Discovery Bay Revisited

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-19945-13-.htm#19945
by John Thomson - Story: 19945July 04, 2006 / 7:40 am
Let me check that calendar again, this is July 2006. How is it possible that a development on the lakeshore has been determined to be unsafe to live in? With all the checks and balances in the system today how can this large project just slip through the cracks? The developers, the engineers, the contractors, the architects, and the city. It is like being in a bad movie. The way I understand the process is that on everything in construction there are professionals who sign off when they have determined that everything has been done correctly. It is their name, professional status and that signature means everything in that business there is nothing more protected. The press releases I received came from the city and the developer, 4:32pm June 30/06 the beginning of the holiday weekend. The city release said and I quote, “Discovery Bay, at 1088 Sunset Dr. should not be occupied until the buildings have been reinforced and are in compliance with the B.C. Building Code. Although the city has no direct statutory authority to evacuate residents, we are recommending that the residents abide by the advice of the structural engineers.” The original engineer on the project according to my contacts in Edmonton has left the country. Unfortunately this isn’t the first time he has had problems. The structural engineer was Sven Hage of Jacobsen Hage Engineering. Again quoting my contact had a history of marginal designs and lawsuits. He has lost his license to practice and has left the county.” I wonder where his signature appeared? From another source in Alberta who knows these projects came this word when he was called on the weekend. He has been in the business for twenty five years as an engineer and a contractor. He said, “I am not aware of any other project which has these kinds of issues. On commercial projects like this one in Kelowna all the building department are required to do is look at safety issues, the fire code, sprinkler systems etc. They can’t check structure because they need calculations and a fair amount of raw data like what’s the weight, the span, certain calculations and certain formulas where you can’t exceed a certain length or a certain depth, certain height. On commercial, local government relies on the seal of the engineer and the architect.” My biggest concern is for the people who have invested in this property as their home or as a hospitality investment. They have been lied to by just about everyone involved. What protection is there for them? Have they been told the building can be repaired? But at what cost? Building costs have risen every month since the beginning of this year and this is an entirely different kind of construction. When the engineers say it is unsafe for the people to continue to live there what does that really mean and do they believe the Discovery Bay complex can be saved? Don’t forget there is also a problem with the parkade and that was another engineering firm involved there. They determined that the foundations of the parking structure did not comply with the structural design requirements of the B.C. Building Code. More sign offs. More signatures. More seals. On top of everything else National Home Warranty Program, the insurers of the development are suing the city for $15 million and this was before any of the recent information was made public. Can I ask one simple question? How can you build against the B.C. Building Code for five years? This is a mess.