The Observatory (North Vancouver): Owners of leaky Cressey condo tower face huge repair bill
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
| Citation: | The Owners, Strata Plan VR2771 v. Cressey Dev. Corp. et al |
|
| 2004 BCSC 748 |
Date: 20040603
Docket: A963128
Registry: Vancouver
Between:
The Owners, Strata Plan VR2771
Plaintiff
And:
Cressey Development Corporation, A.M. Fifteen Holdings Ltd., Nacel Properties Ltd.,
PAC Architecture Ltd. formerly known as the Hulbert Group B.C. Ltd., Richard E. Hulbert, Raymond M. Pradinuk, Richard E. Hulbert and Raymond M. Pradinuk doing business as the Hulbert Group, Sterling, Cooper & Associates Ltd., Almetco Building Products Ltd., Continental Mechanical Ltd., Eltex Enterprises Ltd., Hil-Ron Cladding Ltd., Intertek Testing Services NA Ltd./Services d’Essais Intertek AN Ltée, Koplin Enterprises Ltd., Prestige Glass Ltd., Preswitt Manufacturing Ltd., and the City of North Vancouver
Defendants
And:
Almetco Building Products Ltd., Continental Mechanical Ltd., Eltex Enterprises Inc.,
Hil-Ron Cladding Ltd., Intertek Testing Services NA Ltd./Services d’Essais Intertek AN Ltée, Koplin Enterprises Ltd., PAC Architecture Ltd. formerly known as the Hulbert Group British Columbia Ltd., Richard E. Hulbert, Raymond M. Pradinuk, Richard E. Hulbert, and
Raymond M. Pradinuk doing business as the Hulbert Group, Prestige Glass Ltd., Preswitt Manufacturing Ltd., Sterling Cooper & Associates Ltd., Tremco Ltd./Tremco Ltee, and
the City of North Vancouver
Third Parties
Before: The Honourable Mr. Justice Chamberlist
Reasons for Judgment
| Counsel for the plaintiff: | D. Miachika |
| Counsel for the defendant and third party Intertek Testing Services NA Ltd./ Services d’Essais Intertek AN Ltée
| G.B. Gomery
|
| Counsel for the defendants Cressey Development Corporation, A.M. Fifteen Holdings Limited, Nacel Properties Ltd.
| S. Boothman
|
| Also appearing but taking no position on behalf of
|
|
| PAC Architecture Ltd. formerly known as the Hulbert Group B.C. Ltd.
| M. Spector
|
| Preswitt Manufacturing Ltd.
| P. Gordon
|
| City of North Vancouver
| L. Krebs
|
| Prestige Glass Ltd. | C. Gleadow
|
| Date and Place of Hearing: | February 16, 17, 2004 March 18, 19, 2004 |
|
| Vancouver, B.C. |
NATURE OF APPLICATION
[1] This is the application of the defendant and third party Intertek Testing Services NA Ltd./Services d’Essais Intertek AN Ltée (“ITS”) for orders dismissing the within action and the third party claims against the applicant. The applicant also claims that the plaintiff and defendant third parties Cressey Development Corporation (“Cressey”) and A.M. Fifteen Holdings Ltd. pay its costs of the action.
ISSUES
[2] The within action was commenced on September 24, 1996 and the statement of claim filed some two years later on December 11, 1998. The within motion was filed August 28, 2003. When the matter first came before me in February 2004 I expunged certain portions of the applicant’s primary affidavit material (affidavit #2 of Lawrence Gibson, sworn August 27, 2003) but gave liberty to the applicant to file additional affidavit material of the deponent Lawrence Gibson.
[3] The issue of whether or not this was a suitable matter to be disposed of on an 18A application was made a threshold argument at the commencement of this summary trial. I determined that suitability would be addressed first and if I found the issue to be suitable for an 18A disposition then I would hear from the respondents on the merits. At this time I have only heard from the respondents on the suitability issue although I have heard from the applicant on suitability and the merits.
BACKGROUND
[4] This litigation involves what has become known in the vernacular as “leaky condo” litigation. The Observatory building (“the Observatory”) is a 73 unit, 26 floor high rise residential strata development located at 120 West Second Street, North Vancouver, B.C. The Observatory suffers from a progressive and ongoing building envelope failure due to exterior water ingress. The original developer was Cressey. It, along with its affiliate A.M. Fifteen Holdings Ltd., built the Observatory in about 1989 and 1990 and over the next several years the 73 strata lots were sold.
[5] The action was originally commenced by the plaintiff owners against Cressey, the architects and a mechanical consultant. Additional parties, including ITS, were subsequently joined as defendants. Ultimately Cressey third partied ITS seeking contribution and indemnity in relation to the direct claims made against it. The owner retained Halsall Associates Limited (“Halsall”) to conduct an investigation of the exterior building envelope.
[6] In November 2000 Halsall issued its report where it identified deficiencies in the building envelope including the exterior cladding comprising of exterior insulation finish system (“EIFS”), which it opined permitted water ingress to the building’s interior.
[7] As a result of its investigations, Halsall recommended, and the owners agreed, to proceed with a progressive repair of the building envelope, including initial repairs to the EIFS cladding. These initial repairs were completed. To date the plaintiff owners have incurred some $860,000.00 in remediation costs to the building and anticipate future renovation costs of some $3.5 million. (More)
