Once a pre-application has been received, potentially eligible households will be contacted on a first-come, first-served basis for each program they have opted into. Eligible households may wait 12-18 months before being contacted by the Township or its partners, as the Township manages limited funding and resource availability. At that time, a full application will be sent to your household for completion; a link will be sent to the email address on file and a paper letter will be sent to the address with application completion information as well. Paper applications can be requested.
Please note that due to federal regulations that govern our programs, many documents are required to fully certify your household’s eligibility for participation in all of the Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation Programs. The Township may request additional documents not initially requested, if needed to determine eligibility under those federal requirements. After you submit your fully complete application to the Township of Abington, the Township will review the application package and determine full eligibility.
Once eligibility is established, the Program will schedule and conduct a comprehensive house inspection. The purpose of the comprehensive inspection is to detail any health, safety, or substandard code items that exist on the property. At least one major system must be deemed substandard to warrant participation in the Program. It is important to note that if a household is participating in the traditional OORP, the Program requires that the entire house be brought up to code to participate in the program. Please be prepared to have your property survey available for the inspection for the inspector’s review, and afterward for municipal permit application requirements, if needed. A radon test will be performed on all houses. The Program will remediate actionable levels of radon discovered by test results. If the house was built prior to 1978, a lead paint risk assessment will also be performed. Lead-based paint hazards identified by the assessment will be remediated through the Program.
Participants in other programs other than the traditional OORP will have their inspections limited to the items covered by that program.
The Program Inspector will create a Work-Write-Up and Cost Estimate for your home’s rehabilitation, based upon the comprehensive inspection and, if applicable, the lead risk assessment report findings. A copy of the Work Write-Up, along with a contractor list, will be provided to participants for approval. Please note that all the work listed in the work write-up MAY NOT be included in the final project scope of work. Code, safety, and health related work items identified by the program inspector will take precedent over non-code work if elimination of work items is necessary. A final scope will be determined in consultation with the homeowner(s) in consideration of the above.
The Program will solicit bids by circulating bid packages to registered general contractors, previously vetted and qualified by the Township and the Program. If you know of a contractor that would like to submit a bid on the job, they must contact the Program to request a bid package and meet the Program qualifications before their bid can be certified.
The submitted bids will be reviewed by the Program Inspector and the homeowner in consultation with the Township. Generally, the lowest responsible bid from a qualified contractor will be chosen. The homeowner may select a contractor with a higher bid but must pay the difference between the contractor chosen and the lowest responsible bid. Homeowner contribution of the cost difference is to be provided (via certified or bank check) at the pre-construction meeting.
A pre-construction conference/loan closing meeting will be conducted in order to complete the construction agreement (between the resident and contractor), execute the program mortgage and mortgage note (between the resident and Township), and answer any questions any parties may still have. Following this meeting, the contractor will obtain any necessary permits and the construction phase will begin.
Program personnel will manage the construction process which will include progress and final inspections. The contractor will close out construction permits; provide warranty information and case closeout documentation. The Township will pay the contractor directly upon program inspection approval of work completed. Program participants will adhere to the Program’s decisions.
