Remai delays spark three lawsuits
City subcontractor denies claim it held up gallery’s construction
The company hired to build Saskatoon’s new art gallery is preparing for a potential lawsuit by the city and blames a Saskatoon company for construction delays, court documents show.
London, Ont.-based EllisDon Corporation, which was contracted by the City of Saskatoon to build the new Remai Modern art gallery, has sued one of the subcontractors that worked on the gallery project for $2 million. Two other subcontractors have sued EllisDon over the project.
The most intriguing lawsuit was filed on March 30, 2016, by EllisDon against Saskatoon’s Dynamic Glass & Door Ltd., seeking $2,047,090.32 in compensation. The statement of claim alleges Dynamic, which was contracted to install glass and an exterior curtain wall, failed to perform its work properly and on time.
Allegations contained in statements of claim have not been proven in court.
In addition to the $2 million, the claim against Dynamic envisions a possible lawsuit by the city against EllisDon resulting from Dynamic’s alleged failure to live up to its contract. EllisDon wants Dynamic to pay the possible costs of any successful lawsuit by the city.
“EllisDon states that it is entitled to recover the amount of any liquidated damages incurred by it to the City of Saskatoon under the Prime Contract as a result of Dynamic’s default,” the statement of claim says.
Dynamic filed a statement of defence and counterclaim on May 10, 2016, denying it had failed to perform the work properly or on schedule.
Dynamic further claims it suffered a loss of $1,675,535 and additional lost profits to be proven at trial. The legal dispute moved to mediation on Oct. 12, 2016.
Both the statement of claim and statement of defence agree Dynamic was contracted to do work for $3,565,175. EllisDon says change orders reduced the contract by $328,340, while Dynamic denies this.
EllisDon’s statement of claim estimates the total loss it suffered for having to complete Dynamic’s contract and correct “deficiencies” at more than $3.1 million.
Dynamic’s statement of defence acknowledges the glazing and curtain wall were projected to be mostly complete by September 2014, but alleges the work was delayed due to failures on the part of EllisDon, including “poor co-ordination” by EllisDon of subcontractors and the architect, as well as a lack of clarity and “discrepancies between, missing information from and changes to the specifications, drawings and designs.”
Dynamic also claims EllisDon did not respond to requests for information. Dynamic says as a result of the delays allegedly caused by EllisDon, work on installing the glass and curtain wall did not begin until Oct. 20, 2014. Dynamic says the work it was supposed to perform is better suited to summer months, so doing the work in the winter further hurt production.
Saskatoon city council has been told the delays that plagued the gallery and ultimately led to its failure to open in the spring of 2016 were linked to drawings that needed to be corrected. The gallery opened on Oct. 21, more than a year late.
The city awarded the gallery contract to EllisDon in 2013, after the company submitted a lower bid ($79 million) than either Graham Construction ($80.2 million) or PCL ($81.6 million). EllisDon’s bid was revised to $76.8 million when approved by council in March 2013.
At that time, construction on the gallery project, which included an underground parkade and upgrades to the adjacent Persephone Theatre, was slated to begin on March 19, 2013, and be substantially complete on Nov. 23, 2015.
In addition to the delays, the combined cost to build the gallery project is now estimated at more than $104 million.
The city has also said the project remains close to $4 million over budget.
The gallery is funded by a combination of city, provincial and federal money, as well as private donations.
Dynamic’s statement of defence also claims EllisDon failed to completely pay the subcontractor what was owed in the amount of $988,202.82.
Two other subcontractors have sued EllisDon alleging it failed to pay invoices in full in relation to the Remai Modern: Regina’s Skyline Building Envelope Solutions Inc. and Saskatoon’s Ride on Concrete Ltd.
Skyline filed a lawsuit on Oct. 4, claiming it is owed $254,001.45 for its work on the art gallery.
Skyline says in its statement of claim that it was contracted to install a modified bituminous membrane roofing system and a rubberized asphalt waterproofing system.
Skyline also claims EllisDon owes it money for work on two other projects: Saskatoon’s Willowgrove School ($153,432.88) and the Kerrobert Health Centre ($54,854.52).
In a statement of claim filed on Aug. 6, 2016, Ride On Concrete alleges EllisDon still owed $83,159.15 for its work on the Remai Modern. EllisDon filed a statement of defence on Sept. 15, 2016, saying Ride On failed to perform its work and it cost $180,000 for EllisDon to remedy the problems.
The dispute with Ride On moved to mediation and the claims were discontinued earlier this year.
City of Saskatoon solicitor Patricia Warwick said in an email Wednesday that the outcome of the existing litigation involving the art gallery will not affect any decisions by the city.
Warwick declined to answer whether the city is planning any legal action and added the city does not comment on contractor performance.
“There are a number of discussion points on cost and delay between the city and its builder,” Warwick wrote. “These have yet to be resolved and will affect the final status of the contract.”