Report triggers condo exodus (KELOWNA)

By Shelley NichollStaff ReporterJul 05 2006 http://www.kelownacapnews.com/

Bill Butterworth isn’t taking any chances. As one of the condo own­ers at Discovery Bay, he’s taking the advice of an engineering company that stated the condos are not up to building code and should not be occupied until they are fixed. Butterworth, who is also the strata council president, is one of about 10 unit owners who have already opted to go. He’s expecting more will follow. “When I read what the engineer has to say, I’m not qualified to challenge what he says,” Butterworth said. How many will follow him and how long he’ll have to stay out, he doesn’t know yet. More details are expected in the next few weeks, but Butterworth anticipates being out of his unit into next year. In all, there are 232 units in the five-story condominium complex at 1088 Sunset Drive. On Friday, residents were told the results of an engineering report that stated their homes were structurally unsafe. On Tuesday, they heard that if they choose to move out, the National Home Warranty program will cover $100 a day to cover their living-out expenses. The city doesn’t have the authority to to evacuate residents, but is urging them to take the advice to move out. Butterworth said it has been frustrating and residents are making up their own minds what to do. “There’s all kinds of emotions,” he said. “Different peo­ple handle it in different ways. Some ignore it. Others are angry and there’s everything in between.” It’s a tricky situation for the unit owners who use the waterfront condos for rentals. More than 100 of the units are used for rentals. The summer months are especially lucrative and the home warranty program does not cover any loss of rental income, that would be up to the individual owners’ private insurance. As well, the news about the building doesn’t help future rentals. The news wasn’t entirely unexpected. Last summer, concerns about the underground parking lot resulted in the lot being closed off and an engineering firm called in to assess the issue. Discovery Bay developer Pointe of View Developments hired Krahn Engineering, which discovered the structural design of the parking lot wasn’t able to handle the expected load. It had been signed off by an engineer as meeting the requirements at the time. Once the residents heard that the same engineer, Sven Hegge, had signed off on the wood structure as well as the concrete work, they decided the whole building should be checked, said Butterworth. As a result, David C. Woodall Structural Engineering was called in to look at the residential part of the building. That company’s report wasn’t good news, either. “The Woodall report found that some of the load-bearing walls of the residential structure also did not meet B.C. Building Code requirements,” stated a Pointe of View press release from president Brian Stoddard. “Pointe of View has asked Woodall to determine short-term and long-term remediation to bring the development in line with B.C. Building Code requirements.” Essentially, the load-bearing walls do not meet the standards for wind and earthquake resistance. The five-sto­rey condos were built in 2000, which means the developer is still eligible under the New Home Warranty program for compensation for the structural repairs. Ray Windsor, vice-president external relations for National Home Warranty, said the program “covers repairs of defects to the building and units.” As for who is to blame for the problems, that falls onto the lap of the original engineer on the project who is long gone now. Windsor explained that in the building process of large projects, the expertise of engineers is used to determine if the building meets code requirements, rather than a local building inspector. Despite the problems with Hegge, Windsor said the process is still sound. “This is an unusual event,” he said. “We rely on professionals as the experts.” That puts the City of Kel­owna out of litigation’s way. City manager Ron Mat­tiussi said the building inspection department has been watching the issue carefully but is not liable for any damage because of the engineer’s seal.