Re: Out-of-hours and Directors’ Role

[Delia Covezzi]

Dear Anna,

I can completely understand your frustration and concern. It is not up to you or any other director to have to directly deal with issues as and when they arise. This is something that should be dealt between the porter, the managing agent and the service required (in yesterday’s case, Chubb).

I still strongly believe that the best solution in the longer term would be to employ a building manager who would take on a certain amount of responsibilities, overlook all aspects of the building and liaise directly with the cleaners, gardeners, maintenance contractors etc on a daily basis and during emergencies.  Basically, someone who does what we, the Board, are currently doing. We can then employ a managing agent at a minimal fee to take care of paperwork, payroll and  service charges. I am hoping we will not have to wait too long to start recruiting for such a role and believe this would of great benefit to the Board and the building. 

In the short term, we need to train the current porters to deal with abnormal situations and emergencies as efficiently as possible. We also need to employ an out-of hours/ emergencies service ASAP. The emergency service can be during working hours and not solely out-of-hours. 

Depending on how long we have to wait before recruiting a building manager, we also need to find a managing agent who is more proactive. Preferably one who answers the phone and replies to emails promptly.

This is my personal feeling. I am open to other suggestions for both short-term and long-term solutions.

Kind Regards,

Delia. 








Delia Covezzi
deliacovezzi at gmail.com

> On 30 Oct 2018, at 20:52, Anna Cury <anna_cury at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear Glenn
> 
> It is a long story .... 
> 
> 
> Chubb was here to install a new panel since ours was very old and faulty - that is why we had so many false alarms this year...
> 
> When they connected the new panel the fans that blow air into every floor in case of fire started working - they shouldnt since there was no fire. 
> 
> Aziz was on duty but did not know how to shut them down. Yvonne tried to help, called me and when I got home I asked my builder to go help me and we shut them down.
> 
> By then Aziz had called John that came over and explained to me how the fans work and what to do when Chubb left . 
> 
> At around 7pm I asked Chubb to wait until I turned on the fans just to check if there was a problem. They started working again - Chubb was not able to find the problem and left since  it was late. They left the fans off, and said they would be back. 
> 
> I emailed Westbourne to let them know and ask Aziz to call them after lunch to say Chubb didn’t come back today.
> 
> My main concern is that we currently don’t have anyone that can handle an emergency or know how to operate the main equipments  in the building - even during working hours.
> 
> I am also very tired and stressed and worried about having to handle those type of emergencies myself. I think Yvonne shares my views since she has been dealing with the issues with me.
> 
> Yvonne and I are discussing ways to solve this but we welcome any suggestions
> 
> Thank you 
> Anna 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On 30 Oct 2018, at 15:09, Glenn Pereira <glennpereira at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Delia,
>> What happened yesterday?
>> Cheers,
>> Glenn.
>> 
>>> On Tue, 30 Oct 2018 at 14:47, Delia Covezzi <deliacovezzi at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Dear All,
>>> 
>>> Having spoken to Anna earlier today, and in light of yesterday’s events, I cannot stress enough the urgency with which we need to put in place an out-of-hours service.
>>> 
>>> Unless anyone has an alternative suggestion which we could implement with immediate effect, then I would strongly advise we employ John Shervil’s firm, who would available to start straight away. We could draft a contract for 3 months and then review this at a later date. 
>>> 
>>> Peter and I have been discussing the details and we feel we could offer the following:
>>> 
>>> £100 per month retainer (to answer the phone and give advice over the phone whenever possible)
>>> £100 per call-our for the first 2 hours
>>> £25 per hour thereafter
>>> 
>>> All calls and call-outs to be logged and reported so that we can monitor events and ensure they are justified. 
>>> 
>>> On a slight side note, but equally requiring urgent attention, we cannot continue with the current set-up, whereby, during normal hours, neither the porters nor the managing agents are able to deal with abnormal situations and emergencies. As directors of the Management Company, it is our responsibility to ensure the building is running efficiently at all times; it is not for us to pull up our sleeves and do it ourselves.
>>> 
>>> Should we make it clear to Eddy and Aziz that in the event of any issue they must contact Westbourne immediately, and continue to chase Westbourne until the problem is resolved?
>>> 
>>> Furthermore, as it stands we, the board, are currently directly managing the porters, cleaners, gardeners, maintenance, refurbishment and upkeep of the building. We should not be managing these directly, but rather overlooking that those we employ to manage the building do so accordingly.
>>> It is not sustainable to continue as we are.
>>> 
>>> Regards,
>>> 
>>> Delia. 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Delia Covezzi
>>> deliacovezzi at gmail.com
>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> Glenn Pereira
>> The Vineyard
>> Clifton Hampden
>> Oxon OX14 3EQ
>> 
>> +44 (0)330 113 6325
>> +44 (0)7789 931990
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