An email from the city today says:

Need More Time? Grace Period Announced

Buildings 10,000 sf or greater (including multifamily buildings of 5 or more units) have at least until October 1, 2012 to comply and annually on April 1st thereafter.

Please note: In response to public input that additional assistance and time is needed to comply, we are currently doing additional program evaluation and are considering staggered reporting deadlines based on building size. We will post details as soon as possible.

You can read the entire email here.

One of the property managers who called me to discuss my benchmarking service said that most of the property managers he personally knew were just going to ignore the City’s requirement and April 1st deadline.

What this extended deadline means is that those professionals contemplating violating the law can now reconsider, and hire a consultant to perform this service for them. I have been quoting people $50/hour and capping it at 5 hours of work, saying if I go over then it is on me. I ask for a retainer of $150 to start and will bill for the balance. The clients I currently have in process probably will not go over the three hour mark.

So, comply with the law, it is a low out-of-pocket expense. Call Wendy at 206.686.4663.