Make It / Make Sense Rick Clark

Bike room, showers, and service-space retrofit

With Pentillion Construction, I coordinated the retrofit of vacated tenant space into building amenity and service areas. The new program included bike storage, lockers, three shower stalls, an accessible washroom, an accessible combined shower and washroom, janitor storage with a mop sink, and a garbage room.

The design had to work for tenants, the landlord, building operations, accessibility expectations, and the service needs of the property. A space like this can look simple once it is complete, but the hidden coordination is what makes it usable.

The challenges with retrofitting an existing building

The retrofit involved fire separations between tenants and floors, subgrade plumbing, new washroom and shower layouts, secure access requirements, mechanical and electrical coordination, and revisions to engineered details so the work better suited the actual space.

The existing conditions mattered. Plumbing routes, wall layouts, access points, service spaces, and fire separations could not be solved independently. Each decision affected another part of the retrofit.

Coordinating consultants, trades, and adjacent work

My role was to coordinate between the architect, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, Pentillion Construction, subtrades, and contractors working in adjacent tenant space at the same time.

I reviewed historical drawings, engineering plans, and architectural layouts to understand the existing conditions and help propose solutions that could satisfy the different stakeholders. The work required balancing design intent with field realities so the retrofit could move forward without creating conflicts for the surrounding construction.

Clean cut finish

The result was a more useful and serviceable set of building spaces. Accessibility, service use, plumbing, fire separations, secure access, consultant details, trades, and active building constraints all had to line up so an underused area could work as dependable building infrastructure.

Custom glass awning redesign and installation

With Pentillion Construction, I delivered a custom glass awning replacement where the design intent was clean and visually simple, but the existing building made the installation much more complicated than the drawings suggested.

The project replaced existing vinyl awnings with a suspended glass canopy system supported by steel outriggers and diagonal tie rods. The challenge was making that system work on the real building, with the right tolerance, alignment, drainage, serviceability, and installation sequence.

The hidden structure did not match the clean drawing

The upper tie-rod anchors were intended to connect back to the structural concrete spandrel beam, but that beam was hidden behind exposed-aggregate precast architectural panels with an inconsistent air gap behind them.

That changed the problem. The anchors could not simply be fastened as drawn, and the inconsistent gap made it difficult to scan the structure and confidently locate reinforcing steel before drilling. The installation needed enough field tolerance to avoid reinforcement while still leaving the finished awning visually aligned from the street.

Making the anchorage adjustable without looking like a fix

I helped investigate the existing condition and separate what was architectural cladding from what was part of the structural load path. That understanding shaped the redesign of the upper anchorage.

The detail needed to bridge through the architectural panel, connect back to the structure, and still allow the installer to shift final anchor locations where needed. The exposed cover plates then had to conceal that adjustment zone without looking like an afterthought.

The tie rods also had to stay visually aligned even when the hidden anchors had to move. The connection evolved toward a more adjustable arrangement using clevises and paired plates, with practical details such as wrench flats and opposite-handed threading so the rods could be adjusted in place.

Letting the glass layout respond to the building

The lower outriggers created another coordination problem. Their locations needed to avoid likely reinforcement while still supporting the glass layout. With the architect’s approval, the glass panel widths were allowed to vary within a controlled range so the steel supports could respond to the real structure instead of forcing a layout that was difficult to install.

The glass support detail also had to be reconsidered. A more fixed pressure-plate approach would have made installation and future service more difficult, especially if individual panels ever needed to be removed. Working with the installer, we moved toward a more serviceable approach that better suited how the glass would be handled, installed, and maintained.

Designing the corner so it could actually be fabricated

The corner conditions added another layer of practical design work. The corner framing had to coordinate glass sizes, steel fabrication, galvanizing, fit-up, and installation sequence.

I raised concerns about field welding galvanized steel and helped move the approach toward details that could be fabricated and installed more predictably. When galvanizing distortion became a concern, I helped look for a simpler framing approach that better matched the typical outriggers and reduced the risk of a distorted corner assembly.

Turning layout into a repeatable field process

A major part of my contribution was turning the layout problem into something the installer could repeat in the field. Because the outrigger and standoff locations varied along the building, there was no simple continuous datum for every cored opening.

I designed and 3D printed a positioning jig that sat on the installed outrigger and held a laser-cut template board for the core-hole locations. The template allowed the layout to shift when needed to avoid reinforcement while maintaining the relationship between the outrigger, standoff, and tie rod.

Dealing with drainage after the slope changed

The project also had to respond to drainage requirements. A late requirement changed the awning slope so water drained back toward the building rather than away from it.

That meant reviewing tie-rod geometry, glass slope, flashing, and gutter details so the finished system could manage water without creating maintenance or building-envelope problems. I helped develop a custom gutter approach that could be installed with the completed steel and glass while remaining serviceable and cleanable.

Keeping the work moving on site

Alongside the design and coordination work, I supported day-to-day site execution. That included coordinating with the architect, structural engineer, fabricators, glass contractor, sheet metal contractor, crane company, tenants, and site team; helping maintain scaffold access; developing site-specific safety procedures; removing existing awnings and flashing; coordinating electrical and signboard-related work; reviewing layout; resolving field discrepancies; and checking installation details as the work progressed.

A clear vision

The finished awning looks clean because we solved a lot of messy problems before they became visible. Hidden structure, reinforcement risk, anchor tolerance, glass layout, galvanizing, drainage, installation access, and future service all had to be handled together.

This project shows how I work between drawings and the field. I ask how an idea will be located, fabricated, adjusted, installed, drained, maintained, and handed off.

 

Mechanical R&D for ocean aquaculture

During an eight-month UVic mechanical engineering co-op with AgriMarine, I contributed to early-stage R&D for a commercial-scale floating closed-containment aquaculture system.

The work took place in a real marine context, where equipment had to be considered around water, biofouling, large composite structures, site access, maintenance, and the practical realities of operating in the ocean.

Designing around a 30-metre floating tank

The main system was a large floating fiberglass tank used for closed-containment fish farming. The tank was roughly 30 metres in diameter and held about 3,000 cubic metres of water.

My work supported practical engineering questions around how equipment would be built, tested, maintained, and improved at that scale.

Testing a cleaner for underwater tank walls

One major task was developing prototype equipment to clean the inside wall of the tank. Biofouling on the tank wall could affect fish health, water movement, drag, and maintenance effort, so the system needed a practical way to remove growth from the submerged surface.

The concept used high-pressure water jets and a spinning disk to help the cleaner stay against the curved tank wall while it moved through the water. I worked on alpha and beta prototype development, testing, and design refinement.

The testing process challenged the original assumptions about how the cleaner was working. Some of the cleaning effect appeared to come from contact and rubbing rather than only from the water jets, which meant the design theory had to be corrected before the prototype could be improved.

Improving the design after the test changed the theory

The next version focused on making the cleaner safer, easier to assemble, and more controlled in how it contacted the tank wall. That included simplifying parts of the assembly, improving the way the device interacted with the surface, and thinking through how the design could eventually become more repeatable and less dependent on manual handling.

I also explored a future semi-autonomous cleaning concept that used the circular flow inside the tank. The idea was to take advantage of the constant water movement, a tether, a spar, and a sail-like element so the cleaner could move around the tank in a more controlled way.

Redesigning the oxygen diffuser for lower-cost manufacture

A second piece of work involved redesigning an oxygen diffuser component. The existing approach relied on a more expensive machined stainless component.

I redesigned it as a waterjet-cut assembly using acetal and stainless plates, with the goal of reducing material and machining cost while keeping the function practical. Based on the estimates available at the time, the redesigned assembly reduced the expected material and machining cost by roughly 58 percent.

Modelling the site and learning from fabrication

Beyond the individual prototypes, I also built SolidWorks models of the site and equipment to help communicate and coordinate the system. That included modelling the tank, barges, bathymetry, pilings, mooring elements, and related equipment layout.

I was also partly involved in early thinking for a newer 30-metre tank and how manufacturing or transport decisions could reduce the cost and complexity of getting large composite structures to site. The co-op also exposed me to composite marine construction through work connected with Blackline Marine and the Quadrant Marine Institute.

Teach a man to fish

This early-career work connected design theory to testing, manufacturing, cost, and environment. A mechanical idea changes once it has to operate in water, be built by real fabricators, be maintained by real people, and survive the constraints of ocean aquaculture.

I still approach design that way: test the assumption, watch what the prototype does, and let the next version respond to reality instead of defending the first theory.

 

Restaurant shell conversion in an existing building

With Pentillion Construction, I represented the building owner through the conversion of a former single-tenant ground-floor commercial space into a demised shell for an incoming restaurant tenant. What began as a landlord-side turnover scope became a broader technical coordination project involving lease obligations, existing building systems, consultant drawings, trade scopes, tenant requirements, landlord requirements, field conditions, older infrastructure, code review, and schedule pressure.

My role was project engineering support and owner-side coordination. I was not the engineer of record, but I investigated existing conditions, developed practical options, coordinated consultant review, and translated technical issues between trades, suppliers, consultants, ownership, and property management. Much of the work was about finding a buildable path through existing-building constraints without overstepping the professional roles of the design consultants.

Electrical capacity without replacing obsolete switchgear

One of the major constraints was electrical capacity. The incoming tenant required a significant electrical service, but the existing switchgear was older and difficult to modify. The expected path had been to remove existing chiller equipment to free up a 600 amp switch for the new tenant service.

Through field review, I identified that some base-building air-handling equipment was connected to oversized switches from an earlier arrangement. I proposed relocating one of the air handlers onto an existing oversized switch already serving chiller equipment, which freed a 600 amp switch for the tenant service.

After review by the electrical engineer, that approach was accepted and implemented. It avoided removing chiller equipment, avoided modification of obsolete switchgear, reduced feeder complexity, preserved future flexibility, and helped keep the turnover moving.

Fault-current and series-rating coordination

The electrical scope also required coordination around available fault current and series-rating requirements. This was not the kind of issue that could be left vague until ordering. If the panel requirements were misunderstood, the result could have been a purchasing mistake or a schedule delay.

I researched the requirements and coordinated between the electrical engineer, contractor, supplier, and manufacturer so the panel selection could be checked against the actual project conditions. My role was to help keep the technical question moving between the right people so the final decision was properly reviewed and documented.

Separating HVAC systems

The ground-floor space had previously functioned as one larger single-tenant area. The turnover required the incoming tenant to be separated from the remaining area so both spaces could operate independently.

I reviewed the proposed HVAC approach and flagged concerns with continuing to rely on shared base-building air-handling equipment. Working with the mechanical team, I helped coordinate a revised approach that redirected supply and return ducting so the incoming tenant could be isolated from the shared air system.

This was a practical example of looking beyond the drawing and asking how the system would actually operate after demising. The issue was not only whether ductwork could be installed, but whether the resulting system would give the landlord and tenants the separation they needed.

Underground plumbing through an existing slab

The restaurant shell also required new underground plumbing through the existing slab. I reviewed historical drawings and consultant drawings to understand likely service locations, then coordinated scanning, slab cutting, excavation, tie-ins, backfill, and concrete reinstatement.

The work had to move carefully because existing drawings can only tell part of the story in an older building. The field work needed enough planning to reduce surprises, but also enough flexibility to respond once the slab was opened and the real conditions were visible.

Hazardous-material sequencing

As the work progressed, hazardous-material concerns had to be identified, isolated, and sequenced without derailing adjacent work. I arranged testing, marked affected areas, brought in remediation specialists, and coordinated the work so the issue could be resolved safely and in the right sequence.

I was not performing the abatement, but I helped keep the issue from becoming an unmanaged project risk. The practical value was recognizing the constraint, getting the right specialists involved, and keeping the surrounding work coordinated.

A practical code path for the equipment platform

One of the more complicated issues involved an internal platform that had been designed and built based on an earlier building assumption. Later review confirmed that non-combustible construction was required. By that point, mechanical equipment had already been installed above the platform, so replacing the supporting structure with steel would have created major cost and schedule impact.

I worked with the architect and code consultant to investigate a practical compliance path. That included researching rated assembly options, identifying a listed rated ceiling and grid assembly for review, checking what had already been installed, determining required changes, and coordinating the accepted solution.

The final path used protected assemblies, Type X drywall, rated ceiling components, firestopping, and revised sprinkler protection. The value was not in bypassing the requirement; it was in helping the team find a compliant way forward that fit the real project condition.

Meter troubleshooting and handoff

After installation, the tenant power meter was not reading correctly. I contacted technical support, sourced a USB-RS485 adapter, connected directly to the meter, and found that the sensing breaker arrangement had changed during tenant-side work.

I updated the programming and confirmed corrected readings. It was a small part of the overall project, but it was a good example of the same pattern at a smaller scale: understand how the system is actually wired and operating, then make the practical correction needed for handoff.

The power of collaboration

The project brought together electrical capacity, obsolete infrastructure, HVAC separation, underground plumbing, hazardous materials, code review, consultant coordination, tenant requirements, landlord obligations, and schedule pressure.

My contribution was helping those issues stay connected instead of letting each one become a separate crisis. That meant looking ahead, asking sideways questions, involving the right specialists, and turning uncertain field conditions into reviewed, buildable paths.

The owner-side coordination value was making sure the right information reached the right people early enough that the project could keep moving.

 

Industrial infrastructure project management at Harmac

My role at Harmac Pacific started early in my career and expanded my project management experience in an industrial operating environment. The work was different from commercial renovation work: the scale was larger, the consequences of downtime were higher, the stakeholders were broader, and the field conditions were often less forgiving.

The main thread was practical industrial coordination. I worked with operations, maintenance, trades, contractors, utilities, residents, property owners, environmental stakeholders, and regulatory agencies while helping move mechanical and infrastructure projects from planning into execution.

Pipeline replacement through difficult terrain

One of the major projects was part of Harmac’s water supply pipeline replacement. The work involved replacing roughly 1,200 metres of 52-inch creosote-soaked wooden stave pipe with 48-inch HDPE pipe. My role focused on managing and coordinating difficult stages of the work where the pipe route, access, environment, and existing structures made the work more complicated than a straightforward pipe replacement.

A key challenge was that sections of the old wooden pipe were on trestles over environmentally sensitive areas. Access was limited, the old material required care, and the project had to protect both the surrounding environment and the remaining support structures while keeping the replacement work moving.

Helicopter removal and trestle protection

For one difficult stage, the old pipe sections had to be removed from a trestle where conventional access was limited. I helped coordinate the removal strategy, including the use of a helicopter lift to remove old pipe sections from the site.

The new HDPE pipe also had to be pulled through a route where the trestle needed protection from excessive loading. Rather than defaulting to a more complex equipment approach, I helped develop a method using a sacrificial cable and a secondary restraint cable. The sacrificial cable provided a controlled weak link, while the restraint cable helped protect the trestle if the pulling force became too high.

That approach allowed the work to proceed without installing a torque-limited winch onto an excavator, reducing complexity while still giving the team a practical safeguard for the structure.

Simplifying another stage with culverts

On another stage of the pipeline work, I reviewed the constraints around existing trestles and HDPE pipe flexibility. Based on that review, I suggested removing unnecessary trestles and replacing the approach with culverts where appropriate.

That kind of decision was less dramatic than a helicopter lift, but it reflected the same pattern: understand the real constraint, check whether the assumed construction method is actually necessary, and look for a simpler path that still satisfies the project needs.

Chlorine dioxide mixer replacement

I also supported replacement of an aging chlorine dioxide mixer in a harsh pulp-mill chemical environment. The work involved materials and details that had to suit the service conditions, including titanium valves, 317L stainless steel, fiberglass components, and Derakane epoxy vinyl ester resin.

That project required coordination across safety, maintenance, operations, materials, procurement, contractors, and installation planning. In that environment, the design and material choices mattered because the equipment had to survive chemical exposure and fit into an operating industrial system.

Drawings, procurement, and contractor coordination

My work also included preparing RFQs and RFPs, using weighted criteria for contractor selection, and producing technical information needed by fabricators and contractors. I designed machinery bases and lifting equipment in SolidWorks and produced manufacturing, assembly, layout, foundation, and lifting drawings.

Those drawings were not just documentation. They were part of the handoff between engineering intent, fabrication, installation, safety planning, and field execution. In an industrial environment, unclear drawings or incomplete scope can quickly turn into shutdown risk, contractor confusion, or unsafe work conditions.

An early-career lift

This work came early in my career, but the systems and consequences were large. It put me in the middle of operating industrial infrastructure, environmental constraints, old structures, contractor decisions, hazardous-service equipment, and shutdown pressure.

The pattern still shows up in my later work: understand the system, verify the field condition, involve the right people, and find the practical path that lets the work move forward safely.

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Trello-based maintenance management system

At Pentillion Construction, I implemented a Trello-based maintenance management and documentation system for recurring work across a dozen commercial properties. The work involved routine inspections, seasonal tasks, urgent repairs, subcontractor follow-up, site-specific knowledge, safe work practices, and a lot of small details that needed to be available when someone was actually on site.

I had previously worked in the maintenance technician role myself, so I understood how quickly the work could become difficult to track when the system depended on phone calls, personal notes, memory, and individual site knowledge. A technician might visit several properties in a day, deal with routine checks, unexpected issues, tenant concerns, small repairs, and subcontractor coordination, then still need to remember what should happen next week, next month, or next season.

The problem was not that people were not trying. The problem was that too much important information lived in separate places. If a task, photo, decision, manual, contact, or site detail only lived in one person’s memory or text messages, it was too easy for context to be lost, the same questions to be asked repeatedly, or follow-up work to become invisible.

Building the boards around the real maintenance workflow

I structured the system with dedicated Trello boards for each site and a general knowledge board for shared procedures, sourcing information, contacts, safe work practices, and recurring references. Each site board was organized to track active tasks, completed work, projects, recurring templates, and site information.

Cards became the working record for each issue or task. They could hold checklists, photos, comments, links to manuals, storage locations, water shutoff information, sourcing notes, and other details that are easy to lose but important when someone is standing in the building trying to solve the problem.

The system was designed around how maintenance actually happens. Weekly, monthly, and seasonal template cards could be copied into the active task list with due dates, keeping recurring work visible before it became urgent. The recurring work included items such as filter changes, bird checks, vacancy checks, janitorial reviews, fire and generator tests, exterior lighting checks, pest inspections, equipment servicing, salting preparation, annual fire and pump checks, anchor inspections, painting reviews, and pressure washing reviews.

Making responsibility and follow-up visible

I also built the workflow around accountability. Cards are assigned to the person responsible for seeing the task through. Priority labels help show what needs attention first, and subcontractor labels identify work that requires outside follow-up.

That structure matters because maintenance work often fails at the handoff. Someone notices an issue, someone else talks to a subcontractor, another person waits for a quote, and then the original context disappears. Keeping comments, photos, due dates, labels, and assignments on the same card makes the work easier to pick back up without needing a separate explanation.

The photo history became another important part of the system. Photos could document problems, site conditions, completed work, recurring issues, and past repairs. That created a practical historical record for planning, liability, trend review, and training.

Extending Trello with n8n reporting

Trello’s built-in automation handled some recurring task creation, but it had limits when the system had to scale across multiple users and sites. To extend it, I connected Trello to n8n and used API queries and filtering to build custom reporting.

The system can send HTML email reports with direct links back to the relevant Trello cards. Reports can summarize completed work, upcoming tasks, overdue items, assigned responsibilities, due dates, labels, subcontractor follow-up, and other filtered information across all sites.

A weekly report gives a snapshot of what was completed and what still needs attention. Upcoming-task emails help keep maintenance visible before it becomes urgent, making it easier for the technician to plan ahead, pick up materials, or coordinate subcontractors before arriving on site. Reports can also be tailored for different people depending on their role, including the maintenance technician, me acting as maintenance manager, and ownership.

Creating a company knowledge base

The maintenance system also became a knowledge base. It gave the company a practical place to store manuals, procedures, site-specific details, photos, sourcing notes, contacts, and institutional knowledge that would otherwise stay with whichever person happened to know it.

That made the system useful beyond daily task tracking. It helped new people learn the sites faster, gave management better visibility into maintenance activity, and created a stronger record of what was done, when it was done, and why.

Handoff and refinement

This project combined my experience in the maintenance role with process improvement, workflow design, documentation, automation, training, and hands-on implementation. I designed the board structure, templates, labels, due-date logic, automations, reporting, documentation, and training materials, then continued checking in with users to refine the system around how the work actually gets done.

Information needs a home

The result was a maintenance workflow that captured more site knowledge, made responsibilities clearer, improved follow-up, reduced reliance on individual memory, and helped recurring work stay visible.

This is one of the clearest examples of the kind of system I like building. The system is useful because it gives people an operating structure: less lost context, better handoff, clearer accountability, and enough automation that important work is harder to forget.

Veterinary clinic tenant improvement

With Pentillion Construction, I helped deliver the James Bay Veterinary Clinic tenant improvement: a conversion of a former bank into a veterinary clinic of roughly 3,800 square feet, or 353 square metres. The finished clinic included reception, six exam rooms, surgery, dental, storage and equipment space, washrooms, an office, and support areas.

Turning a former bank into a clinical space

The project was more than a standard interior refresh. A former bank and a veterinary clinic have very different operating needs.

The new space had to support public/client-facing reception, clinical workflow, treatment and procedure areas, equipment needs, staff support space, storage, durable finishes, and the building-system coordination required to make those spaces work.

Working through the existing shell

The existing bank condition added complexity, including the constraints created by the former vault and the need to adapt the commercial shell to a specialized tenant use.

That meant the work had to be coordinated carefully across layout, demolition, framing, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, finishes, millwork, equipment coordination, and permit requirements.

Keeping the construction information moving

My role was hands-on project coordination and field support. I helped define scopes, coordinate trades and labour, update drawings, create Gantt charts, support permit coordination, and work through day-to-day field issues as the project moved from drawings into construction.

I was not the architect or engineer of record, but I helped keep the project information moving between the people who needed it. That mattered because specialized tenant improvements depend on timely decisions, clear scopes, and practical coordination between drawings, permit requirements, site conditions, and field labour.

Managing schedule pressure and supply-chain constraints

The schedule also had to be managed through post-COVID supply-chain constraints. Materials, equipment, and trade availability could not always be treated as predictable, so the project needed active tracking, sequencing, and communication to keep the work moving despite delays and changing availability.

A key part of the work was translating the tenant improvement scope into a practical construction sequence. The clinical layout had to become a real space with the right trades in the right order and the right information available when decisions were needed.

Not just a pet project

The result was a completed tenant improvement that turned a former bank into a functioning veterinary clinic. It shows a full commercial conversion with specialized operating requirements, active field coordination, drawing updates, scheduling, permits, and trade sequencing. The drawing set, field conditions, tenant needs, trades, schedule, and supply-chain constraints all had to be kept connected until the space could actually operate as a clinic.

Strata governance and building management

My mixed-use strata corporation had been operating with informal systems that were difficult to sustain as maintenance, communication, financial oversight, and governance needs grew. The building includes residential units and commercial units, which meant decisions had to balance owner, tenant, contractor, business, resident, council, and budget considerations.

Over multiple terms as Strata President, and later as the building’s on-site Building Manager, I helped bring more structure, transparency, and accountability to the way the strata operated. The work combined governance leadership with hands-on building operations: council coordination, owner communication, contractor management, budget planning, maintenance scheduling, legal and bylaw review, and practical troubleshooting.

Taking over a mixed-use strata with informal systems

When I first became president, the building was self-managed and did not have enough repeatable structure to support clear decision-making, consistent maintenance, and owner confidence. Information was difficult to access, processes were informal, and council responsibilities depended too heavily on individual memory.

The challenge was to improve the way the strata operated without overbuilding the system. A small strata has limited funds, volunteer council members, and a mix of residential and commercial stakeholders, so the solution had to be organized enough to be useful and simple enough to maintain.

Building clearer governance and communication

I helped standardize the way council handled communication, records, contractors, budgets, meetings, and owner-facing decisions. That included clearer processes for monthly council work, AGM and SGM preparation, maintenance planning, contractor coordination, and owner communication.

To improve transparency during the self-managed period, I set up a dedicated email system and an owner-only website for notices, documents, updates, and communication. That became less necessary after the strata later transitioned to professional management, but it helped establish a more organized operating culture when the strata needed it.

I also created AGM and SGM packages and helped establish fairer, more transparent voting processes for building-wide decisions. The goal was to make council work easier to understand, easier to document, and less dependent on one person holding all the context.

Improving financial and maintenance planning

I rebuilt and managed financial tracking spreadsheets, supported annual budgeting, and used the depreciation report to inform short- and long-term maintenance planning. That helped connect governance decisions to building reality: what needed attention, what could wait, what should be budgeted, and what risks needed to be planned for.

I also developed digital filing systems, owner communication templates, contractor records, maintenance schedules, and procedural references. Much of the operational information was organized in Trello so recurring tasks, contractor follow-up, and building knowledge had a clearer place to live.

During the self-managed period, I renegotiated waste management and elevator maintenance contracts, saving over $8,200 annually. I also initiated a lighting retrofit that saved approximately $600 annually and paid back in less than four years.

Coordinating contractors and building operations

On the operational side, I coordinated and supported a wide range of building issues, including plumbing failures, minor repairs, contractor access, maintenance follow-up, owner concerns, and general troubleshooting. I evaluated and coordinated contractors for building maintenance and capital work, while helping council understand what needed to be handled internally, what needed a contractor, and what needed professional review.

I reviewed bylaws, contracts, depreciation reports, insurance documents, legal correspondence, and Strata Property Act requirements to help council make more informed decisions and reduce risk. Where needed, I used CHOA and legal counsel as resources to support more reliable governance decisions.

Transitioning to professional management

After roughly three years of self-management, I helped transition the strata to a professional strata management company. The goal was not simply to hand off the work, but to leave behind clearer records, improved procedures, and a more financially disciplined operating structure so the transition would not erase the context that had been built.

Since returning to council, I have also taken on the practical role of on-site Building Manager. Because I am in the building and understand its history, owners, contractors, and recurring issues, I can often identify problems earlier, coordinate responses more efficiently, and help keep both contractors and the strata management company accountable.

Bringing it home

The result is a building operation with clearer records, better maintenance planning, stronger communication, more useful financial tools, and a closer connection between governance decisions and site reality.

The work took long-term stewardship rather than a one-time fix: bringing structure to a messy system, managing competing owner and tenant interests, improving accountability, and combining practical technical judgment with steady communication over time.