After a bit of a holiday lull, we’re starting to see some forward progress on the construction front. We’ve received approval of our Fire Protection Permit by the City of Oakland and Fire Department. Our fire sprinkler contractor, Allan Automatic, has everything they need to begin construction and they are making final measurements this week, cutting pipe next week, and commencing with the installation the following week. Allan Automatic will also facilitate the required EBMUD improvements on our behalf to ensure the quickest turn-around.
Our structural engineer, Coffman Engineers, has completed their preliminary design of some small seismic retrofits in response to the Building Department’s comments on our Permit Set. They are taking final measurements this weekend and will provide the final design to the City of Oakland in the next two weeks, which is the last box we need to check before the City of Oakland will approve our complete Building Permit.
We have come to a preliminary agreement with a General Contractor based out of southern California to execute the construction on a cost-plus agreement. By expanding our market out of the Bay Area, we are able to avoid some of the exorbitant pricing scales of local general contractors, reducing our cost and widening our net. They will provide an estimate next week, and then will work with us to select sub-contractors to complete the work in as quick and cost-effective manner as possible, with us paying them for overhead and profit. The greatest benefit of this agreement to us is they will work with whoever can do the job to best benefit us, whether it is using club members for labor on some tasks, or enlisting sub-contractors our members know and recommend who are willing to donate towards our effort. If you do have a subcontractor you know and recommend, email us at ice@bayareacurling.com.
Our ice-plant vendor, Everything Ice, has completed construction on the components of our ice-plant. The next step is for them to ship the materials to the site and bring their team out west to complete the install of their equipment once the general construction effort is complete.