Summary
Renovating or restoring a condo in South Florida can feel like opening a mystery box—you never know what you’re going to get. One of the biggest triggers of lawsuits in restoration projects isn’t necessarily bad workmanship or shady contractors, but good old-fashioned cost overruns and change orders. In this blog, I’ll explain why these issues are so common in concrete restoration, why engineers aren’t fortune-tellers, and what boards and property managers can do to minimize the fallout.
Why Cost Overruns Happen So Often in Concrete Repair
If you’ve ever been involved in a renovation or restoration project, you know this story: you start with one budget, and somewhere along the way, that budget explodes like a piñata filled with unexpected bills. In South Florida, lawsuits are practically a pastime when it comes to construction disputes, and concrete repair is a common culprit.
Why? Because unlike new construction, where you’re working with a clean slate, restoration means dealing with hidden conditions. Engineers don’t have X-ray vision (although I wish we did). What we see in our inspections is only the surface. Once work begins and contractors start chipping away at concrete, they might find steel so corroded it looks like rusted rebar spaghetti, or wood supports where there should have been reinforced concrete.
Let’s compare:
- New construction surprises usually mean soil conditions or underground utilities. Those can be bad, but at least we usually have soil borings and utility maps to guide us.
- Restoration surprises mean everything hidden behind walls, under slabs, or inside columns. These are often discovered only once the jackhammers start pounding.
When the budget jumps, people get angry—understandably so. The owners or board members are footing the bill, and nobody enjoys unexpected costs that hit the pocketbook. But the reality is, in restoration, the risk of these hidden conditions is sky-high compared to other types of construction.
And once lawyers get involved—and they often do—contracts get tested, blame gets tossed around, and suddenly the engineer, the contractor, and the project manager are all wearing bullseyes on their backs. I’m reiterating here that lawyers are not a bad thing.
The Top 3 Causes of Overruns and Change Orders
1. Hidden Conditions
This is the number one reason costs balloon. In concrete restoration, we engineers inspect, tap, and test, but we can’t see every crack that lurks beneath the surface. Spalling (that cancer-like process of concrete breaking away from rusting rebar inside) grows geometrically over time. A small patch visible today could mean a much larger patch lurking behind it.
When bidding, contractors use the quantities shown in the engineer’s plans. But if once the work begins, the actual spalls are far more extensive, the cost skyrockets. Boards and managers should plan ahead by adding a contingency (often 15–20%) to the budget to account for hidden conditions. It won’t stop the surprise, but at least you’ll be financially better prepared.
2. Underestimated Quantities
This one is related to hidden conditions but slightly different. Quantities of repair are based on inspections that are inherently limited. Engineers try their best with sounding, coring, and other testing methods, but we can only probe so much before the building starts looking like Swiss cheese.
Underestimation doesn’t mean engineers are careless—it’s simply the nature of the beast. If we call out 1,000 square feet of spalling and once the job starts it’s 2,500, that’s not fraud; it’s just reality. One way to minimize the sting is to do more thorough pre-bid investigations and destructive testing, though that costs more upfront. It’s a trade-off that boards need to carefully consider.
3. Change Orders
Change orders are the sworn enemy of every board treasurer. They often go hand-in-hand with underestimated quantities but can also arise for entirely different reasons. For example, during a concrete repair job, a new board might decide to replace all the windows or install new sliding glass doors. Suddenly, the contract balloons because the scope of work has changed.
Not all change orders are bad. Sometimes they’re necessary to comply with updated codes or to address issues uncovered mid-project. But when they’re avoidable (like deciding halfway through to upgrade all the glass railings), they’re costly and disruptive. The best mitigation? Lock down the scope of work before the project starts and resist the temptation to add shiny extras in the middle of construction.
Honorable Mentions
- Material escalation: Tariffs, supply chain issues, and inflation have driven up costs of steel, concrete, and aluminum significantly.
- Contractor performance: Concrete repair is specialized, and skilled crews are limited. Poor workmanship or slow production can drive costs up even more.
What Can Be Done to Minimize Cost Overruns?
Here’s what I recommend:
- Budget for contingencies: Boards should always set aside 15–20% for hidden conditions.
- Invest in detailed pre-bid inspections: Spending a little more upfront for testing may save you from massive surprises later.
- Lock down the scope early: Avoid scope creep by finalizing all big decisions (windows, railings, etc.) before bidding.
- Communicate clearly: When surprises arise, explain them transparently to owners. Anger often comes from not understanding why something happened.
And remember: I’ve been part of hundreds of projects over the years. Breaking the bad news to boards is never fun. My heart goes out to volunteer board members who take on this mostly thankless job—until big-money issues surface. That’s when friendships and neighborly goodwill can evaporate, sometimes leading to lawsuits.
True Story to Learn From
Several years ago, I worked on an 18-story beachfront condo in South Florida. It was your typical reinforced concrete building with countless balconies. Midway through the project, the owner decided to buy new sliding glass doors for all the units. Seemed simple enough.
But when we did the mockup, we discovered something bizarre: decades ago, someone had installed false columns made of wood to hold the sliding doors in place. Yes, wood. On a high-rise. Facing the ocean.
According to the Notice of Acceptance (NOA)—that’s the approval document Miami-Dade and Broward use to certify that products meet hurricane and building code standards—sliding glass doors on a high-rise in South Florida should be attached to concrete. The solution? Tear out all the fake wood columns and replace them with formed and poured concrete columns. Incredibly expensive.
Could someone have sued me for not spotting this earlier? Possibly. But the glass doors weren’t even part of the original contract; they were added later. The bigger lesson was this: scope out the job thoroughly at the beginning, because every surprise down the line adds cost, frustration, and risk.
Different Perspectives
Some argue that contractors or engineers should guarantee quantities upfront, absorbing the financial risk of hidden conditions. While this sounds attractive to boards and owners, in practice it doesn’t work. No engineer can predict the full extent of spalling without fully demolishing the structure beforehand—which defeats the purpose. Contractors who take on too much risk will pad their bids heavily, meaning you’ll pay more from the start.
Others claim that change orders are just profit-padding. While bad actors exist in every industry, most legitimate change orders come from real, unforeseen issues. Dismissing all change orders as scams risks jeopardizing the safety and compliance of the project.
Bibliography
Source: American Concrete Institute (ACI 562-19), Code Requirements for Assessment, Repair, and Rehabilitation of Existing Concrete Structures.
Source: Florida Building Code, 8th Edition, Existing Building provisions.
Source: Florida Statutes Chapter 558, Construction Defects.
Source: Miami Herald coverage of Surfside and subsequent building safety regulations.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Producer Price Index for construction materials.
For additional information you can access the following:
Concrete International Magazine (ACI) – www.concrete.org
Engineering News-Record (ENR) – www.enr.com
