Agenda - 06-18-2013 - 7e - Laserfiche WebLink

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194 Technical and Legal Issues MBAJ Architecture has successfully completed over $2 billion work on public institutional proj- ects, but like all firms with a long history of designing successful publicly funded projects, a few of our projects have had some technical issues and two have required legal remedies for closure. Gaffney High School In 2004, MBAJ was named as a party in a lawsuit between Cherokee County Schools and USF&G (the contractor's bonding company) for a project constructed in 2000 and occupied in 2002. Mitchell Construction Company, the general contractor, bid the project significantly below the second low bidder. At that time we counseled the owner about the potential for issues during con- struction should they choose to award such a critically low bid. Consequently, during the project, the contractor encountered significant financial and schedule problems and declared bankruptcy. The project was finally delivered to the Owner for occupancy one year late with a number of construction deficiencies. Because of the contractor's financial difficulties, the project was turned over to USF &G, the contractor's bonding company, for completion of the project. USF &G took ex- ception to the scope of the documented deficiencies and was reluctant to complete all the items in the manner required by the contract documents. The Owner filed suit against the bonding com- pany. MBAJ was named, along with all other parties involved in the process, in an effort to avoid an `empty' seat in the litigation process. MBAJ fully supported and cooperated with Cherokee County Schools throughout the process. The suit was resolved through mediation with a finding of no fault against MBAJ Architecture. Rocky River Elementary School In 2006, MBAJ was commissioned by Mooresville Graded School District to design a new El- ementary School. Part of the contract involved the design of a new automobile access road into the school property. The construction of the new access road included a crossing over an exist- ing creek with a new bridge. Mooresville Graded Schools provided geotechnical and wetlands information about the creek and the required unsuitable soil remediation. MBAJ's Civil Engineer designed the bridge to meet those requirements. During Construction, when the contractor ex- cavated for the foundation of the new bridge, the degree of unsuitable soil remediation required exceeded the projections provided by the Owner's Geotechnical Engineer. As a result, significant additional undercut and re- design of the bridge was required, resulting in a Change Order from the General Contractor (GC). The Owner held MBAJ responsible for this additional work. Both parties agreed amicably to go through voluntary mediation to resolve the issue.