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All Temperatures Controlled, Inc., Issue No. 3
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September 2001
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The Contractors Critic
All Temperatures Conrolled, Inc
Reporting on Safety, Productivity, and Honesty in the Construction Industry.
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Nothing but
Problems with Job Sites
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Two Years worth of Problems
on an All Temperatures controlled, inc. Job – The Story Behind All
Temperatures’ Work at Pierce & Valley
Colleges in Los Angeles
| Almost every
construction job has its wrinkles. There are frequent occurrences of contact
non-compliance, faulty work, angry subcontractors, delays and change orders.
But at All Temperatures Controlled job sites at Pierce College in Los Angeles,
a review of public records revealed that All Temperatures had all of these
problems and more on its retrofit of the lighting and energy conservation
retrofits.
For instance, All Temperatures gave their word to Pierce College that the
control work would be completed by New Year’s Eve 2000. Pierce College’s
January 17, 2001 letter to All Temperatures speaks for itself:
Dear Sirs:
Pierce College is very disappointed that you have failed to keep your word
concerning control work being completed immediately after New Years.
The delays caused by your irresponsible actions are causing Pierce College
to incur unnecessary delays and experience numerous problems, i.e. pumps and
fans that run 24 hours a day 7 days a week unless they are shut down and
started up manually.
We remind you that these frustrating, wasteful, unacceptable conditions
have existed for MORE THAN A YEAR!" (Emphasis in original)
Signed: David L. Bush, Facilities Manager"
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Notices of Non-Compliance
Issued Against All Temperatures
| On many occasions, the
Los Angeles Community College District, that was overseeing this construction
job by All Temperatures, issued "Notices of Non-Compliance and/or
Non-Conformance" against All Temperatures during the Energy Retrofit and
Lighting retrofit year-long jobs. The following notices are a sampling of the
non-compliance forms issued against All Temperatures Controlled by the Los
Angles Community College District.
Notices of Non-Compliance and/or Non-Conformance #19 (12/5/00):
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"At
the Chemical Building’s mechanical room, the new control panel covers
an existing electrical junction box..." |
The condensate waste piping serving ten fan facilities does not meet the
code for minimum slope. A backflow condition occurred… waste piping passes
under the arcade walks... the backflow ranges from 22 to 12 inches vertically.
The backflow condition occurs at the following buildings: drafting, computer
science, physics, and chemistry.
Notices of Non-Compliance and/or Non-Conformance #18 (9/2/00):
At the Social Science Building and the Fine Arts building access doors for
the duct fire dampers have been removed and replaced by new zone/auto dampers.
Access to the fire dampers must be maintained.
Notices of Non-Compliance and/or Non-Conformance #17 (8/19/00), Ceiling and
Lighting retrofit:
The following non-compliance items observed: Surface mount, pendant, lights
attached with wood screws. Drawings require lag screws with lock washers. Type
A3 fixtures has two ballasts yet drawings show one ballast. Pendant lights
have 18 awg conductors yet drawings show 16 awg conductors.
Notices of Non-Compliance and/or Non-Conformance #16 (8/8/00):
At the Chemical Building’s mechanical room, the new control panel covers
an existing electrical junction box ... that serves the circuits supplying the
fume hoods. It is no longer accessible.
Notices of Non-Compliance and/or Non-Conformance #15 (8/8/00):
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"...
the pipe installation does not comply with the construction
documents/code…" |
At the Administration Building a 1 inch condensate drain had been installed
for the mezzanine mechanical room serving the air handler to connect into the
existing waste pipe vent ... the pipe installation does not comply with the
construction documents/code due to: Holes have been bored through existing
wall studs too close to the stud’s edge. The condensate pipe is connected
directly to the existing vent pipe–a direct connection is a code violation.
Notices of Non-Compliance and/or Non-Conformance #13 (11/26/99):
The 24-gauge sheet metal flashing at the roof to the parapet wall
transition is missing. The inch rigid foam insulation under the built up
roofing is not approved. Insulation material was not included in the approved
roofing submittal. The roofing base flashing does not follow the approved
manufacturer details provided by the contractor.
Notices of Non-Compliance and/or Non-Conformance #12 (10/13/99):
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"The
24-gauge sheet metal flashing at the roof to the parapet wall transition
is missing." |
At the Central Plant Building, the variable speed drive units serving pumps
... have been installed without approved attachment anchorage details.
Notices of Non-Compliance and/or Non-Conformance #11 (10/4/99):
At several buildings, four boilers were installed without the required
inspection for expansion anchor bolts. No notice was provided to allow the
inspection.
Notice of Non-Compliance and/or Non-Conformance #10 (8/20/99):
Five sections of 2 inch chilled water branch (supply and return) piping
have been backfilled without testing. The branch pipelines were also
backfilled without inspection of piping/joints/bedding.
Notices of Non-Compliance and/or Non-Conformance #8 (7/20/99):
An 80-foot section of 6-inch storm drainpipe was backfilled without
inspection. Part of the same pipe trench had been backfilled without
inspection ... during an observation. Problems with the pipe and trench
where it was backfilled contain lawn, roots, rock & other debris. Upper
end of six-inch pipe had a slope of 3/4 inch per foot, causing only 2 inches
of cover over the pipe where the catch basin was to be installed.
Notices of Non-Compliance and/or Non-Conformance #7 (7/13/99):
At various locations, the concrete finish is unacceptable for walk patches,
where chilled water pipe trenches occur, located by the chemistry, physics,
life science, drafting & computer science buildings. The finish is
unacceptable due to the rotary finish which is very heavy and different from
the surrounding/existing finish, the new concrete is not flush with the
existing concrete, the new concrete is sheared over the existing concrete, the
expansion joints are misaligned with the existing joints, and there are gaps
along the edges of the existing concrete.
The finish in the mechanical rooms ... is rough and the saw cuts remain
open. Spattered concrete and saw cutting residue is still occurring on the
building walls and arcade posts. The ends of control joints are incomplete. As
a reminder, the walls along the edges of the existing concrete require
patching with a non-shrink patching compound.
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As of publication, All Temperatures Controlled has not made any
suggestions or refuted any of the information in this publication.
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