Work on a new building at the Bagotville base at the heart of a legal saga

The Saguenay-based builder is suing Defense Construction Canada (CDC) for $3.6 million for work it considers exaggerated. The Crown corporation replies that the $50 million building does not comply with the National Building Code and it is suing Cegerco for $6.3 million.

In the spring of 2021, the soldiers linked to the Transport and Electrical and Mechanical Engineering sections of 3^e The Bagotville base wing moved into the new B-371 building at the Bagotville base. This building of 15,000 m² allows, among other things, to house and maintain the airport’s heavy snow removal and runway maintenance vehicles.

For more than three years, Cegerco and CDCDefense Construction Canada do not agree on the solidity of the braces, the steel crosses that are found in the skeleton of the building and which prevent the walls from collapsing in the event of strong winds or earthquakes.

The debate revolves around the solidity of the braces, these steel crosses found in the skeleton of the building. On this model, it is the red “X” in the structure.

Photo: Cegerco website

Fixes requested by Defense Construction Canada

According to documents filed in Superior Court, CDCDefense Construction Canada believes that building 371 does not comply with the National Building Code. It identifies 140 defective braces, including 29 critical assemblies including CDCDefense Construction Canada ask for repair . It is Cegerco’s responsibility to make the required corrections precise CDCDefense Construction Canada.

CDCDefense Construction Canada claims $6.3 million to return the braces judged reviews compliant and compensate for the damage suffered in the entire file.

The state-owned company also indicates that Cegerco and its subcontractor Alma Soudure, which manufactured the braces, were notified at the very beginning of the construction site, in November 2017, that the equipment was inadequate.

The bracing problem could have been avoided if Cegerco had fulfilled its obligation to deliver a building that complied with the requirements of the plans and specifications. says the document.

CDCDefense Construction Canada adds that had it not been for the stubbornness of Cegerco and Alma Soudure in trying to demonstrate, in vain for more than a year, the conformity of its assembly design instead of proposing a new design, the problem would not have never had the current proportions.

The manufacturer claims $ 3.6 million

Initially, it was Cegerco that filed a lawsuit for $3.6 million against the state-owned company. In the originating application, Cegerco accuses CDCDefense Construction Canada to have provoked extremely long delays caused by illegal, belated, anarchic and abusive decisions when it was necessary to install and then remove reinforcements to the structure in the spring of 2019.

Cegerco is also asking the Court to prohibit the corrective measures requested by CDCDefense Construction Canada to correct the 29 braces deemed critical and which would force it to demolish and rebuild walls.

Legal challenges are piling up over Building 371.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Gilles Munger

Cegerco argues that its expert engineers have calculated that the current design of the vertical bracing connections conforms to the 2015 National Building Code and no changes to Alma’s original design are required.

The Saguenéenne company is asking the court to force CDCDefense Construction Canada to provide him with his calculations to prove beyond any doubt that there really are corrective measures to be taken to the building.

building security

Cegerco executives refused to grant an interview when no one CDCDefense Construction Canada did not respond to our requests.

On the side of National Defence, it was not possible to know if the Canadian army considers that building 371 is safe, even if certain portions of the building don’t answer to the Building Code, according to CDCDefense Construction Canada.

The case will be back in Superior Court next week.