FCAP Community

Published March 2023

     Florida Community Association Professionals’ (FCAP) training is offered on two levels. Level one consists of courses meeting Florida’s continuing education requirements for CAMs, and level two is the Florida Advanced CAM Studies (FACS) course. For further information about the more than 38 online continuing education classes available or to pursue the Certified Florida Community Association Manager (CFCAM) designation, please visit www.fcapgroup.com/membership/education-training/.

Marcy L. Kravit

Suggestions on How to Write a Request for Proposal (RFP), Part II

By Marcy Kravit, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, CFCAM, CSM
Director of Community Association Relations
Hotwire Communications
FCAP Program Coordinator

     Editor’s Note: This is part two in a multi-part series. 

     Part I explained how service providers/vendors are to submit an RFP. Part II commences with the information to obtain from a potential security vendor.

Insurance

• Contractor’s general liability insurance covers a minimum of $1 million per incident and $3 million total. Must have fidelity bonding and other coverage.  
• Workers’ compensation insurance is at statutory minimums.  
• Carry adequate automobile liability insurance coverage for all vehicles used.  
• Insurance covers sexual harassment under professional liability coverage.  
• Include liability coverage for special equipment provided (golf carts, computer equipment, etc.).  
• Insurance carriers name the ABC Condominium Inc. as “additional insured” on liability insurance policies (obtain certificates of insurance. Please indicate if there is an extra charge for this.  
• Include policy “exclusions.” 

 Workers’ Compensation

• Provide history involving negligence by your company and request a “loss runs” report in order to review liability insurance claims history.  
• Provide whether the company has ever been involved in any lawsuits and whether there has been any legal incident involving your employees while on a property during the last 10 years.
• Provide a listing of workers’ compensation claims to determine the possibility of patterns of carelessness or inadequate employee safety practices. This is important in determining whether your security company’s insurance coverage is sufficient to meet the association’s needs. 

Company Info

• Provide number of years of service in the security industry of the company’s president, regional manager, and operations management.  
• List other condominiums that your company currently protects and has managed for at least three years.  
• List number of accounts that your company has lost in the past year. 
• Indicate whether the owner is “hands on.”  
• The association needs to feel comfortable with the key managers responsible for our association’s account. Who would be the contact person assigned to our association, and how long has he/she been assigned to one account? 
• Indicate if there are any plans to change the contact person after training and staffing have been established.  
• What are the terms of supervision with your company, field, and management staff?  
• If a security guard performs below par, it is important to know that the individual will be counseled, disciplined, and possibly replaced by the contractor if needed. What is your policy? 
• Do we have the opportunity to interview the candidates prior to hire to ensure they will be the right fit for our property? 
• Do we have the opportunity to be consulted PRIOR to removal of an officer? 
• All written materials from the security guard (logs, reports, etc.) should be clear, complete, and comprehensive. The association should receive a copy of every report filed by the guards.  

     Other details and questions:  

• How much lead time must be provided to get extra coverage?  
• Does the company have the ability to provide additional temporary staffing?  
• Do the guards speak and read English?  
• Does the association have a say in how the uniforms look?  
• What are the company’s employee screening and drug testing procedures?  
• Is your company able to provide security personnel for any assignment at a moment’s notice?  
• Will someone be at the property if a guard does not show up?  
• What happens if the guard on the prior shift leaves his post without relief, or a personal emergency occurs?  
• What constitutes a call to 911?  
• Describe the security-related education, training levels, and experience of personnel to be assigned at our association. 

Staffing

• Verify whether screening of all applicants—including drug screening and psychological aptitude assessments plus local and state criminal record background checks and previous employment verification—are included. 
• Can we still utilize our current staff? 
• Can they be added to your payroll, and do we have the option to keep them if the contract is ever terminated? 
• We want to obtain approval before transferring or replacing personnel from our site. It is important to ensure that the needs at other sites should not take precedence over security needs at our site. Is this possible?  
• What percentage of the staff are military personnel or veterans?  
• Explain clearly how you will monitor and control the quality of security services. 
• How often will the supervisor visit the property?  
• What is the supervisor’s experience?
• What training has he or she received?
• How often does security management meet with the community association manager?
• What takes place on the supervisor’s inspections of the property?
• Do the site supervisors strongly support and direct the staff and have< the authority to make decisions and to communicate directly with senior management?
• Does the company heavily concentrate on supervision with each officer having a chain of command that reaches all the way to the president of the company?
• Can we expect to receive regular checks by field operations personnel, field supervisors, and members of the administration?
• Does the company custom tailor security solutions to perfectly fit the association’s needs?

     Editor’s Note: In the next issue, questions that address documentation, training and emergency conditions, equipment issues, and costs will be addressed as well as a CAM request for proposal. 

Betsy Barbieux

Because You Asked
By Betsy Barbieux, CAM, CFCAM, CMCA

Betsy,
     One of my owners who is a trustee for her condominium unit signed her outer return envelope for the election as only her name and did not put the word “trustee.” Is her ballot disqualified? 
     Also, I opened her outer return envelope by mistake. It’s a long story, but she sent it from California in a priority mail envelope, which I quickly opened. Then I quickly opened the #10 envelope inside before turning it over and realizing it was the return envelope. I tried to call, sent a text, and an email, but she has not responded. I don’t think I have time to send everything again to her in California. Did I compromise her ballot?
– Deb

Deb,
     If I understand the situation, the ballot envelope must be inside the return envelope that you sent and must be signed with her unit number on it. I don’t think it’s important that she put the word trustee after her name. Most trustees don’t know to do that anyway.
     If she put both of those fully completed envelopes in the priority envelope, that would be fine to have opened the priority envelope. But if she only put the ballot envelope in the priority envelope without the return envelope sent to her, you must disregard her vote.
     If both envelopes were inside the priority envelope, and you accidentally opened the return envelope inside the priority envelope, I would tape up the return envelope and type out notes about what happened, sign and date it, and have a witness also sign the note.
– Betsy

Betsy,
     After Hurricane Ian, we had many units with water intrusion. Under the Florida Statute’s emergency provisions, the association brought in a water mitigation company to dry out units to prevent mold and drywall replacement. Many owners were not on site or did not respond when contacted about their units. We did confirm with our attorney the association was within its rights to do this. The remediation cost will be a special assessment since we have not reached our deductible. 

     Is there a different way you would have proceeded? 
– Toni

Toni,
     You did the right thing in checking with your attorney. I too think that was the appropriate path. The association has the right to access the units in an emergency. Drying out wet units is an emergency.
– Betsy

Betsy,
     Five years ago the condominium association replaced the roofs. After the last hurricane, many owners had roof leaks and damage inside their units. The board determined this was hurricane damage, but it was less than the deductible. The repair estimate is $50,000. Can this be paid from the roof reserves account? 
– Mack

Mack,
     I advise my boards, when the occasion arises, to use roof reserves, etc., for large repair bills. Doing so extends the life of the roof. To me, it’s a board decision/judgment call. Sometimes the CPA will have an opinion.
– Betsy

Betsy,
     You’ll remember we are a small cooperative association. Both my husband and I sent in our notices of intent to run and ended up on the board because there were not enough candidates to fill all the seats. So now I am told that one of us cannot be on the board because of Section 719.106(1)(a), but it looks like there is an exception to that statute. Can you help me?

     Then if the answer is “yes” and we can both serve on the board, do both of us get a vote at board meetings? I’ve been told “no.”
– Karen

Karen,
     The statute does have an exception and says, “unless there are not enough eligible candidates to fill the vacancies on the board at the time of the vacancy.” It appears you are eligible to serve.
     The statute requires that a vote for each board member present be recorded in the minutes. So, yes, you and your husband both get a vote at a board meeting. In addition, there is a misconception that the president/chair does not vote. In community association board meetings, the president does vote. All votes are presumed “yes” unless the board member specifically votes “no.” Abstentions are rare and are only for conflicts of interest, which should be clearly spelled out in the minutes.
– Betsy