Latest News…April 1, 2019

CFSIC’s Financial Condition…Update

We had intended to announce in this space today the suspension of CFSIC’s new application activity to take effect on April 22. Had we done this today, this would have meant that no new deposits could have been made on construction on or after April 22. We would have taken this step because of our commitment to only authorize payments to contractors where we have the funds to complete an entire foundation project.

CFSIC would not have been able to make that commitment after April 22.

Instead, we’re pleased to report that CFSIC’s current fiscal year bond allotment is expected to be considered and approved at the April 2 CT Bond Commission special hearing.

We therefore do not intend to suspend CFSIC’s activities given this information, although we reserve the right to do so should we be unable to actually receive funds from the CT Department of Housing in a timely manner. The approval of our bond allotment is one thing; the actual receipt of funds in CFSIC’s account to fulfill commitments to homeowners is another.

We are grateful to Governor Lamont, and to many others who have been advocating for CFSIC’s current fiscal year bond allotment.

Expansions to CFSIC’s Program

On March 29 we met with more than 25 representatives of the construction industry…the people actively engaged in providing proposals for foundation replacements to homeowners.

We took their questions, addressed their concerns, and engaged them in a dialogue aimed at giving them an opportunity to weigh in on how to improve their responsiveness to homeowners.

Among other things, this dialogue resulted in some clarifications to the definition of “allowable concrete work” which are summarized below:

1) With regard to PUD foundation replacements, the Superintendent indicated that all work should be undertaken by a single contractor with regard to any eligible foundation within the same foundation platform configuration. For example, if three PUD units are sited on a common foundation platform, all three PUD unit owners must agree on a single contractor to perform the work of the foundation replacement. It is not in CFSIC’s interest, either from an internal control or overall mission standpoint, for multiple contractors to be engaged simultaneously in PUD work on the same general foundation platform. (It is understood that this would always be the case with a condominium project, given the association’s ownership of the foundations.)

2) After some discussion, the Superintendent indicated that CFSIC would add the replacement of foundation basement windows to CFSIC’s allowable concrete costs, with the caveat that we are replacing all old windows, within the framework of the foundation, with new windows of comparable size, quality, and number…at all times subject to CFSIC’s linear/square footage guidelines and the per foundation cap.

3) The Superintendent agreed to include the replacement of poured concrete steps with precast ones (CFSIC already permits, as an allowable cost, the removal/storage/reattachment of precast steps). Further, in order to account for the cost of the precast steps in their contracts, contractors will add these as an allowable cost in the relevant section, either in the templated contract available for contractor use in the “For Contractor” section of this site, or within the context of their existing contract, and will not add the footprint of the steps to their linear or square foot calculations…the assumption being that the house wall and basement slab measurements now adequately account for any additional incremental expense associated with these steps.

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If you have any questions about the operation of the program, ESIS is your best source of information on your claim, and their phone number and email are shown below.

Phone: 844-763-1207

Email: cfsic@esis.com

As you work through the information and application process, here’s how you can get help:

– Call ESIS (the claim adjuster) at: 844-763-1207

– Email ESIS at: cfsic@esis.com

– Email CFSIC at: info@crumblingfoundations.org

To view a video of how to complete an electronic application, go here.

To apply for a Type 1 claim, go here.

To apply for a Type 2 claim, go here.

To learn more about the program, if you are a homeowner, including application help, go here.

To learn more about the program, if you are a contractor, go here.

Michael Maglaras, Principal
Michael Maglaras & Company
Superintendent, CFSIC