Page 623 - (A) Mammoth (998pp)

5_Recent Interior/Externals were organised/quoted/executed on budget on schedule for ALMOST no additional cost to lessee save for £xxxxxxxxxxx requested simply to make sure some Reserves were held for emergencies. 6_Exactly as Management advised, some works were executed separately from the main quote and some works were carried out by members of Management will skill and the expected professionalism required.
7_The result was a very comprehensive works schedule (far more than for what was specified/quoted) and again, exactly as Management had flagged as to be done way back on 1 January 2012.
8_To comply with current Health & Safety and other useful reasons, we have also installed some useful electrics for the benefit of all lessees, mainly residents, as Management recommended and advised 30 months ago: namely:
a_Two power points on each landing (for benefit of better cleaning equipment)
b_Emergency Lighting, both interior, exterior and on fire escape bin area to fully comply with H&S c_Fire Escape lighting (bin area on sensors) and also dual acting as emergency as above
d_Two additional hallway lighting units for two additional hallway lights (4 in total)
e_Tidying up visible wiring on each landing where possible and boxing meters.
f_Replacement new lighting on each landing (2) and hallway (4)
g_ ALL Lighting on timed adjustable sensors to work automatically requiring no manual switch on. f_We have also installed lighted manual switch overides in case of sensor failure/malfunction.
** NOTES re: decor proposals from some lessees
Or, like so many others during the course of the last 30 months, I simply changed my mind.
As stated above, your preferences did not take into consideration the problems faced at Mitre House, nor indeed, in the absence of proper research (which Management undertook extensively) an appreciation of what lay behind years of neglect, paint and lacquer, nor indeed the style and period and position of Mitre House; namely:-
i) Colours - the proposals seemed totally oblivious of the confines, proportions, coldness and character. A white ceiling and dado rail, and two tones of Virginian soft grey/tan taupe above and beneath dado on walls - hardly imaginative, definitely neutral, but totally boring and predicatable. A third colour, white, for ceiling and dado was simply wrong.
ii) Lighting - the proposals were a bizarre mixture of Victorian Gothic (Brass Candle Lanterns) and 1950s American Diner (far too small) - leaving aside one proposal being gigantic round plastic Burlap lights (the type you see in a Job Seekers reception). All totally out of keeping with the style & period of Mitre House despite one non- resident lessee's insistence than all smart mansion blocks have Brass Lanterns. True, but not Mitre House!
iii) The Lift - the proposal was to paint the lift, doors etc in black which again took no consideration for the coldness of the common parts nor the various charming artefacts, the oak wooden elements, the windows, the terrazzo floor etc - black was totally inappropriate, certainly to those who live here anyway.
iv) Quotes - various proposals and quotes were supplied which in reality beggared belief.
vi) What also beggared belief was the fact that eventually agreement to proceed was reached with those lessees insisting on spending a small fortune, but based on Surveyor's specifications (and quoted for) which did NOT include many items those same lessees had been insisting on for over 30 months and in fact had turned down Management's 1st January 2012 proposals and costs which did INCLUDE those missing many items.
As such a total waste of almost 3 years, plus having to execute both Internals & Externals concurrently.
Thank God or whoever you pray to that we don't have to think about anything else for another 7-10 years, save for letting Management get on and do it's excellent job on behalf of all lessees in as economic and efficient way as it has done to date.
Paul Brown-Constable / +44 207 589 7502 Mbl: +44 798 33 33 543 on behalf of the Directors of
MITRE HOUSE MANAGEMENT LIMITED