaration, bylaws, amendments and house rules allow for renovations to interior units without board approval if they do not affect a common area or are not structural in nature. I installed a wall partition (does …

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Q&A Q&A: Board Members Not Shareholders
2007 Nov Q&A: Board Members Not Shareholders

Q We have a board of directors who decides to use the proprietary lease when it is to their advantage. We have had a least three separate elections where there have been board members elected who were not shareholders. When a lawsuit is…

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