Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: site supervision

[Unnat (Zen]

Hi Kate

Looks like the response is unanimous.  My partner, Unnat, is the construction
liaison person for our 8 house plus common house project.  He has some building
experience, an eye for detail, a professional attitude to any task he takes on
and an amiable manner.  And he has me - I was the design liaison person and
know the plans and history of the design and agreements intimately.  Unnat has
attended site meetings weekly for nearly a year with the architect and
builder's supervisor.  For the first half of the construction time, Unnat and I
went to the site a couple of times a week ( including 1-2 hours regularly on
Sunday) when the builders weren't there.  We went through every house and
checked the progress.  We asked the other members to check their own houses
regularly - some did and some didn't.  The intensity has decreased in the
latter half but regular attention is still necessary.

Between us, we caught in time and occasionally missed, countless
misinterpretations, misunderstandings and demonstrations of plain stupidity.
Some of the contractors have been great and others are plain sloppy.  IMHO,
once a month even with a professional project manager is not enough.

Warmest regards
Robyn williams
Pinakarri Community
Fremantle, Western Australia