A state-of-the-art aquatic center in Côte-Saint-Luc, which has cost nearly $20 million in public funds, is showing significant water infiltration less than ten years after its construction.
This Montreal island city’s administration says it has been discovering “major issues” including mold and infiltration at its community and aquatic center for the past three years.
She is now seeking $3 million in a lawsuit against contractor Pomerleau.
The city says it first noticed “flaws” or “poor workmanship” in the roof in May 2019. She would then have noted the presence of “water infiltration in various rooms of the center from the ceilings” and “damage to the external masonry walls,” the document said.
During two inspections later that summer, reconnaissance sections of the roof revealed that “a simple ‘kraft paper’ vapor barrier” was used in the roof, “not sufficient to absorb all the moisture from the swimming pools”. This emerges from the report of an expert commissioned by the city.
It’s working
Conclusion: If you want to hope “that the roof will achieve its normal lifespan of 20 to 25 years”, major work is required, according to the expert. At that time the roof was not even ten years old.
The city was not at the end of its troubles, however. In February 2020, she was told that the building’s “vertical envelope” had “obvious defects.” Then, in December 2021, she noticed two panels of the exterior trim coming loose, followed by another last April.
Photo courtesy of Technorm
Also according to the lawsuit, various experts have found “mold growth up to a height of about 45 centimeters” on one wall of the building and “problems” with 41 exterior panels.
Photo courtesy of Technorm
According to the city, Pomerleau is refusing to do the corrective work, even though the construction came with a 15-year roof warranty.
public funds
The Côte-Saint-Luc Aquatic and Community Center was built in 2010 and 2011 for $18.3 million. The city and the governments of Quebec and Canada each covered one-third of the bill.
Pomerleau denies responsibility for the alleged shortcomings of two of its subcontractors.
However, Toiture Couture claims to have carried out the work “according to the rules of the art”, while the company Isolation Algon has not yet presented its defense.
Pomerleau was the subject of a roughly $1 million lawsuit in 2014 related to another aquatic center, that of Saint-Hyacinthe.
The city claimed “various design and construction flaws,” reported Le Courrier de Saint-Hyacinthe. The lawsuit was settled out of court.
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