William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Is Now Performing SB 326 Balcony Inspections In Accordance With Civil Code 5551

June 28, 2022 Bill Leys

As the principal for William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC I’m pleased to announce we are now performing Balcony Inspections under SB-326 Civil Code 5551 in partnership with a structural engineering firm. This strategic partnership allows us to meet all the requirements under the Bill and provides your HOA with the confidence that the balconies are inspected thoroughly and with due diligence.

**Destructive Testing Reveals Improper** **Balcony Support and Decaying Weather Resistant Building Paper**

Our comprehensive inspections provides the data your Reserve Study Specialist needs to input into your Reserve Study to give a complete and accurate overview of expected life spans, condition of balconies and contiguous building materials adjacent to the decks, balconies, stairs and walkways. We are recommended by top Reserve Study firms such as Facilities Advisors Inc.

As a contractor and a consultant, I’ve installed, repaired and inspected thousands of decks. My experience as a contractor and quality assurance observer as well as being a former credentialed CMCA HOA manager provides me with a unique skill set that exceeds our competitors.

To assist your understanding of the balcony bill and what needs to be inspected, please read on…

Elevated Structures Defined. Required inspections apply to load-bearing components and associated waterproofing systems. Load bearing means those components that extend beyond the exterior walls of the building to deliver structural loads to the building from decks, balconies, stairways, walkways, and their railings, that have a walking surface more than six feet above ground level, that are designed for human occupancy or use, and that are supported in whole or in substantial part by wood or wood-based products. (Civ. Code §5551(a)(3).)

#1. Cantilevered balconies constructed of wood must be inspected.

#2. Balconies supported by wood posts require inspection.

#3. Balconies supported by the main structure do not require inspection since they cannot collapse.

#4. Balconies partly supported by the structure and partly cantilevered require inspection.

#5. Exterior stairs and landings attached to wood require inspection.

#6. Elevated walkways supported by wood structures must be inspected.

#7. Balconies made entirely of concrete and steel do not require inspection.

NOTE: Elevated structures that do not require inspection under Civil Code §5551 still require a diligent visual inspection for purposes of an associations 3-year cycle of inspections for their reserve study. This includes concrete balconies.

**Wood post has decay beginning on the top**

Is your Association ready for a balcony inspection? Reach out to us today for a free quote. Call Bill Leys at 805-801-2380 to get started or fill out the contact form on the left side.

Uncategorized

Why You Need Quality Assurance Observers on Site During Waterproofing & WRB Installations

March 25, 2021 Bill Leys

What is the total cost of having to fix construction defects that you found after the building is completed? When tenants are ready to do their tenant improvements, move in and start paying rent, but can’t because of water leaks, how much does unnecessary delays cost? How much does it cost to put up scaffold around a building, remove the brick facade, redo all the windows flashings and then put it all back together? How much in lost rents did this cost? $250,000? $1,000,000? We don’t know the answer to this question but we can take a wild assed guess…a lot!

This building is in downtown San Luis Obispo, and was ready at the end of November for tenant improvements to begin in the interior-a restaurant on the first floor, Amazon offices on upper floors; and then it rained. That’s when the owner of the new building discovered he had a major problem. Many windows leaked in the storm. So they hired a consultant (not us) who performed spray water testing in conformance with ASTM standards for leak testing.

Of the approximate 60 windows in the building, 45 or so leaked. After destructive testing was done, it was discovered that molded corner flashings that are installed into the rough opening of the window frames had a critical piece cut off by someone, and no one noticed or knew…and then the windows were installed, the facade installed and no one did any water testing or quality assurance construction monitoring during the window/WRB installation. ..if they had, the work could have been halted, the issue rectified and the costs and damages could have been greatly mitigated.

Daily costs for Quality Assurance Construction Monitoring run $1,200 a day. On a job like this building, maybe 30 days of construction monitoring may be necessary, or about $36,000.00. Which sounds like a lot until you go back to the costs of lost rents, building repairs and the headache of months of delays in getting your building back.

Quality Assurance Observations don’t cost, they pay with long term dividends on a properly dried in building. That’s what we do-help make buildings perform better, one building at a time.

Call us today for a discussion on how William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC can help you with quality assurance construction monitoring, where we observe, inspect, document and report to you, the building owner or general contractor, what we have observed, materials used, whether the work was done according to plans, specifications and the drawings.

Deck Inspections, Quality Assurance Observations

Shell Beach Home Destroyed By Water Intrusion, What Happened?

March 25, 2021 Bill Leys Leave a comment

No evidence of what lies beneath…
Happy fungi living La Vida Loca inside the wall next to the drain.
After stucco and WRB is removed, problems appear….
It gets worse! After stucco is removed, we see severe degradation of the home’s exterior sheathing and framing.
Peel n stick membrane with a hole in it destroys the notion that the membrane is “self-healing”. This was under a tile and mortar cap on top of the parapet wall.
Balloon framing on ocean facing wall.

Although this posts origins come from a job I did as a waterproofing contractor in 2013, it serves as an important lesson and example of why construction monitoring of the WRB and waterproofing is critical to ensure your building is waterproofed right.

This job started as a basic repair job; a new owner had purchased this Shell Beach home after having a home inspection. There was no specialized inspections done of the roof deck and roofing, which serves as an example of why you should have an inspection done by a specialist.

I was called because the home inspector did call out a problem with a roof deck drain. The area around the drain had soft spots in the plywood. My firm contracted with the new owner to replace the damaged plywood at the drain area only, install a new drain and waterproof it back. The owner liked the price and our plan because it was less than the credit back he got from the seller for doing the work. Note to buyers-have all repairs done before closing! The seller would have had to pay for what is coming next in this story.

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Uncategorized

Deck Inspections For Real Estate Transactions-Ethics and The Law

March 21, 2021 Bill Leys Leave a comment

SLO & Santa Barbara Realtors-Do you know William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC inspects wood and waterproof decks for buyers (and sellers)? We are the only company that does deck inspections where our duty and interest is only to the client, we do not bid for repairs! Why is this important? Because it’s the law. Contractors performing inspections for real estate transactions may not bid on work found to be needed. “Free” inspections predicated on doing the repair work is included. B&P Code section 7195 imposes certain duties and constraints, including prohibitions on repairing properties on which an inspection was performed in the last 12 months, accepting kickbacks and payments of referral fees to agents. Beyond that, it’s simply not ethical. We work for your client; that’s it. If your client, after getting our inspection, wishes to verify that the repairs to the deck or buildings weather resistant barriers are being installed correctly, they have the option of retaining us to perform quality assurance visits to observe and record a contractors repair procedures, materials used and following the plans and manufacturer’s specifications. Learn more about our services here in our website.

Careful checking if the integrity of the woods found this problem at a post connection.

Deck Inspections, Uncategorized

Finally, Architects, Builders and Owners Have Local Waterproofing Consulting, Deck Inspections & Construction Monitoring Services in San Luis Obispo CA

January 28, 2021 Bill Leys Leave a comment

I’m happy to say we are opening our doors to San Luis Obispo area clients who are in need of building envelope consulting services. Leaking buildings cost millions annually in repairs and construction defects suits are costly and time consuming. Monitoring and documenting the waterproofing work can minimize exposure to risk.

Let me help you in your building envelope waterproofing needs. I have experience installing waterproofing systems and construction monitoring of waterproofing systems being installed, investigations of leaks in existing buildings and deck inspections for buyers of real properties.

I’ve worked on some of the largest waterproofing projects in California that required construction monitoring services, including Alphabet Inc’s project in Mountain View, Stanford Hospital, Louise Packard Childrens Hospital, 1680 Broadway in Oakland and many more during my tenure with Allana Buick & Bers in Palo Alto.

I look forward to hearing from you and explore how I can help you on your project!

California's SB 326 Balcony & Deck Inspection Experts