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7. NEWIBUSINESS (Cont'd going to have the same recurrence in costs once again, and if you multiply that - -just Pike John says - -by 100 for each one of these, or 200, it keeps going up in multiples', regardless of where it is, in this plumbing aspect; and, therefore, I think under advisement, and some help to those people who expedite the inspection and also the costs that they present before the Commission, I think a little bit of kindness should be shown to them also, because they do have problem there, in making a proper presentation, to keep the pro - verbial rip -off from happening time and time again, which could not be their fault necessarily." Commissioner Chenney referred to the bathtub and Mr. Kagel's response and the repair of the subfloor and the leak. Mr. Crighton inter - rupted and advised that the leak was not from installing the bathtub; it was after the contractor pulled the tub up and discovered that the subfloor had rotted from an old connection--from an old overflow connection. The discovery was not a discovery of his own error; it was a discovery of someone else's error -- someone else who possibly had done the work 15 or 20 years ago, the floor had rotted, and the leak had subsequently stopped -- possibly from a buildup of lime and mildew. He said he is not a plumber and wasn't there and has not seen it, but the point is the floor had been severely rotted, and that is what °the change order is for. The leak was non- existent at the time the tub was removed for the underlayment and the tile in the bathroom. Commissioner Wiggins added that a tub overflowing is a rare thing, but over a period of 15 or 20 years it's enough to louse up the subflooring, and that when we are doing a job, it should be done right. Mr. Kagel referred to the drain section of the bathtub and if not properly sealed will cause further damage that the homeowner will not be aware of. Mr. Crighton was requested by the Chair to respond, and he stated, "We have ongoing daily inspections whenever any work is progressing at a homeowner's property., The Chief inspector con- ducts these `inspections, he goes.into the house and sees that the work is being done. He also must see the work prior to concealment, that is one point. The other point is: We also have a year's guarantee from the date of final inspection on all work completed under our contract, and if something goes wrong, the contractor must repair not only that item but any damage resulting from that deficient workmanship and /or material. And, lastly, as far as these change orders constantly coming before you, this procedure has not changed at all in the five (5) years that I have been doing this work. It is just now- -under the Revenue Sharing Program- - that the Commission has been directly involved in change orders. Change orders are literally impossible to get away from in these older homes, because so much is concealed; so much is damaged; and it is not visible to the naked eye, or visible if you bounce on it, or any number of things that our inspectors do when they go out to these homes, so it is a continuing problem, and it is something that we have to allow for in these contracts." - 13 -