Work is expected to begin in the spring on a $675,000 project to replace much of the roof at Duncan City Hall, which is a heritage building constructed in 1913.
The existing slate roof at city hall has faced persistent issues, including leaks and multiple failures that resulted in slate tiles sliding off the roof onto the lower-level roofs and the sidewalk below.
To address these concerns, the upcoming upgrade, which will be carried out by Solex Wall Systems Ltd., entails the complete removal of the slate roof, to be replaced with composite replica slate tiles that have a 50-year warranty.
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The roof replacement is part of a number of projects planned for the aging city hall, including major seismic upgrades, that were estimated to cost more than $10 million is a study that was completed in 2022.
Rachel Hastings, Duncan’s manager of building and bylaw services, told council at a recent meeting that the estimated cost of $300,000 for replacing the slate-roof portion of the building with a composite replica was listed in the city’s draft 2022 capital budget.
“However, the initial response to the [roof replacement project] that issued for tender yielded a single non-conforming bid, which estimated a budget of $508,446.75,” she said.
“The bid also identified slate tiles which imposed a heavy load…on the roof; a weight that was strongly discouraged by the project’s seismic-upgrade consultants. The decision to transition from the existing slate tiles to faux slate tiles was primarily motivated by concerns for the future seismic stability of city hall, the inability to inspect the roof due to city hall’s design, and the history of fallen slate tiles.”
Hastings said another request for bids was issued to four roofing contractors which resulted in some interest from two of them, with only one, Solex Wall Systems, providing a conforming bid.
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“Staff continue to seek cost savings for this project as the bid is higher than expected,” she said of the estimated $675,000 cost.
“However after two bidding processes, there was only one compliant bid. If the project is held and we head to market again for a replacement in 2025, the price is expected to be higher. The company is also open to looking for cost saving ideas because they are very interested in completing this project as they are Island based.”
Hastings added that as work to complete city hall’s masonry repairs project will be taking place at the same time as the roof replacement, there may be some cost savings if there was some sharing in the scaffolding costs between the two projects.
“As these amounts are not known at this time, we are proposing to budget for [the roof replacement project] at the full cost,” she said.
“Approving the project now will allow us to schedule the contractor for spring, 2024, and will allow the contractor to begin purchasing supplies in order to have a smooth construction timeline.”