Condo Media - October 2021 - 44

The Region MAINE
As most buildings in Maine's real
estate inventory were built under
a variety of building codes over the
years, the question should be: " Does
the building meet suitable standards
of safety, health, resiliency, and energy
efficiency while keeping to a reasonable
maintenance schedule? " But who
sets those standards, especially for
existing buildings?
Making
Tough Decisions
Addressing Building Issues With Caution
[by Jack Carr, P.E., RS, LEED-AP]
Have you ever noticed how fashion
and entertainment trends seem to start
on the " Left Coast " and work their
way across the country before finally
arriving in Maine? I call this the " End
of Route 95 Syndrome. " Of course,
YouTube and other digital social media
has sped things up a bit, but the general
premise holds true. The same may be
true for residential/commercial construction
codes and building science.
This can make it difficult for condo
boards to make an informed choice
regarding building maintenance issues,
not to mention prospective condo
buyers assessing the condition of the
unit and the community in general.
Who do you call?
MAINE BUILDING
CODE QUESTIONS
It often takes a Surfside, FL, disaster
for building codes and maintenance
44 CONDOMEDIA October 2021
practices to change. Elevated deck
and balcony structures must now be
structurally inspected in California
every five years following the horrific
collapse of the raised deck on a multifamily
building on the UC Berkeley
campus in 2015. Exterior building
façade failures in cities such as Chicago,
Cleveland, New York, and Boston
have resulted in those cities enacting
mandatory structural evaluations of
building exterior façades depending on
the inspection cycle dictated in the ordinance
and the height of the building.
I am often asked by out-of-state
buyers of Maine condo units or
condo boards of whether the building
meets " code. " After a Maine history
of a patchwork of building codes
throughout the state, a Maine Unified
Building Code and Unified Energy
Code was adopted in 2015 following
a suite of model international codes.
LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS
Maine does not license or certify its
residential or commercial general
contractors. Some of the skilled trades
are licensed, but not the general
contractor who is ultimately responsible
for the quality and safety of
Maine's homes. Legislative measures
to license Maine's contractors have
been successfully defeated by various
construction industry lobbying efforts
in the recent past. Undoubtedly,
someday, this situation will change,
but Maine's self-reliance traditions
can be difficult to overcome.
Maine does not license or certify
its home inspectors. This fact is often
confusing for out-of-state buyers as
the inspectors in their state are all
licensed by the state. In addition,
the home inspection brochures they
pick up at a local Maine real estate
office or web site have words such
as " licensed " or " certified. " Under
closer review, it will be found the
referred licenses are for radon or
pest inspections, but not the home
inspection itself. Maine does not have
the " lemon laws " protecting home
buyers in neighboring states, such as
Massachusetts, with regard to undisclosed
issues affecting the quality of
a condominium. Maine's real estate
motto should be Caveat Emptor.
The term " certified " is even more
misunderstood. The state certainly
does not certify home inspectors, so
a good question to ask is, " Certified
by whom? " There are many home
inspection associations across the
country that " certifies " their dues paying
members. They are not all equal.
The joke in the industry is that in
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