The Bay North Envelope Restoration - Serious Concerns

A Bay North unit owner shared an email sent to the Board, highlighting contract violations, lack of engineering oversight, and negligence. The Board did not respond. With the owner's permission, we are sharing the email here, because we all need to be aware, vigilant, and take action to SAVE THE HEMISPHERES from mismanagement, negligence and abuse of power.

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Dear Board Directors,

I am writing to express my serious concerns about the Bay North (BN) envelope restoration project. Since construction began on November 11, 2024, I have observed a complete lack of supervision, inspection, and quality control over the work being performed. Over the past four months, the only individuals to visit my balcony have been construction workers wearing CBT logo shirts - with no oversight from a contractor’s supervisor, the engineer, or the threshold inspector.

The work completed so far fails to meet the contractual requirements outlined in the Association’s agreements with the Engineer of Record (Falcon Group) and the Contractor (CBT Builders). I was troubled to witness damage to my personal property and uninspected, substandard repairs, raising serious concerns about construction quality and accountability.

Furthermore, on January 8, 2025, owners attended the construction town hall meeting to voice their concerns, only to be denied the opportunity to ask questions to the engineer and contractor and express their concerns. Even more alarming was the statement made by CBT Builders’ Director of Business Development, claiming that a $4 million project, originally estimated to take 420 days, will now be completed in just 260 days and the Engineer of Record, stating that they will perform only two inspections on the BN restoration project. This raises serious concerns about corner-cutting, rushed workmanship, and potential long-term consequences.

It is extremely troubling that the board has limited the engineer’s inspections to only two, while the Association remains obligated to pay the fixed contract price of $3,931,519 - regardless of the quality or completeness of the work performed.

Please see below some of the issues:

1. Superficial repairs

Since the last envelope restoration of the BN Tower in 2012, rainwater has been pooling around the railing of my balcony due to a reverse slope at the edge of the terrace. Over time, cracks developed in the waterproofing membrane, allowing rainwater to penetrate the concrete deck. I expected the Engineer of Record to inspect the cracks on my balcony deck and mark areas for repair, as clearly required in Falcon’s contract, CBT’s contract, and sheet G001 of the approved project drawings by the building department.

Additionally, Exhibit "1" of CBT's contract mandates

"a minimum of four (4) full inspections by the Engineer for each drop of vertical work".

However, since construction began on November 11, 2024, the only person to visit my balcony has been a construction worker wearing a CBT logo shirt, with no oversight or inspection from the Engineer or contractor’s supervisor. This complete lack of supervision raises serious concerns about the quality and compliance of the work being performed.

Cracks along the balcony railing, caused by rainwater pooling since the 2012 envelope restoration.

- On Saturday, November 23, 2024, a swing stage stopped at my balcony, and a construction worker wearing a CBT logo shirt quickly sprayed around obvious concrete spalls but failed to mark the cracks near the railing and balcony edge, where rainwater has been pooling for the past 12 years:

The contractor marked obvious concrete spalls for repair but overlooked the cracks along the balcony edge.

The rust spots near the balcony edge on the underside of the slab were also left unmarked for repair:

Other rust spots and cracks overlooked by the construction worker on November 23, 2024, when marking areas for repair, and still unaddressed to this day:

- On Thursday, December 5, 2024, around noon, a CBT worker left a scraping tool and a broom on my balcony. He returned around 1 PM and began scraping off the old waterproofing membrane. Without any inspection of the concrete cracks, he quickly covered them with a layer of mortar and raised the balcony edge even higher than before:

The mortar applied to the balcony edge further raised its height, ensuring that the rainwater pooling issues will persist for the next 10 years:

2. My new sliding door was damaged

The Hemispheres contract for the BN envelope restoration requires CBT Builders to

"protect all areas likely to be affected by the work at the beginning of the project, including but not limited to roofs, walls, balconies, windows, sliding doors, fixed windows, railings,...".

It also mandates that the contractor

"take all necessary steps to prevent dust and debris from entering windows and doors"

and

"all areas shall be restored to their pre-project condition upon completion of the work."

Unfortunately, at the start of the project, the balcony railings were left unprotected for a month, leading to damage from concrete spalls and mortar splashes applied to the façade walls. The contractor only covered with plastic folio the glazed portions of the aluminum windows and sliding doors, leaving the aluminum frame sill, tracks, rails, stiles, jamb, handles, and other aluminum parts of the windows and sliding doors unprotected. As a result, the aluminum was exposed to damage from falling stucco, concrete, dust, and mortar spills.

In 2022 I installed a new impact-resistant sliding door and windows in my apartment.

- On Thursday, December 5, 2024, the contractor scraped off the old waterproofing membrane from the balcony deck. I was devastated to see the CBT worker piling dust, debris, and rubbish over the sliding door tracks and beneath the sliding panel of my balcony door. The rubbish remained for days, despite the CBT agreement requiring the contractor to clean and remove waste daily. With construction debris and dust accumulating on the tracks and wheels, the sliding door’s functionality has been compromised.

This is completely unacceptable! See the photos below:

Photo of the aluminum sill with the tracks of the sliding door taken on 11/13/2024, just before the construction began

- On Monday, December 16, 2024, after the debris from scraping the waterproofing membrane was removed, the contractor chipped away stucco from the walls. Once again, dust and debris were piled onto the sills and sliding door tracks, where the construction waste remained for 19 days, left untouched until the next year. It was finally removed on January 4, 2025.

- On Wednesday, February 19, and Thursday, February 20, 2025, the contractor applied layers of high-bond mortar to the overhead near my aluminum sliding door. Mortar splatters fell onto the unprotected aluminum sills, stiles, and the plastic folio covering the glass of my sliding door:

The CBT contract requires

"placement of site protection at all areas likely to be affected by the work."

However, CBT failed to protect the aluminum parts of my sliding door before construction began and even before applying high-bond mortar to the overhead.

Furthermore, the contractor did not remove the mortar splashes and clean the door immediately (see the above photo taken at 9:53 AM on 2/21/2025), allowing the mortar to dry and bond to the aluminum. Instead of addressing it promptly, the contractor waited five days, then scraped off the dried mortar with a sharp trowel, scratching and damaging the aluminum stiles and other parts of my new sliding door.

Please click to see the disturbing video:

3. My balcony railing was damaged

The CBT contract requires protection of the balcony railings and states:

"All precautionary measures will be subject to approval by the Engineer prior to the Commencement Date."

Apparently, the Engineer of Record did not visit the construction site. If they did, they should have noticed that the balcony railings on the north façade, where concrete restoration work was performed, were not protected before construction began.

Additionally, the Association’s Construction Project Manager is expected to visit the site daily to ensure compliance with contract terms. Did our Project Manager not notice that the balcony railings were unprotected when construction began on November 11, 2024?

Photos taken on 11/27/2024 and 12/06/2024 show unprotected railings exposed to damage during construction.

Swing stages were moving up and down the façade and chunks of falling stucco and concrete damaged the railing:

- On Friday, December 13, 2024, CBT applied high-bond mortar to the façade, causing mortar splatter to fall onto the unprotected railings, damaging the powder coating:

Instead of immediately cleaning the mortar off the powder-coated aluminum railing, CBT waited until the next day and covered the damaged railing with protective fabric.

For the past 12 years, the powder coating on my aluminum railing remained spotless (I took photos before construction began). It makes no sense to install protection after the railings have already been damaged. The CBT contract clearly requires:

"Placement of site protection at all areas likely to be affected by the work at the beginning of the project, including but not limited to roofs, walls, balconies, windows, sliding doors, fixed windows, railings ..."

It is mind-boggling - why wasn’t railing protection installed as required at the start of construction? Why should we spend over $100,000 to paint the railings when paint over powder-coated aluminum is not durable and will peel off quickly?

Where are our Construction Project Manager and our "full-time resident" board officers - the very people who signed the contract and were entrusted with overseeing its execution?

4. Construction waste, dust, and rubbish remained on balconies for weeks

The CBT Builders contract mandates:

"Clean project site and work areas daily."

and

"Maintain project site free of waste materials and debris."

However, as previously noted and shown in the photos, this requirement was completely disregarded. Construction debris, rubbish, and dust remained on balconies for weeks, even during windy and rainy days.

- On Thursday, December 5, 2024, the contractor scraped off the old waterproofing membrane and piled dust, debris, and rubbish over the sliding door tracks, where they remained for days. (See photos from December 5, 2024, in Section #2.)

- On Monday, December 16, 2024, the contractor chipped away stucco from the walls and once again piled dust and debris over the sills of my sliding door, where the construction waste remained for three weeks. (See photos from December 16 and 17, 2024, and January 1 and 3, 2025, in Section #2.)

- On Friday, January 6, 2025, the contractor drilled and removed delaminated concrete from the terrace overhead. The rubbish remained scattered across the terrace for over a week.

- On Saturday, January 18, 2025, the contractor ground the terrace slab, leaving a layer of dust that remained until the wind carried it away, allowing it to penetrate the sliding door and walls.

- On Wednesday, February 19 and Thursday, February 20, 2025, the contractor applied layers of high-bond mortar to the overhead. Mortar splatters fell onto the terrace slab and my aluminum sliding door, where they remained uncleaned for four days.

Given the severe contract violations, lack of engineering oversight, and negligence throughout the BN envelope restoration, the damage to my personal property is unacceptable and demands immediate accountability. The board has a fiduciary duty to ensure that this multi-million-dollar project is executed properly, transparently, and in compliance with contractual obligations. Critical protections and the engineer's inspections have been ignored, leaving owners to bear the consequences.

I urge the board to immediately address these failures, enforce contract compliance, and hold those responsible accountable. Without swift action, this project will not only continue to put residents' property at risk but also undermine the financial integrity of our community. This level of mismanagement cannot continue unchecked.

I expect a clear response outlining corrective actions and a commitment to oversight moving forward. The owners deserve competent leadership that prioritizes their interests, not excuses for negligence and contract breaches.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.