Charlie West (Charles & Gaukel) | 31 fl | Complete

[tomh009]

I think your fee estimate is a bit on the high side. If you assume an average unit size of 900 sq ft and initial condo fees of $0.42 (ex security) which is fairly typical, you get about $4500 per unit per year and $1.35M for the condo corporation budget.

You would outsource the security (not many condo corporations want actual employees) so I'd guess you'd pay around $25/hour all in. That's $220K, or a 16% bump on the condo fees. And this is why our building does not have 24/7 on-site security (we're somewhat smaller, too).

[panamaniac]

I think your fee estimate is a bit on the high side. If you assume an average unit size of 900 sq ft and initial condo fees of $0.42 (ex security) which is fairly typical, you get about $4500 per unit per year and $1.35M for the condo corporation budget.

You would outsource the security (not many condo corporations want actual employees) so I'd guess you'd pay around $25/hour all in. That's $220K, or a 16% bump on the condo fees. And this is why our building does not have 24/7 on-site security (we're somewhat smaller, too).

 It’s also why 155 Caroline cut back on their original concierge plans, afaik.

[tomh009]

I think your fee estimate is a bit on the high side. If you assume an average unit size of 900 sq ft and initial condo fees of $0.42 (ex security) which is fairly typical, you get about $4500 per unit per year and $1.35M for the condo corporation budget.

You would outsource the security (not many condo corporations want actual employees) so I'd guess you'd pay around $25/hour all in. That's $220K, or a 16% bump on the condo fees. And this is why our building does not have 24/7 on-site security (we're somewhat smaller, too).

 It’s also why 155 Caroline cut back on their original concierge plans, afaik.

Fewer buildings do now, I think. Canada Post and Amazon provide lockers, and it's hard to justify the spend for a concierge or security.

Are new buildings offering 24/7 security or concierge in Ottawa?

[panamaniac]

 It’s also why 155 Caroline cut back on their original concierge plans, afaik.

Fewer buildings do now, I think. Canada Post and Amazon provide lockers, and it's hard to justify the spend for a concierge or security.

Are new buildings offering 24/7 security or concierge in Ottawa?

I think there’s a handful that do, although whether it’s 24/7 I couldn’t say.  There were reports this week that crooks have stolen a Canada Post master key and have made repeated thefts from the boxes in a number of downtown condo buildings.

[tomh009]

Fewer buildings do now, I think. Canada Post and Amazon provide lockers, and it's hard to justify the spend for a concierge or security.

Are new buildings offering 24/7 security or concierge in Ottawa?

I think there’s a handful that do, although whether it’s 24/7 I couldn’t say.  There were reports this week that crooks have stolen a Canada Post master key and have made repeated thefts from the boxes in a number of downtown condo buildings.

I guess some of the buildings have the Canada Post lockers in publicly-accessible areas?

[panamaniac]

I think there’s a handful that do, although whether it’s 24/7 I couldn’t say.  There were reports this week that crooks have stolen a Canada Post master key and have made repeated thefts from the boxes in a number of downtown condo buildings.

I guess some of the buildings have the Canada Post lockers in publicly-accessible areas.

If by publicly accesible you mean accesible by residents, then yes.

[ijmorlan]

I guess some of the buildings have the Canada Post lockers in publicly-accessible areas.

If by publicly accesible you mean accesible by residents, then yes.

Even if not accessible, if criminals have stolen a Canada Post key then presumably they can get into the area where the boxes are.

[panamaniac]

If by publicly accesible you mean accesible by residents, then yes.

Even if not accessible, if criminals have stolen a Canada Post key then presumably they can get into the area where the boxes are.

Voilà.

[tomh009]

Even if not accessible, if criminals have stolen a Canada Post key then presumably they can get into the area where the boxes are.

Voilà.

Each building will have its own key (or access card/fob), though: there is no master key to get into all the condo buildings.

[tomh009]

I guess some of the buildings have the Canada Post lockers in publicly-accessible areas.

If by publicly accesible you mean accesible by residents, then yes.

No, I really meant accessible by the public, without needing a key, card or fob.

[robdrimmie]

According to this regularly updated CBC article, the CDC started advocating for masks on April 3, and Dr. Tam on April 6:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/masks-cor...-1.5507186

On April 3, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began to recommend wearing cloth face coverings in public places where other physical distancing measures are hard to maintain (such as grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas with community-based transmission.

On April 6, Tam also suggested using non-medical masks when out grocery shopping or at a pharmacy.

There was an article posted on the 6th about Tam's change in recommendation, along with some history of what she said when.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/non-med...-1.5523321

I think it's difficult for us to remember now but in March we didn't know how this virus transmitted and a lot of public health guidance was based on the transmission characteristics of SARS and MERS. That second article includes the line:

"We are very rapidly trying to integrate that later science," she said of the new studies that suggest people who have yet to develop symptoms can still have high viral loads that can be transmitted.

We know a lot more about this virus than we did four months ago.

[panamaniac]

Voilà.

Each building will have its own key (or access card/fob), though: there is no master key to get into all the condo buildings.

Apparently there is, in Ottawa.  Canada Post was being quite uncooperative with the affected condos, in terms of not sharing info on which condos were covered by the "master".

[tomh009]

Each building will have its own key (or access card/fob), though: there is no master key to get into all the condo buildings.

Apparently there is, in Ottawa.  Canada Post was being quite uncooperative with the affected condos, in terms of not sharing info on which condos were covered by the "master".

Well, I never ...! I would not be keen to be part of that type of scheme. Even the locker master key theft can be mitigated if the locker is only accessible using the condo's or apartment building's own access control system.

[ijmorlan]

Apparently there is, in Ottawa.  Canada Post was being quite uncooperative with the affected condos, in terms of not sharing info on which condos were covered by the "master".

Well, I never ...! I would not be keen to be part of that type of scheme. Even the locker master key theft can be mitigated if the locker is only accessible using the condo's or apartment building's own access control system.

I would have assumed that whatever key the postal worker uses to access the boxes would let them in all the way from the street. They’re not going to carry a ring of keys for their entire route; and if they did, it might as well give them access to the boxes; and also the ring would in effect be a(n unwieldy) master key.

That being said, I hope we’re talking about a key that opens something like all the boxes on a route. If it opens every box in the city or province, then somebody at Canada Post doesn’t know how to do security. And it can’t be a country-wide key because no one is that stupid.

[tomh009]

Right ... a keyring plus a master key would make sense.

For sure, our building's front door will only open with one of our fobs, there is no way to open it with any (master or otherwise) key. And if a fob gets stolen (see scenario above) it can be quickly disabled.