Business ProfileforRankin Skyline Services Ltd

Aug. 2020 our general contractor used Rankin Skyline to replace an aging metal roof on our home.Rankin completed the work in a timely fashion and was paid in full.First major rain and the roof leaked.Our home insurance covered the consequential damage (emergency tarp work, cleanup, insulation replacement, drywall, painting, etc. less the policy deductible). Insurer advised us that Rankin ignored their demand letters regarding recovery of their loss and that locating an repairing the leak was not covered by the insurance.Rankin ignored our written recommendation that he report our potential claim for the cost of locating and repairing of the leak, to the company's liability insurer.He ignored our invitations to have HIS crew attempt to locate the source and cause of the leak.He also ignored our written and email invitations to be present for the remedial work we intended to carry out.Unexpectedly, Rankin sent a worker to have a look.Rankin then offered to do the repair work for $5,000+ but reneged when our contractor attempted to schedule the work.Penfolds repaired the leak for $3,000+ NOT A HAPPY EXPERIENCE DEALING WITH RANKIN.

Rankin Skyline Services 
Report on job in question 
April 16th 2023  
Jobsite: ******************************************************
Rear south building section with large T-Bar skylight 
*************** to this review. As sole owner of the company I had a hand on every step of this job from initial meeting, specifying, and pricing, implementing the work and the subsequent re-evaluation and quoting of the remediation of the work for the new skylight install (not carried forward/done by Rankin Skyline)  
Rankin Skyline acted as a subcontractor on this job and at this address.  We acted under the direction of the general contractor who took sole responsibility for liaison with the homeowner.  All communications, specification, pricing, and support for this work went through the general contractor and his senior manager for this site.  
My relationship with this general contractor goes back 20 years. We have worked together on approx. 600 700K worth of work in that time all of it high end residential work which is our specialty.  I have done many of these projects with or under the supervision of the senior manager in charge of this project.  
We previously worked on these owners at this ******* home on a successful deck membrane remediation job back in February of 2017 with another of our general contractors we work regularly with.
On either of these jobs we had no communications, written, verbal, text or other directly with the homeowner. Rankin Skyline worked with and under the direction of the general contractors. The general contractors took care of all the communications of all or any kind with the homeowners. 
Timeline
Late June 2020: I met with the senior manager after some discussions and an email where he sent some photos of the problems at this home and we climbed up on the area in question (a solarium) and viewed the problems with the water ingress and damage which were in my estimation extreme.  At this walk on the edge of the solarium and my measurements the senior manager and I discussed the work. At that time, I suggested that the work could be done but if the skylight bank itself (25 30 years old) was leaking or the seals, that it would be better to replace all of it; the skylight and outside cornice work so as not to put the chicken before ********** am assuming the options would have been discussed with the owner by the general contractor for the work before deciding how to proceed.  
I sent over specification and pricing with options in early July 2020 with the senior manager. It was decided that Rankin Skyline would interface to the old skylight and the existing seals and flashings. The specification is quite detailed and specific and includes installing 2% slope ISO to slope the ponding areas to the outside and a new waterproof membrane underlay under the copper work we would do. 
In early to mid August 2020, we carried out the work. The work was very well done to our high standards in workmanship and materials by our head shop artisan and his number 2 man.  My head metal shop artisan has worked for me for 20 years and has 30 years of high-end metal work experience and is considered one of the top tradesmen in our field. His number two had been with us 9 years and had 15 years experience. I had a hand in this work and had 45 years experience at that time so combined we had 90 years experience putting this job together.  
We completed the work in mid August 2020, invoiced the general contractor and he paid us for our work.  I did not offer a warranty on this job or work in the quote or with the invoice as the old skylight was still in place and so we could not do that. 
The next we heard from this job was on December 18th, 2021, or approx. 1 years later after the work had had a full year and one half of the seasons cycle of weather of all kinds  There was a leak and the senior manager sent me an email and I said we would come out and see to it and try to help them out. There was a delay in getting there as it was the holiday. Both the senior manager and our staff were extremely busy and therefore, it took some time to coordinate both of our time and get to site. I do wish it had not taken that long to get back there, but it did. 
I sent my senior shop ******* artisan out on February 22nd  2022 as he had hands-on done all the work to meet the senior contractor project manager at site. There had been a restoration company there and the project was tarped off to help with the water ingress issues happening.   Our ******* upon his inspection confirmed that the water ingress was happening behind our work at the seals and interfaces of the old work on the skylight. When he reported back, we discussed the labour and techniques to fix this as now the general contractors senior project manager was now going to advise the homeowner to replace the skylight. Our role would be to remove our work and dry out the water ingress areas and repair or replace the waterproofing as required and place back the finished copper work.  
On March 3rd we supplied a spec and pricing for our part in the new skylight and remediation of our previously finished work. We put in the site notes quite specifically that if there was to be anything confrontational going on we would not do this work. I have cut and pasted the site notes included in the spec and pricing document they read as :

Site Notes :  
(General Contractor) Construction and their forces to:
I) Provide a safe secure scaffolding system on east and west sides and over trellis on south side to provide a safe working area for carrying out the work.
II) General Contractor  Construction to be on call in the case of major repairs for structure or rot are found and need to be remedied once the demolition of the existing work commences.
III) RSS will not take on this work if there is any type of conflict, or  confrontational behavior involved. ,  If the owners or general contractor are making any mention or threats of being litigious, or involving RSS in an insurance claim either verbal, written or otherwise or  plan to have any type of future action to carry out the same.  RSS used their considerable skill, (80 years experience was involved on this job) expertise and due diligence in execution of this work. Rankin Skyline and our work is not responsible for this water ingress issue. In the pre site meeting senior manager and ********************************* in late June of 2020 it was brought to Contractors senior managers  attention that the skylights should be replaced in conjunction with this work.  This was not done . As a result, the skylights have now failed, there has been water ingress and the skylights will now have to be replaced and  this  quoted work will have to be done.  I was not privy to any dealings between (General Contractor their manager ) and the owners and worked for and under general contractor  as a proprietary subtrade on this job.

IV) Timing -  RSS and our metal artisans are booked up solid for all time for the next 4-6 months in advance.  As this is an issue with an existing client we will work with general contractor to fit this in and get this done for this client if required.  This will need prime weather conditions as the house will be left open when the skylights are removed and so this will be a job to be tightly organized if and when it goes ahead.
 I priced the work as low as I could to be as helpful as possible in this case.    
On or about March the 4th I received a phone call from the senior project manager who inferred that we were somehow responsible for these leaks 
You are not going to take responsibility for any of this were his words to me. I told him no we were not because we simply cannot and will not take responsibility for something that we are not responsible for. That day the situation turned more confrontational when we also received an emailed  letter from an insurance company asking us to take liability  -  I am guessing from the homeowners direction   we informed the general contractor by email that we were removing ourselves from working on the job- due to our terms being broken in the site notes of our spec and pricing document and  we also permanently terminated our relationship with the  builder contractor entirely. 
Summary and final comments
That end of the relationship between Rankin Skyline and the general contractor had a negative effect on us both. At that time, we had two booked upcoming  high end residential  contracts with them for a total of approx. 270K. We lost the work which we had to replace. They lost a long-time top  notch trade. 

The homeowner has made statements and such in his report which should not be included in any of this, as they are 3 party or hearsay as stated early on, over the two completed projects at this residence for two different general contractors we have never had direct communications with the owners at anytime in the process in any way about any of the work. Verbal, email, mail, text none whatsoever.  We have never of course been privy to the contractors communications with the client what has been communicated or presented, what any or all content of their communication was or how it was delivered.  
We do know that the general  contractor on this particular piece  of work has a large history with the homeowner having completed an expensive  new build home in ************** recently for them.  The senior project manager was the one in charge of that project  also as in our discussions he told me that he was.  I also believe to coin the phrase the general contractor and his senior project manager may have thrown us under the bus to protect their own image and reputation with their large volume  important client.  
The end of the day and to simplify the situation -  we did the outside cornice area of the work and well in a high-end application. The old skylight was left in place.   One- and one-half years later the old skylight failed completely and leaked -  and had to be replaced end of story.  We do feel badly for the homeowners even though they have become adversarial to us.  They had to go through all  this and is probably venting their frustration. This frustration is perhaps misguided or misdirected.  I do not know what they have or have not been told by the general contractor, his manager or any others about this project. 
The correct course of action in this case  in my books, would be for the homeowner to file a  negative report against the General Contractor the general contractor could then if they saw fit file against the subtrade.  
Respectfully yours to all parties 
****** Rankin / Owner 
Rankin Skyline Services Ltd. 
BCTQ Journeyman  (****)