ELECTRICTY AND PROGRESS

 

The Power to Your Apartment

As you all know, when Aoraki takes over your apartment for the project, your electricity is cut off at the fuseboard, and their power supply takes over.  So the wise move has been to tell your supplier what is happening, have your own supply paused, and wait for a spell of no electricity bills. If you do not do this, you will get a daily line charge which you will have to pay. 

Some people who have notified their supplier have nevertheless been receiving small bills.  On contacting their power company, they have found that it is an estimate of what the bill might be, as the meter is of course not sending any data. Blame the robots!  Once the situation is explained to an actual person, it is agreed that the bill should not be paid. If it has been paid it will be a credit on the first bill the shareholder gets after returning to their apartment.

Other shareholders, to avoid any hitches like this, have cancelled their agreement with their supplier, on the understanding that they will rejoin and reconnect when they get their apartment back.  Damien tells me that those shareholders should let their supplier know at least ten days before regaining their apartment.  This is to give Aoraki time to check everything, and for the supplier to do whatever might be their thing.

There have been a couple of electrical hitches for people who have returned to their apartments.  Gazelle tells me that in one case it is a malfunctioning thermostat, and not a problem with the power itself.  Presumably it will usually be something relatively minor, like this. It is also a good idea to send a note to Aoraki asking them to make sure that everything works before they take over your apartment. This might be hard for Aoraki, as often the power is off before they arrive, so to make doubly certain check all the switches yourself, and keep a note of it.

Good news at today's meeting with the team at TBIG.  We are halfway through the project, and everything is going well. We are so far down, in fact, that the level 3 shareholders' meeting is this Friday at 10 am in Ken's apartment.  As usual, it will be run by Rachel. And level 4 will be vacated on the twenty-third.

Fire windows are being installed in the third bedrooms of 12B and 13B, and this is going well, too.  The frames are so big that they would not fit in the hoist, and had to be carried up the scaffolding by human chain. The glazing will be fitted this week.

Flashings that are installed in the top two levels are holding up well, as proved by a day of wind and rain. So those gusts were more useful that it might have seemed for anyone trying to land a plane in Wellington at that time!

 Defects lists. A flow chart is being composed to make the system for dealing with any defects that might be found after regaining apartments clear and more precise. This will be distributed shortly. 

Apron painting is well underway, heading past level 9, and once these ledges are done, installation of the window flashings will follow. Expect to see a lot of activity on the scaffolding, and keep your fingers crossed for plenty of fine weather with minimum wind. Asbestos removal is complete down to level 5, where it is ongoing. And that noisy demolition to make way for installation of strengthening brackets has descended to level 7. 

Expect to see experts walking around the building and the site, checking as they go. Everything is being checked for quality as the work proceeds, from relocation of water valves, the placement of lowered ceilings in common areas, the alignment of support brackets on facade panels, and the installation of block wall soldiers and braces, to the drilling into floor slabs where much care has to be taken to avoid hitting tendons and reinforcing steel. 

It is quite amazing, in fact, that everything is going so smoothly.