Apparently there are many questions on this issue at this time. The last blog entry answered the questions two people asked if our Reserve Study would replace their need for a “Building Envelope Analysis”. Earlier this week someone asked if our Reserve Study was an insurance appraisal report (please see an article related to that question on our website:
https://www.reservestudy.com/replacement-reserve-costs-vs-total-insurable-value
Now today someone asked if the Reserve Study provider should be held accountable (liable!) if construction defects were not revealed in the Reserve Study. So please, refer to the prior blog entry as a basis for this answer.
A Reserve Study should be expected to provide three things: the Reserve Component List (the scope and schedule of upcoming Reserve projects), an evaluation of Reserve Fund strength (Percent Funded), and a recommended multi-yr Funding Plan. National Reserve Study Standards allow us to stay within our area of specialty, stating that in the process of preparing a Reserve Study we can presume a component is “properly constructed”. This is not a shield we hide behind, it simply describes of our line of work. A Reserve Study should not be expected to reveal construction defects. That is the realm of a forensic engineering study.
Let us prepare a Reserve Study for you to help you prepare for your association’s inevitable capital expenses, so you don’t have special assessments, deferred maintenance, political tension, boardmember liability exposure, mortgage financing difficulties, and declining property values. A roof that gradually failed, in plain sight, over the course of 20 years should not be the source of a cash flow surprise at your association!