Official: Inspectors lacked ‘clout’: Shoddy work resulted in defects at Lied Library, Public Works manager says

Tuesday, March 27, 2001 | 10:32 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- State inspectors "lacked the clout" to stop some of the construction defects at the $40 million Lied Library at UNLV, and these problems could lead to higher maintenance costs, the manager of the state Public Works Board said today.

Manager Dan O'Brien told a joint Senate-Assembly budget subcommittee the building will have a life span of 50 to 60 years. He and Senior Deputy Attorney General Brett Kandt outlined problems associated with construction of the project, which ran over budget and is past the scheduled completion date.

O'Brien said two state inspectors were on the job, but the project has been plagued by turnover. "It was a swinging door. The inspectors came and went," said O'Brien, who took over as manager about four months ago.

At one point the inspectors told the contractor to tear down a wall that was not properly built. The contractor did and started to rebuild. O'Brien said the inspectors again told the contractor of problems, but the contractor continued to work anyway.

"The inspectors didn't have the clout to stop this," he said. "All they could do was throw up their arms."

O'Brien said the agency is working to correct that. In private construction, the project can be red-tagged and a citation can be issued, he told the committee.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said the defects, such as the uneven floors, didn't all come at the end of the project. He suggested the project manager should have caught these. The project manager, O'Brien said, visited the job about once a week.

O'Brien was asked about higher maintenance costs due to the construction faults. "The sloping floors -- there is nothing we can do about that. We have to live with it."

Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the subcommittee, said he understood the roof was leaking. O'Brien said there have been leaks, but they have since been repaired. And the state has a warranty on the roof if there are problems.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, said the students like the new library, but he wondered if there were structural defects with the uneven floors. "The concrete was poured badly. That might be indicative of structural failure."

"At this point there is no indication of structural failure," O'Brien said.

There have been $6.5 million worth of claims filed by the contractor and others against the state for work they said they did, but were not get paid for.

Kandt said those claims are "unsubstantiated." He said there is about $1 million in shoddy work that must be corrected. "We figure they owe us $1 million," Kandt told the committee.

Coffin said there could be subcontractors who were "innocent parties" that did their work and still didn't get paid. He questioned whether the state could deal with them without going through the contractor.

But Kandt said the subcontractors need to look to the general contractor, Tibesar Construction Co., for payment.

"We're not in the business to bankrupt the subs," said Kandt. "But we have to look out for the state's taxpayer dollars."