Pan Am soccer stadium lawsuit claims defective steel, mismanagement

A subcontractor who worked on Hamilton's CIBC Pan Am Soccer Stadium claims in a lawsuit the project was mismanaged from the outset and that major defects to the structural steel of the stadium drove up costs and delayed the stadium's completion.

The Lancaster Group, in a construction lien, is suing for $1.84 million, naming Infrastructure Ontario (IO), the City of Hamilton, Ontario Sport Solutions (ONSS) and the three companies that made up the ONSS construction consortium: Kenaidan Construction Ltd, Bouygues Building Canada and Fengate Capital Management Ltd., as defendants.

The Lancaster group, which says it had a contract for sheet metal/duct work, claims it is owed for work done at the site, damages caused by delays and premium wages paid for weekend and night work required in the rush to complete the stadium, also known as Tim Hortons Field.

Company claims steel defects

In its statement of claim, filed in March 2015, Lancaster writes that "the Defendant's delayed the Project from the very beginning by mismanaging the labour and materials involved. As a result the project quickly fell behind schedule."

The lawsuit alleges that there were "major defects" to the structural steel installed at the stadium.

The statement of claim contains allegations that have not been proven in court. No statements of defense have been filed with Hamilton courts.

IO, ONSS and the city have previously acknowledged that there were some structural changes required to the design while the stadium was under construction, but indicated that the scale of those modifications were normal for a "design-build process." The delays to the stadium's completion have been blamed on a cold winter and a bankrupt subcontractor.

Gregory Stack, Kenaidan's vice-president of business development & design build declined to comment on the lawsuit or its claims when contacted by CBC.

IO told CBC News that it is taking steps to remove itself from the claim. Spokesperson Lee Greenberg said the lawsuit "is the result of a lien claim placed against the contractor... As part of our contract with ONSS, the contractor is responsible for vacating liens, not Infrastructure Ontario."

Samuel Gandossi, the projects director at Bouygues Building Canada and spokesperson for ONSS, did not return calls or emails.

Courtney Ihnat, Marketing Manager for Fengate Capital Management, said the company "was not involved in the design-build or project coordination on this project," and directed questions to IO.

Ducting replaced

Lancaster claims that defects in the steel, as well as issues with concrete poured out of order, led to its workers being forced to rip out ducting it had already installed, valued at nearly $2 million. It says it had to later go back and replace the ducting.

Even access to stadium was rife with problems, Lancaster claims.

"Remarkably, it was often the case that Kenaidan and Bouygues (Building Canada Inc.) failed to even coordinate access to the material elevator among the many sub-trades that required its use," reads the lawsuit. "In or about July of 2014 the Project was dangerously behind schedule and at risk of not being complete in time for the Games."

'Scrambling' to get project on schedule

Lancaster was originally scheduled to complete its work a week before the June 30, 2014 deadline for the stadium's completion, but said because of mismanagement of its work "along with other sub-trades," the defendants were "scrambling to get the project back on schedule."

"In the process, Kenaidan and Bouygues created further delays and costs for Lancaster by causing the sub-trades to work out of sequence, stacking other sub-trades in areas of the Project where Lancaster was performing the Subcontracting Work, and failing to have required equipment and materials ready when they are needed," reads Lancaster's statement of claim.

A partially complete, and still under-construction, stadium opened on Sept. 1, 2014, just in time for the Canadian Football League's Labour Day Classic. The stadium officially opened on May 22, 2015, more than 10 months overdue. On it's road to completion, there were at least seven targeted completion dates, all of which were missed.

Still unresolved issues

As of the start of the Pan Am Games, the group has yet to complete all aspects of the stadium, and there is an ongoing obstructed view seat  controversy for the long-overdue stadium.

Previously, Ontario Sports Solutions, blamed a cold winter for construction delays. 

Lancaster claims in the lawsuit that they are still owed $1.17-million, plus HST, in payments from Kenaidan and Bouygues, and an additional $667,737.84 in costs "due to the delay by Defendants."