Two years later: Vancouver's Olympic Village suffering from substandard construction. Contractor say

[MIPS]

[quote]The Olympic Village’s $36-million community centre — touted as a showcase of environmental sustainability — is being plagued with water leaks less than two years after it opened.

Now a union boss who raised concerns about the quality of construction at Vancouver’s Olympic Village says the problems at the Creekside Community Recreation Centre’s washrooms and change rooms are indicative of substandard construction practices he was worried about three years ago.

“The construction practices were questionable to start with,” said Lee Loftus, business manager of the insulators’ union, who went public in 2009 with photos of improperly insulated pipes at then under-construction condos which would have led to energy loss and condensation, and possibly mould and mildew.

“When you pay that kind of money, and you pay extra money to build something that’s sustainable, you should get money for the value you spend. You shouldn’t get crappy construction practices that cheat you from the value.”

Six washrooms and change rooms at Creekside, which opened September 2010, had to be ripped out after problems were discovered in the water membranes four months ago. Four have been fixed, while two are expected to reopen in the next two weeks.

“Water is challenging,” said Danica Djurkovic, the City of Vancouver’s director of facilities planning. “It’s one of those things. You can’t do patchwork. We have to re-do all the washrooms and change rooms’ membranes.”

Because the membranes are behind tiles, city repair crews have had to tear down walls to fix the problem — at a price tag of $135,000.
[B]
Djurkovic said such problems are to be expected in the 45,000-square foot building, considering the project’s scope[/B].

“We would love to have no deficiencies but in real life there are issues.”

But Loftus wasn’t buying it. [B]“That’s bulls---,”[/B] he said, adding he hasn’t seen the water leakage first-hand, but believes the problem was likely the product of budget constraints, tight deadlines and improper installation that didn’t undergo proper testing before drywalls or tiles were put up.

Tom Sigurdson, executive director of the B.C. and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council, said water leaks not even two years into the life of a building are a sign of shoddy construction.

“Things that are properly constructed should last more than one lifetime,” he said.

“Buildings that are shoddy in terms of construction, whether it’s the material used or unskilled labour that is used to put a building up, aren’t going to last anywhere near as long.”

The repairs are no longer under warranty, but the city is negotiating with the builder to recoup the cost, said Djurkovic.

“Water leaks are not acceptable to us in an operating facility like this ... with many users,” she said.

The Creekside rec centre, which houses a childcare centre, fitness centre, dance studio and several multi-purpose rooms, was certified a LEED Canada platinum building — the first Canadian community centre to receive such a designation.

Djurkovic said the rec centre’s water leaks has nothing to do with the insulation issues at the Olympic Village condos three years ago.

The water membrane problem also does not affect the building’s LEED platinum status, she said.
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[url=http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/year+Olympic+Village+community+centre+already+needs+repairs+water+leaks/6912512/story.html]**MILDEW**[/url]

It was mentioned in the news years ago that during construction the government paid mexicans to move up here to build all the venues. They're still here and they are they are horrible contractors. Not to be racist but you ask anyone around here who wants something built and they would recommend anyone else besides the mexicans because they are the only people new enough to the city to not know of the Leaky Condo scandal ten years ago so they don't know the ins and outs yet on how cheaply to build stuff.

[Divaya]

As a Canadian who lives near the area, I can vouch for the fact that we do not know how to build housing.

[Lonkost]

As an american in canada who has friends who live there, the olympic village appartments are quite nice inside. Expensive, but nice. Shame to hear about the leaking considering it rains 8 days a week most times.

[Implosive]

Jesus christ... It's already been two years?