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Saturday, July 25, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Related Documents
Sun Archives
- Company that missed CityCenter flaws might face suspension (7-24-2009)
- Harmon inspector lacked experience (7-1-2009)
- Editorial: Easing up on oversight (6-14-2009)
- CityCenter inspectors told: Easy on the paper (6-11-2009)
- Harmon flaws haven’t brought big fallout (5-27-2009)
- Perini redirects blame for errors at Harmon (2-9-2009)
- Adaptation or ‘disaster’?: Depends on your view of the Harmon (2-8-2009)
- County wants proof CityCenter structures are free of defects (2-6-2009)
- Watchers were not watched (1-15-2009)
- How did CityCenter tower flaws persist? (1-8-2009)
- MGM Mirage cancels CityCenter condo project (1-7-2009)
- CityCenter hotel project slowed by corrective work (9-17-2008)
Beyond the Sun
The discovery of 15 floors of major construction flaws at CityCenter’s Harmon Hotel last year shut down the project for a time, forced MGM Mirage to redesign the building and left numerous questions in its wake.
Among them: Why had the county-approved private inspectors hired by MGM Mirage to inspect the Harmon issued numerous false reports stating that the reinforcing steel was according to plans? Were they knowingly not doing their jobs, or merely incompetent?
Responding to a county request for judgment, an administrative hearing officer this week became the first to officially weigh in on that subject. He said the inspectors hired by Converse Consultants didn’t simply err accidentally, but rather must not have been conducting thorough inspections even though signing documents saying they were.
Converse Consultants could be punished with a suspension of up to six months from taking on new projects in Clark County, according to the county building department’s interpretation of the hearing officer’s order, released Friday afternoon.
If approved by Development Services Director Ron Lynn, and if Converse does not appeal, the suspension would be the latest fallout of the major construction flaws discovered a year ago at the Harmon.
An engineer on the project found that subcontractor Pacific Coast Steel had wrongly installed 15 floors of reinforcing steel. Neither private inspectors employed by Converse nor county monitors reported the problems.
The discovery, coupled with the recession, prompted MGM Mirage to cut the planned height of the building in half, cancel 200 planned condo units and delay the project.
In April, Pacific Coast Steel agreed to pay $14,105 in administrative fees to the Nevada Contractors Board in a settlement after an investigation. The subcontractor did not admit fault.
Project owners in the county are required to hire approved special inspectors to oversee complicated construction practices.
Converse, a company headquartered in Monrovia, Calif., was hired by MGM Mirage to oversee much of the construction at the $8.4 billion CityCenter project.
After a hearing on June 30, hearing officer Charles Thomas wrote that he had seen sufficient evidence that Converse inspectors Scott Edberg and Joseph Glenn Laurente had falsified 62 daily reports to say they had observed and approved reinforcing steel work at the Harmon.
The reports stated that “all reinforcements were verified in accordance with sheet/details listed above for bar sizes, grades, lap lengths, clearances and quantities prior to placement,” Thomas said.
Although Edberg and Laurente had issued reports noting problems on some levels of the Harmon, they issued no reports indicating structural steel problems on floors 5 through 20, Thomas said.
Therefore, he said, “Converse’s assumption that the assigned Special Inspectors erred in their individual inspections is not correct.” Instead, the inspectors must not have been fulfilling their duty to thoroughly inspect the rebar installations.
Thomas also found that Edberg and Laurente’s superiors at Converse did not train and supervise them properly.
Laurente has told county officers that his Harmon work was the first time he ever read construction plans, despite having received a degree in civil engineering.
Converse attorney Greg Gilbert said in an interview Friday that the company has “a great deal of disputes with the factual findings” but said Converse has not decided whether to appeal.
Converse disagrees with Thomas’ interpretation of the training Converse was required to provide its inspectors, Gilbert said.
Converse attorney Melissa Orien added that Thomas had ignored key evidence in determining that Edberg and Laurente were not thorough in their inspections.
In a preliminary decision after reviewing Thomas’ findings, Lynn said, Converse could be suspended for a maximum of six months. The company could still conduct inspections on projects it is working on, with increased monitoring by the county building department during that time, Lynn said.
Lynn said Converse could be reinstated after the Harmon problems are fixed, after all CityCenter sites where Harmon performed work are reinspected by another agency, and after the county reviews the company’s special inspection program.
Neither Converse attorneys nor county officials could say how many projects Converse is contracted to inspect.
Despite the construction slowdown in the county, Lynn said in an interview that disallowing Converse to take on new work for six months would be a “significant hit” for the company, which he says is fair given the seriousness of the allegations.
“I feel there’s a managerial deficiency here as well as direct inspector deficiency,” Lynn said.
Edberg has been removed from a list of qualified county inspectors and no longer works for Converse. Lynn agreed with Thomas in ordering his qualifications to be a special inspector revoked.
Laurente was removed as a reinforcing steel inspector but still is approved as a soils inspector in the county. Thomas recommended he be suspended from serving as an inspector. Lynn said Laurente could be reconsidered for approval after he passes a structural plans review class and retakes a certification exam.
Converse and the inspectors have until Aug. 1 to file an appeal. If they appeal, the suspensions won’t kick in until after the appeal is resolved by Lynn following another hearing.
Edberg and Laurente could not be reached for comment.
what a joke vegas construction is,so much for hiring so called union workers because of the so called quality of the work.these union workers must be from the bottom of the barrel to have installed 15 floors incorrectly.yet they are not being held accountable.what a joke,these union workers have no self pride or they would admit they are not qualified to carry a union card.can't blame this one on non union workers. so much for their business agents to,everyone involved should give back what they were paid since they did not do their job,lowlifes.
Billm,
If you knew anything about what went on there,before you spout off at the mouth. The inspectors are not union card carrying members. They are management not rank and file union members. Management dictates the pace of the job. Since you are not nor probably never will set foot on a construction site, how the hell do you know what went on. Just what you read in the papers that's real accurate.
I am not saying the rank and file aren't at fault.A construction crew weather it be concrete, carpentry, mechanical,or electrical have to perform at the pace that management wants it done. Building casinio's they want them done ASAP. It is money they are losing every day that it isn't up and running.
The reality is a number of rank and file members probably questioned why they were doing things the way they were doing them. If you speak up or question them you get labeled as a trouble maker and down the road you will be sent. If you were in there shoes would you speak up? Knowing you more than likely would lose your job then become black listed from that contractor. That is the reality of what construction workers union or non union face on big fast paced projects. The job will go on weather you are there or not. They will just bring in another member to replace you and he better keep his mouth shut or he will be down the road. Blame and cast stones all you want until you have been in there shoes you just don't know.
ya, i can't WAIT to buy a condo or stay the night at city center.
this is the next "new coke" in american business.
Inspectors fault! Don't blame unions they have made America the leader of the world in production, great jobs, great economy and a secure future for all it's members. Ooops, that was 60 years ago before they went too far with wages and benefits and skimming money from members. Used to be in teamsters, they killed three companys I drove for. Got out and am happy I did. With unions sucking the companys dry they also help them cover up shortchanging the job. When labor unions were first organised they were needed but they then got too powerfull and greedy sort of like our current government. Unions are why we pay so much for manufactured goods in this country and why we don't have a work force of hard working Americans who are just thankfull for being able to work and bring home a paycheck that isn't 200% what it should be to support our family. This country has become all about greed and the hell with everything else!
unions protect the lazy bums, especially friends and relatives of bussiness agents who go from job to job getting fired or laid off !11 alot of hard working union members sit on the hiring bench while bums go from job to job. it is strange that companies like perini or mgm cannot see this !!1 bussiness agents get their relatives and friends hired and most of these people are either stewards or foremans and they could not even stock shelves at wal mart !!1
....the 3rd party QAA didn't do their job; and the county building inspectors weren't there to verify that the QAA was being completed.
end of story....culpability falls upon both the 3rd party QAA and the County Inspectors who were supposed to be the final say....the county inspectors did not verify that the QAA's were being done let alone being done correctly....thus their push to over-manage/comply all construction now going on in the county.
sadly, MGM/Mirage got screwed by their own 3rd party QAA company, and the county didn't do their job to make sure all was correct.....why bother to pay for permits and inspections???
Good thing the cost of permits has gone up, and now there are FEWER inspectors to perform the work. /sarcasm
A revelation by inspector Joseph Glenn Laurente was contained in documents the county released Tuesday after a hearing addressing the role private inspectors played in mistakes at the Harmon.
Wasn't this a private company hired by MGM Mirage?