Here is a copy of the unsigned contract (DOC: siding-contract)
As you can see the inspection will cost us $25,000 with possible change orders. The council will approve the contract on Tuesday during the consent agenda portion of the meeting.
Here are some ‘interesting’ points I found in the contract;
• All work shall be performed by or under the direct supervision of a professional Engineer licensed to practice in South Dakota.
• Should there be any destructive or intrusive testing by the Engineeer, the Engineer acknowledges the City has no stockpile of the panels and the Engineer will use due care to maintain the building in the same condition as it was prior to initiating testing. Engineer will restore the site to the same condition as it was prior to such testing at its own expense.
• Consult with the City Engineer or his designee to obtain available data for review and coordinate access to the site with SMG, the City’s operator of the building, as needed. This will include site security (including exterior barriers or fencing if needed) and protection from interference with testing.
• The Engineer shall not sublet or assign any part of the independent review under this Agreement without written authority from the City. Further, if the Engineer hires a subcontractor for repair due to damage from the independent review, the Engineer must provide at least 72 hours’ advance notice as to the date, time, and method of repair and allow the City to make modifications to the proposed methods for such repair, if necessary, and to inspect the repair work.
• The City may at any time by written order make changes within the general scope of this Agreement in the work and services to be performed by the Engineer.
• The City agrees to pay the Engineer a fixed fee in an amount not to exceed $20,000 (hereinafter the “Fixed Feeâ€) plus reimbursable expenses not to exceed $5,000. Additional compensation will not be made for expenses exceeding the Maximum Fee unless the requirements as set forth in Section 5.4 of this Agreement are satisfied.
It seems there will be a designated or city engineer present during the inspections, which is fine, but I hope it doesn’t tamper in anyway having a fair assessment.
With regards to someone from the city being on site, I’m assuming that you are referring the clause:
• Consult with the City Engineer or his designee to obtain available data for review and coordinate access to the site with SMG, the City’s operator of the building, as needed. This will include site security (including exterior barriers or fencing if needed) and protection from interference with testing.
I would interpret that as saying the City Engineer is the point of contact between the contractor and SMG, and that if the contractor needs anything, they go through the City Engineer. That doesn’t mean anyone from the city will be there. The city has the power to tell SMG they need to have a staff person at the building on a particular day and they need to let the contractor and his/her people in and around the building. The contractor can’t tell SMG that. This also keeps the city in the loop as to what work the contractor is doing.
I’m not saying that there won’t be any funny business, but the WORST place for the city to try any funny business would be at the inspection site during the inspection. Too many people would be around, and too much would be at risk for the contractor being exposed (getting your license pulled would basically destroy their business). If they do anything it would be BEFORE the inspection or when preparing the final report – trying to pull a fast one when there are multiple people involved and watching would be to risky.
AR – I was referring to this line;
“All work shall be performed by or under the direct supervision of a professional Engineer licensed to practice in South Dakota.”
But the more I think about it, like National law firms, the company probably has someone on staff licensed in SD.
The firm has individuals licensed in South Dakota. The intent of that clause was to ensure a qualified engineer would lead the team who does the work.