/
ABOUT THE CASE, CLAIM, OR ISSUE
When a hotel filed a standard-of-care lawsuit against its architect, the law firm representing the architect’s insurance carrier called upon YA/Guardian’s forensic engineers to investigate. While the lawsuit alleged many defects and issues, the largest and most consequential claim involved the structure’s edifice. The hotel owner claimed the precast concrete building was supposed to be covered with an aesthetic metal façade. (The metal cladding shown in the photo above is for illustrative purposes only; it is not a photograph of the building from this specific case.)
ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION
After reviewing construction documents and deploying to the construction site, YA/Guardian’s engineer could readily see that the metal cladding did not align with attachment points in the precast concrete walls. Typically, steel plates are cast into the walls to provide points where external steel can be secured. Based upon a review of the blueprints and follow-up conversations, the metal edifice was a design-build component within the larger project. The architect had provided a number of attachment points for the edifice but based on the ultimate design of the edifice some adjustment of the attachment points was a possibility. The submission of the edifice design and loading points was never submitted to the architect. Therefore, some of the attachment points provided lacked sufficient capacity or were not in alignment. Additional attachments needed to be designed and installed in order to secure the edifice to the building.
ABOUT THE RESOLUTION
While the case could have cost the insurance company around 750k, counsel’s work together with Guardian/YA support reduced the payout to a nominal fee. The general contractor never admitted fault, but it was obvious to all parties that the standard of care argument against the architect was simply subterfuge for their own coordination failure.
ABOUT GUARDIAN & YA GROUP
Providing insurance carriers and their counsel the pragmatic forensic support they need to resolve cases successfully and efficiently, the team of experts at Guardian, now a division of YA Group, is unmatched. Today’s unified construction defect team, operating across the U.S. as well as in Mexico and England, offers you the breadth and depth of construct defect expertise you need to prevail in negotiations and in court. When your construction defect cases require not only proven, specialized expertise but rapid response times, clear communication and problem-solving collaboration, this is the team you can count on. Kindly call on YA Group today.