Recently, a $1,498,290 bid for plumbing work on Lycoming Housing Authority’s William Hepburn high-rise was approved at the monthly Lycoming Housing Authority meeting. Acme Plumbing of Ohio was the sole bidder for the project.
“This is about repairing the entire plumbing system” said MeriLyn Severson, general manager.
The high-rise is a 10-story building from the late 1960’s and the plumbing is original.
Work to be carried out will include lining and brush coating of the original plumbing pipes, vent pipes and cold and hot water pipes.
“The plumbing is crumbling and needs to be repaired to prevent damage to the building.” Severson reported to the board.
For cost reasons, the authority wanted to ensure that residents would not be evicted during the work, which could take up to 200 days. It has been arranged that valves for cold and hot water will be installed in each bathroom to allow isolation of this unit during work so that the water supply to the entire building does not have to be shut off.
“As proposed, residents would be allowed to go into the common room for a few hours during the day and then return to their apartment at the end of each evening with the water on. If you can only imagine what it might cost to house 100 people and $100 a day for 200 days.” Said Severson.
Because there was only one bid for the project, the agency had to provide an Independent Estimate of Estimate (ICE) for a project of this size and scope.
“It was very difficult for us to carry out an ICE on this project as we had neither previous knowledge of this magnitude nor historical data from previous orders. So we turned to an independent external consultancy, International Consultants, to get feedback on whether the cost was reasonable for us. They did that” Said Severson.
“It took us some time to go through every single aspect of the project because it’s huge. The difference between what they believed to be the project cost and when the bid was received was $61,000, which is certainly acceptable. But also the accommodation of the contractors during the project period was not taken into account. So we felt like that was pretty much spot on, considering that. After we received the quote, we sat down and discussed with our architect, the code department and the bidder what deductions we could take from the total amount to get the project converted into a more workable budget for us,” She said.
One factor that had pushed up costs was the plan to enlarge the access hatches that allow maintenance personnel to get inside the pipes for repairs.
“We had a dream of enlarging them all because they are small and it is difficult for maintenance to get into these tight spaces. However, the cinder block and the removal of that cinder block to increase the space really drove up the cost of the project. So we had to do without it, although it would be nice.” Said Severson.
Another cost-saving measure was to line the pipes instead of replacing them.
“They will clean and line the pipes in one fell swoop. You will use a product called polyurea to line the pipes. It sets in in less than a minute and has a life expectancy of 50 years.” Severson explained.
“Many municipalities and local authorities as well as commercial buildings no longer use these types of products. It’s just a lot more cost effective.” She said.
The agency has the necessary funds for the project, Severson reported. The cost is a little over an annual grant from the Capital Fund. At the recommendation of a board member, the agency is also seeking a $750,000 grant for the Affordable Housing Program through FHL Bank, Pittsburgh.
“Once we get the grant, the cost of the project will be offset and we can focus on other capital needs.” Severson explained.
The agency also approved a $70,000 bid for a five-year elevator maintenance contract from Otis Elevator.
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