Inadequate adhesive on floor tiles, fields with insufficient grass coverage, unexpected fuel oil usage, and a flaw in the auditorium roof design continue to concern the school board, prompting them to extend Hirst’s contract to insure that contractors satisfactorily complete their part.
Although Hirst estimates that 80 percent of the floors are satisfactory, the remaining 20 percent of the tiles, which are peeling up from the floor, are concerning.
“Unfortunately the areas that are the worst are the ones you see first and most frequently,” said Hirst.
“We have requested that the contractor post a [performance] bond for roughly three-quarters of a million dollars. That number represents the contractor’s original scheduled value for installing that flooring through out the school and additional labor that I’ve estimated to cover the removal of the old floor,” said Hirst. “As far as I’m concerned, without that bond, the floor is incomplete and the contract is incomplete.”
If a performance bond is issued, and the contractor fails to construct the building according to the specifications laid out by the contract, the school board is guaranteed compensation for any monetary loss up to the amount of the bond.
“Once that happens, basically what that means is that we don’t accept it unless it’s done well to the standards that we expected and paid for,” said Fluvanna Schools Superintendent Gena Keller. “There is still a warranty beyond the bond.”
