Estimating Quality & Construction Management: Excessive Repair Estimate for Tortilla Factory
The Problem
This project concerns a commercial building leased by the owner to a tortilla production site from 1998 to 2014. When the lease was terminated, the owner alleged that the tenants failed to repair $145K worth of damage to the property. Claiming damage to the drywall and overhead doors, water damage, staining from a rodent problem, and more, the owner (plaintiff) sought reimbursement from their former tenant (defendant).
The defendant hired Pete Fowler Construction to challenge the plaintiff's excessive estimated cost of repair.
The Solution
Pete Fowler Construction (PFCS) has reviewed the cost of repair summary and the backup documentation provided by the plaintiff, and prepared a summary of all costs broken into two categories: Defendant Repairs (repairs that the defendant had agreed to in the original lease) and Additional Cost by Owner (plaintiff repairs minus repairs agreed upon by the defendant in original lease). PFCS then estimated any additional costs to repair the property.
We used cost data from an estimating publication for a unit cost for repairs that were excessive, reviewed the floor plans, and calculated the approximate square footage of total drywall and insulation at the property. The total square footage's were then used to determine a more reasonable cost for excessive repairs.
Our estimator determined the total cost of $145K that the plaintiff would like to be reimbursed for by our client was excessive, with only approximately $28K of the total cost required by the original lease. Our team reviewed all additional costs and estimated a reasonable cost for the additional repairs which totals approximately $42K, making the defendant's approximate total cost of repair $70K.