[CANUFNET] CANUFNET Digest, Vol 78, Issue 1

BGeerts at brantford.ca BGeerts at brantford.ca
Fri Jun 3 10:49:53 EDT 2011


Here in Brantford we suffer some of the same problems.  We require a 2 
year guarantee on developer trees from the time of substantial completion. 
 We require them to do any maintenance during this period.  Typically, 
nothing is done other than removing stakes at the end of the warranty 
period.  We've recently revamped our tree planting guidelines for new 
development; they are quite a bit more stringent; one of our local 
developers found them so inconvenient that they opted to pay the City to 
do all the tree installation.  This allows us better quality control and 
maintenance, as we require monthly watering through the summer for our 
standard street tree planting contracts.  We require any warranty 
replacement trees to be planted in the next planting season. 
___________________________
Brian Geerts 
ISA Certified Arborist
Urban Forester
City of Brantford 
Parks & Recreation Department
1 Sherwood Drive
Brantford, ON     N3T 1N3
519.756.1500 x5511
Fax 519.756.4893 
bgeerts at brantford.ca



From:   canufnet-request at list.web.net
To:     canufnet at list.web.net
Date:   06/03/2011 09:54 AM
Subject:        CANUFNET Digest, Vol 78, Issue 1
Sent by:        canufnet-bounces at list.web.net



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Today's Topics:

   1. Contract specifications (Ian Wilson)
   2. Re: Contract specifications (Mark Peterson)
   3. Re: Contract specifications (Jim Donnelly)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2011 08:45:07 -0700
From: "Ian Wilson" <IWilson at kelowna.ca>
Subject: [CANUFNET] Contract specifications
To: "Canadian Urban Forest Network" <canufnet at list.web.net>
Message-ID:
 <63C8F69A3250564AAAEE162EF144217F2D2FA641 at kelexchange.city.kelowna.bc.ca>
 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I'm interested in hearing from others regarding your contract
specifications for new parks and tree planting projects.

 

Currently in Kelowna, once a project reaches substantial completion the
parks department is responsible for maintenance, but there is normally a
one year warranty on plant materials.  We have a few issues, including:

 

*         When plants or trees die, the contractor will sometimes try to
argue that it's due to poor maintenance practices on our part, and they
don't want to replace

*         Often the contractor will not replace dead plant materials
until just prior to the warranty expiration

 

Do your contract specifications include a maintenance period where the
contractor is responsible for maintenance?  How do you deal with
warranty on plant materials and replacement?

 

thanks

 

Ian Wilson, Park Services Manager
City of Kelowna

 

 

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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2011 15:54:20 -0400
From: "Mark Peterson" <mpa at golden.net>
Subject: Re: [CANUFNET] Contract specifications
To: "Canadian Urban Forest Network" <canufnet at list.web.net>
Message-ID: <AA96253B2BE94AF4912D3A06443DCD22 at mark44fa5e9a27>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Under warranty replacement plants are specified to have the same warranty 
period as the originals. This prevents your last point from happening.

Mark Peterson, BES, MLArch, OALA 
Mark Peterson & Associates, Landscape Architect
(519)743-2990        www.openspacesolutions.com

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ian Wilson 
  To: Canadian Urban Forest Network 
  Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2011 11:45 AM
  Subject: [CANUFNET] Contract specifications


  I'm interested in hearing from others regarding your contract 
specifications for new parks and tree planting projects.

 

  Currently in Kelowna, once a project reaches substantial completion the 
parks department is responsible for maintenance, but there is normally a 
one year warranty on plant materials.  We have a few issues, including:

 

  ?         When plants or trees die, the contractor will sometimes try to 
argue that it's due to poor maintenance practices on our part, and they 
don't want to replace

  ?         Often the contractor will not replace dead plant materials 
until just prior to the warranty expiration

 

  Do your contract specifications include a maintenance period where the 
contractor is responsible for maintenance?  How do you deal with warranty 
on plant materials and replacement?

 

  thanks

 

  Ian Wilson, Park Services Manager
  City of Kelowna

 

 
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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2011 13:56:56 +0000
From: Jim Donnelly <jdonnelly at cityofgp.com>
Subject: Re: [CANUFNET] Contract specifications
To: 'Canadian Urban Forest Network' <canufnet at list.web.net>
Message-ID: <4348324A0B25924997DDCD5C201536FD2DB817C6 at EXCH3.city.ads>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hello Ian our process is fairly standard in Alberta though time periods 
probably differ by region. Developments are broken into servicing 
agreements like Boulevard Trees, Public Utility Lots, Municipal Reserve 
Park Development along with all of the different hard infrastructure 
assets and money in the form of Securities are taken on each servicing 
agreement and held by the City until these servicing agreement assets are 
constructed.

We use a mandatory 2 year maintenance period from the issue of the 
construction completion certificate (CCC) to when the consulting engineer 
for the developer can request an inspection for final acceptance 
certificate (FAC). All maintenance and replacements are the developers 
responsibility during this maintenance period. Once the asset has passed 
FAC we take over all maintenance and responsibility. There are no further 
warranty periods. One exception to this process is turf grass; we will 
usually take over mowing of new park and boulevard turf grass at CCC as we 
run a fleet of large mowers but still hold back the last 10% until FAC.
We release most of the securities held at CCC and the rest at FAC. This is 
standard practice for all development here.


*         While the landscape contractor doesn't typically argue poor 
maintenance under this system they do have problems with new home owners 
butchering or double watering trees on the City portion in front of each 
lot. Sometimes the trees drown. Many landscapers deal with this by 
delivering a letter to each homeowner that buys a house in this new 
development. Of course we have seen cheap developers try to get by with 
just precipitation for two years until they can ask for an inspection 
also. The most common complaint we hear about this process is regarding 
PUL's (public utility lots) between rows of house there for the conveyance 
of underground utilities. These grassed areas are constantly being rutted 
up by contractors and utility companies accessing the some of the 
subdivision lots. Repair of this rutting falls to the landscaper and at 
FAC must have a well established turf grass surface. Developers have 
learned not to landscape these areas until most of the houses are 
complete.

*         We also have the developer trying to replace trees just before 
the inspection. If the number doesn't exceed 1 in 10 then we usually allow 
this thinking that at least we are getting a new tree that we can ensure 
gets watered consistently.

I suspect Ian that our process differences have a lot to do with our 
northern prairie climate and gumbo soils.

Jim Donnelly
Integrated Pest Management Coordinator
Parks Operations
City of Grande Prairie
jdonnelly at cityofgp.com<mailto:jdonnelly at cityofgp.com>

From: canufnet-bounces at list.web.net [mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] 
On Behalf Of Ian Wilson
Sent: June 2, 2011 9:45 AM
To: Canadian Urban Forest Network
Subject: [CANUFNET] Contract specifications

I'm interested in hearing from others regarding your contract 
specifications for new parks and tree planting projects.

Currently in Kelowna, once a project reaches substantial completion the 
parks department is responsible for maintenance, but there is normally a 
one year warranty on plant materials.  We have a few issues, including:


*         When plants or trees die, the contractor will sometimes try to 
argue that it's due to poor maintenance practices on our part, and they 
don't want to replace

*         Often the contractor will not replace dead plant materials until 
just prior to the warranty expiration

Do your contract specifications include a maintenance period where the 
contractor is responsible for maintenance?  How do you deal with warranty 
on plant materials and replacement?

thanks

Ian Wilson, Park Services Manager
City of Kelowna



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