Latest News…May 6, 2019

Suspension To Be Lifted Soon…

I am pleased to report that, thanks to quick and helpful intervention by Governor Lamont and his staff, and by DOH Commissioner Mosquera-Bruno and her staff, CFSIC should be receiving its next allotment of $20M within the next few business days.

We are grateful to all of the people in Governor Lamont’s administration who have pitched in to work collaboratively with us. Governor Lamont’s team understands what we are doing and is very supportive of our commitment to affected homeowners in the Northeast Corner.

As of last Friday, we had completed contract discussions. I expect that the new contract supporting the next round of funding will be signed within the next 24 hours, and that shortly thereafter we’ll be able to resume our commitment for new foundation work.

Meanwhile, current construction work continues, as any Participation Agreement I have countersigned has been budgeted for under the first allotment.

We know many affected homeowners are very anxious about their own personal circumstances. I can assure homeowners that we will be resuming with new Participation Agreements very shortly. When we do, we will issue a press release to that effect.

Condos and PUDs: An Update

I have met with every condo association and the single PUD association in our affected area who have asked me for a meeting. In each case, I’ve laid out a strategy where all condo associations can apply in a two-part process, and where the single PUD in our affected area can also apply through a slightly difference process.

PUDs and condos are challenging…for the most part, we have unit owners who share common foundation platform space, and what this necessitates is a clear understanding of how the process works and a clear agreement that contractors can’t help if all neighbors are not on board and acting like neighbors.

However, as of right now…nothing is standing in the way of CFSIC receiving applications for eligible condo and PUD units while we await further enabling legislation wording changes.

Enabling More Foundation Examinations…

In an effort to facilitate more applications from affected homeowners, CFSIC will be inviting CT-licensed home inspectors, as well as CT-licensed engineers, to become certified by CFSIC to conduct visual foundation examinations on behalf of homeowners.

Currently, licensed home inspectors are not permitted to provide homeowners with an evaluation of a foundation’s condition for purposes of a homeowner’s claim application to CFSIC. Only CT-licensed professional engineers are able to perform that function.

Effective June 12, CFSIC will accept, for the first time, visual examinations performed by a CT-licensed home inspector who has been certified by CFSIC to conduct visual examinations of affected foundations and to severity code those foundations for purposes of filing a potential claim with CFSIC.

Assisted by a grant from the Connecticut Association of Realtors, under the leadership of its President, Dan Keune, CFSIC will conduct two seminars on June 11 and June 25, which are designed to enable home inspectors who have passed a prescribed course curriculum to assist homeowners with the evaluation of their foundations.

Information on these two seminars can be found here

The registration form for attendance can be found here.

Business and ethical standards to which certified persons will be held accountable can be found here.

Here are the ground rules:

1) There will only be two courses conducted in 2019: the first on June 11, the second on June 25.

2) Registration is “first-come, first-served” in date and time order, and is limited to 27 attendees in each of the sessions. (Once either session is filled, applicants will automatically be moved to the remaining session.) No other sessions will be available until June of 2020 at the earliest.

3) Attendance will be limited to CT-licensed home inspectors with a minimum of three years of work experience (a certification to this effect will be required), as well as CT-licensed professional engineers (engineers will be limited to five attendees per session).

4) The seminar is being conducted as a public service by CFSIC, with grant support from the CT Association of Realtors. There will be no charge for attendance.

5) No more than two persons can attend from any one home inspection or engineering firm per session (again, subject at all times to “first-come, first-served”).

The course curriculum will be a day-long, intensive examination of the crumbling foundations issue, inclusive of an in-depth discussion about the causes of concrete failure. It will be conducted by Jose-Miguel Albaine, M.S., P.E., who is a practicing professional engineer with a wealth of experience in the examination of impaired foundations; and Kevin Miller, NRMCA Level 4 of Tilcon, who is a recognized specialist in concrete science and identifying modalities of concrete failure.

Important Note: It’s important to note that the CT Department of Housing will not permit the cost of a CFSIC-certified home inspector’s visual examination report to be reimbursed under the reimbursement program administered by the Capitol Region Council of Governments (“CRCOG”). As a result, homeowners engaging a certified home inspector to conduct a visual examination will do so entirely at their own expense.

The enrollment for this program will be limited to the registration form noted above. Enrollment begins today.

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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