Power cut - What went wrong from 20th November

The events of that week are very much regretted, here at least is a full explanation.

SUNDAY

On Sunday the 20th of November at 11.00am, due to heavy downpour the main electrical current disconnecting switch unit, situated at the main entrance of the complex broke down.

Sol Andalusi S.A telephoned the company known as “Telco” of the problem, and thereby sought their professional assistance for the necessary repairs; this company refused to attend unless payment in cash was made for a previous pending Community invoice, of which Sol Andalusi took upon itself to make the mentioned payment so that this company could investigate or repair the electrical problem, the personnel from this company finally arrive the same Sunday afternoon, and they detected the electrical current disconnecting switch unit was completely broken and beyond repairs, it therefore had to be substituted.

The Community could not intervene in this matter until they had been informed, which occurred on Sunday night, when the Community client executive (Ricardo) is informed of what has happened, he is further indicated by Sol Andalusi that the problem and responsibility lies with the Community because the electrical current disconnecting switch serves everyone including the central building.  (this electrical element is exclusively owned by Sol Andalusi S.A, of which it is their responsibility and not the Community) He immediately attempts to convey the situation of the above mentioned to the Community President and the Administrator by email.

MONDAY

On the Monday the 21st, the Administrator communicates to Chechu from Sol Andalusi, that the Electrical current disconnecting switch unit is their property, of which he expects of them to act accordingly in its repairs and its maintenance; he further commented that he would be on site the following morning to discuss with Sol Andalusi the situation.

Sol Andalusi inevitably takes the decision on the Monday the 21^st to substitute the broken unit and therefore agrees to the payment of its delivery, but with one exemption that in due course the Community accepts part of this payment. (The decision taken by Sol Andalusi in respect of the payment is unilateral due to the urgency of the situation)

Sol Andalusi immediately set out to find a replacement electrical disconnecting switch unit, but their head of maintenance informs them that a replacement unit will take about three weeks to acquire, they therefore phone various distributors to ascertain the availability of a replacement unit and alternative quotes, on the same Monday three different companies arrive to quote for the electrical disconnecting switch unit; Telco, Semi and Elecsur.

TUESDAY

The client executive would like to make clear that at all times Sol Andalusi head of maintenance kept him informed of the progress. Unfortunately the decision to acquire the electrical disconnecting switch unit could not be taken until the relevant quotes had been received; the awaited quotes did not arrive till the following day Tuesday the 22^nd. If there has been a lack of communication between the Community and its owners, it was simply because there was nothing further to communicate to them at the time.

In the absence of clarifying news as to when the repairs of the suppose breakdown would take place, we notified all owners by placing notices of the situation throughout the central building, (the Community office, the bar, at reception and all access door)

In which we stated that the envisaged repairs would be prolonged for a further two days.

On Tuesday morning the 22^nd the Administrator schedule meeting took place with representatives of Sol Andalusi in which they communicated that they had agree to replace the electrical disconnecting switch unit at their expense, and were awaiting

the relevant quotes. On Tuesday early afternoon the quotes were received by Sol Andalusi, they concluded to accept the quote given by “Telco” because of its speed in acquiring the components for the electrical disconnecting switch unit within 48 hours, so as to begin to re-establish the electrical supply to the complex.

The work involved:

·      Acquire the relevant components for the unit.

·      Installation of the components on site.

·      Fitting and adjustment of the power points.

·      Pass the OCA inspection as authorised by the supplier

·      Connection by Endesa.

This occurs in the late Tuesday, and was communicated to the client executive to the Community early Wednesday morning.

WEDNESDAY

We didn’t place further notices of the above mentioned work until Wednesday afternoon; it is when we had received notification by “Telco” that the components for the electrical disconnecting switch unit would be fitted by them early Thursday morning. It is then that we change the previous notices for new ones. (See attached.

THURSDAY

On Thursday the 24^th without any changes to the agreed accordance, and on the same day late afternoon, the client executive to the Community commences to communicate to all owners, assuring them that the electricity to the central building will be re-establish on Friday afternoon. All transpire in accordance with the agreed.

FRIDAY

Friday midday the replacement unit is installed and ready for its inspection by OCA. By early afternoon the inspection takes place and we notify all owners by telephone, email and verbally that we are 99% sure of having the electricity supply restored to them by 18.00pm as communicated to us by the main electricity supplier Endesa.

At the mentioned hour the technical personnel from the electricity supplier Endesa connected the electricity supply. But the electricity connecting switch unit, for reasons unknown to us, is unable to charge the current, so no electricity supply to the central building. The technical body comments to us, is that they are not sure what is causing the failure, it could be that when the unit initially burnt it might have damage the transformer, that there is an electrical shunt in the main entry cable or something else, and not knowing exactly the cause, they could not assure us the time to re-establish the re-connection to be able to have the normal electricity supply.

At 19.00pm the client executive to the Community once again communicates with the owners by phone, to inform them of the problem, and he informs them that no guarantee can be given for the restoration of the electricity supply, and to neither leave the hotel they are presently staying, he instruct them to keep phoning Sol Andalusi reception so that they can update them on the situation. At 19.30pm the client executive closes the Community office without having further news to communicate to the owners, and the problem is still unresolved. 

At 20.00pm the client executive is notified, that the problem has finally been resolved and that the electricity supply has been restored to the complex, by this time the client executive is now at home in Malaga, and so decides to leave the matter in the hands of Sol Andalusi receptionist, as the owners will be informed of the good news via Sol Andalusi reception.

Lo que salió mal sobre la avería de corriente

Cronología de los acontecimientos:

DOMINGO

El día 20 de Noviembre a las 11:00 a.m. se produce una avería en el Seccionador de corriente que está a la entrada del complejo. Desde recepción se avisa a Marcos Cardoso y éste llama a la empresa autorizada Telco para que determine el alcance de la avería. La empresa se niega a acudir hasta que no se haga efectiva una factura pendiente a nombre de la comunidad, factura que hace efectiva Sol Andalusí Costa del Sol para que así vengan. Telco acude ya por la tarde y dictamina que el seccionador está completamente roto y tiene que ser sustituido. La Comunidad no interviene hasta el domingo por la noche que informan a Ricardo de lo sucedido. Ricardo manda e-mail a Miyuki y a José Luis Cortés de Sagesa comunicando lo sucedido y para intentar clarificar posturas: desde Sol Andalusí le indican que es problema de la Comunidad puesto que el seccionador sirve a todo el edificio central pero dicho elemento es propiedad de Sol andalusí, por tanto responsabilidad suya.

LUNES

Ya el lunes 21 José Luis Cortés de Sagesa informa a Chechu de Sol Andalusí que el seccionador es propiedad de Sol y como tal debe ser reparado/mantenido por la misma. Sol Andalusí entonces toma la decisión de llevar a cabo la sustitución del seccionador asumiendo el pago del mismo pero a cuenta de un futuro pago por parte de la Comunidad. Es una decisión unilateral tomada por la urgencia de la situación.

El Jefe de Mantenimiento de Sol Andalusí es el encargado de buscar el nuevo seccionador y comunica que para sustituir el averiado por uno igual hay que esperar un mínimo de 3 semanas, así que se pone en marcha para buscar distintas empresas que proporcionen alternativas. El mismo lunes pasan por aquí 3 empresas diferentes; Telco, Semi y Elecsur.

MARTES

El Jefe de Mantenimiento de Sol Andalusí está en todo momento en comunicación con Ricardo comunicando los progresos. Los presupuestos que elaboran dichas empresas no llegan hasta el martes 22, es por eso la falta de comunicación (no había nada que comunicar). Ante la ausencia de noticias clarificatorias de cuándo se iba a arreglar la avería, se colgaron carteles por el edificio (tablón, oficina de la comunidad, bar, recepción, puertas de acceso) en el que se avisaba de que la avería se prolongaría un mínimo de dos días mas. El martes Sol Andalusí estudia los presupuestos (llegaron a primera hora de la tarde) y se decide por la oferta de Telco (la más rápida) que da un plazo de 48 hrs desde que lleguen los componentes del seccionador para que se pueda restablecer el suministro. Este trabajo se compone de:

• Pedir los componentes del seccionador
• Montaje de los mismo in situ
• Adecuación de las tomas al nuevo seccionador
• Pasar la OCA (inspección por parte de empresa autorizada)
• Conexión a Endesa

Esto sucede a última hora del martes y se le comunica a Ricardo a primera hora del miércoles.

MIÉRCOLES

No se cuelgan carteles avisando de la nueva situación hasta el mismo miércoles por la tarde, que es cuando se recibe confirmación por parte de Telco de que los componentes del seccionador van a empezar a ser colocados a primera hora del jueves. Entonces se cambias los carteles antiguos por otros nuevos (adjuntos).

JUEVES

El jueves transcurre sin cambios y acorde a lo previsto, y por la tarde Ricardo empieza a comunicar a los comuneros que la luz casi con total seguridad volverá a ser restaurada el viernes por la tarde, previa confirmación. Todo transcurre acorde a lo previsto, a medio día del viernes el seccionador está montado y listo para pasar la OCA. La OCA se pasa a primera hora de la tarde y se comunica a los comuneros (por teléfono, e-mail, de palabra) que 99% seguro que la luz volverá sobre las 18:00 que es cuando nos ha dicho Endesa que nos reconectará.

VIERNES

A dicha hora se personan técnicos de Endesa y dan corriente. El seccionador, por motivos que se desconocen, no carga así que no hay luz en el complejo. Nos dicen los técnicos que no saben cual es la avería ahora, si es que al quemarse el seccionador ha dañado al transformador, que hay una derivación en el cableado de entrada, o cualquier otra cosa, y además al desconocer la causa de la avería no nos dan ningún plazo para restablecer el suministro.

A las 19:00 Ricardo vuelve a contactar con los propietarios (por teléfono) para comunicarles el problema y decirles que no se garantiza el suministro y que se planteen no dejar los hoteles en los que están. Se les dice que vayan llamando a Recepción de Sol Andalusí para que les vayan indicando la evolución de la avería. A las 19:30 Ricardo cierra la oficina sin que se haya resuelto el problema.

A las 20:00 llaman a Ricardo diciendo que la avería ya ha sido resuelta y que ya hay luz en el complejo. A esa hora Ricardo ya está en Málaga y decide dejar las cosas como están, que los propietarios se informen de la situación a través de la Recepción de Sol Andalusí.

Adjunto los dos carteles que se pusieron.

Desperate request - Petición desesperada

Dear all,
If you have been falling behind with your community payments can I please urge you to settle up now?  We have so many bills we cannot pay and these people want paying for work or materials and equipment that they have already done or provided.  Today I had a supplier in tears as he has had to borrow money from the bank in order to pay his staff because we have not paid him.  Others have been accepting part payments from us, but now we can't even afford the part payments.
We continue with legal action both here and in UK to chase the guys who owe the massive sums but there are also many people who owe smaller amounts and we will have to follow those up too in January but this costs the community time and money to do.  So please pay as much as you can.

Estimados propietarios:

Si os habéis retrasado en vuestros pagos de cuotas de Comunidad, ¿puedo por favor pediros que os pongáis al día con urgencia? Tenemos un montón de facturas a las cuales no podemos hacer frente y que necesitan ser atendidas por ser relativas a trabajos ya hechos y/o a materiales ya adelantados.  Hoy tuvimos la visita de un proveedor con lágrimas en los ojos porque había tenido que pedir un préstamo personal para hacer frente a pagos a sus trabajadores por la deuda que tenemos contraída con él. Otros han aceptado pagos parciales, pero no podemos ahora mismo ni siquiera garantizar esos pagos aplazados.

Estamos continuando con las acciones legales tanto aquí como en el Reino Unido para intentar perseguir a esos deudores de grandes sumas, pero hay también un gran número de pequeños deudores que nos cuestan un tiempo, recursos y dinero de los que no disponemos en perseguirlos, pero que vamos a tener que hacer en Enero. Por favor, pónganse al día para evitar esto lo antes posible.

Leer contadores/Reading Meters

Estimado propietario/inquilino:

Necesitamos acceder a su vivienda para tomar lectura de los contadores de luz y de agua y así regularizar las lecturas. Le rogaría por favor se pusiera en contacto conmigo el viernes 9 de Diciembre o el martes 13 de Diciembre para intentar organizarlo. Aquellas lecturas que no se puedan tomar antes del 21 de Diciembre tendrán que ser estimadas.

Muchísimas gracias

Dear owner/tenant:

We need to access your property in order to read the electricity and water meters.  Please contact me at the community office next Friday 9^th or Tuesday 13^th to organise it. Those readings that cannot be taken before the 21^st December will have to be estimated.

Thank you very much

Ricardo Peláez

Comunidad de Propietarios

Tel: 952 649261

E-mail: comunidad.solandalusi@gmail.com

Horario Oficina Comunidad Dic 11 y Ene 12 Community Office Hours December 11 - January 12