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TRENTON
– Attorney General Stuart Rabner and
Scott Weiner, the chief executive officer
of the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation,
announced today the filing of a lawsuit
to recover more than $3.5 million in costs
incurred by the agency to repair structural
and design defects found in an elementary
school construction project in Essex County.
The four-count SCC lawsuit names as defendants
STV Architects, Inc. of Newark, and El Taller
Colaborativo of Newark, an engineering firm
hired by STV as a subcontractor on the Mount
Vernon Elementary School construction in
Irvington. The suit was filed in Superior
Court in Trenton.
The suit represents the launch of an SCC
initiative aimed at recouping tens of millions
of dollars incurred due to professional
design errors. It follows a separate initiative,
which was launched earlier this month, to
recover the costs of environmental cleanups
incurred by the SCC in connection with new
school construction.
According to the state’s Complaint,
errors by STV and El Taller Colaborativo
resulted in the use of steel beams and steel
lintels on the three-story school project
that were unable to safely bear the weight
of the concrete and masonry they were intended
to support. As a result, the $22.2 million
building project had to be delayed while
a method for reinforcing the flawed steel
infrastructure was devised.
The state’s lawsuit charges the SCC
has spent more than $3.5 million to buttress
the flawed steel beams and girders created
as the original framework for the school
building, and to correct other problems.
“The
buckling of the steel originally meant to
support the upper floors of this structure
was so severe it could be seen with the
naked eye,” said Attorney General
Rabner. “Substantial public dollars
were spent to repair that problem and to
resolve other concerns. We are committed
to ensuring that the public money spent
to correct these problems and do the job
right is recovered from the responsible
parties.”
The suit is the first filed on the SCC’s
behalf to recoup costs caused by errors
in a school’s design. Earlier this
month, a suit was filed to recoup environmental
cleanup costs incurred during the construction
of a new school in Elizabeth.
“These
initiatives signal an important new direction,’’
Weiner said. “More of these lawsuits
will follow, representing a tangible demonstration
of our resolve to recover funds and assure
New Jersey taxpayers they are not paying
for the mistakes of others.’’
The Schools Construction Corporation hired
STV to provide professional architectural
and engineering services for the Mount Vernon
Elementary School project in May 2003. STV
subsequently subcontracted certain engineering
work – including structural engineering
design services –to El Taller Colaborativo.
STV and El Taller Colaborativo prepared
drawings, plans, technical specifications,
and instructions to bidders for the project
and later provided architectural, engineering
and design services as construction work
progressed.
The state’s Complaint refers to deficiencies
resulting from the work of the two companies
including, but not limited to, ‘’inadequate
structural steel capacity and inadequate
steel lintel design.”
The severe nature of the problem was revealed
when the concrete slabs for the second and
third floors of the school’s new academic
wing were poured. According to the state’s
lawsuit, steel beams clearly buckled under
the weight of the concrete, and there was
“significant movement of the suspended
masonry lintel supports. Both of these conditions
were so severe that they were visible to
the naked eye.”
Following
an evaluation of the project by a specially-hired
consulting firm, it was determined that
the original design of some of the floor
beams and girders was defective. “Specifically,
the beams would not support the . . . prescribed
loads . . .” and “the girders
that support the walls do not have the capacity
to support the additional concrete,”
according to the state’s complaint.
The special consultant, international engineering
firm Thornton Tomasetti of Newark, recommended
several measures to shore up the defective
floor beams and girders. Those measures
will properly buttress the steel infrastructure
and allow the Mount Vernon School project
to go forward.
However,
the State’s lawsuit charges that the
needed repairs have cost the SCC millions
of extra dollars, and that the agency “continues
to feel the effects of the delay to the
construction of the school.”
The state’s lawsuit charges both STV
and El Taller Colaborativo with one count
each of negligence and breach of contract.
In each instance, the lawsuit seeks an award
of compensatory damages and costs related
to the lawsuit.
>> SCC
Complaint (170k pdf) plug-in
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