Contractor Blames New Architect For Delays

     At first, ARCADD of West Newton, the former architect for the Falmouth High School renovation now mired in litigation with the town, shouldered much of the blame for the troublesome project that is more than a year and a half behind schedule and $19 million over budget.
     In recent months that blame has shifted to TLT Construction Corporation of Wakefield, the general contractor, for its lack of manpower on site and refusal to commit to a completion date of August 8 for phase one of the project. These issues have been exacerbated by allegations that the town overpaid the firm $2 million for work that has not been completed since the project began.
     This criticism is not sitting well with one TLT official who fired back at both architect DiNisco Design Partnership of Boston and project manager Gilbane Building Company of Needham in multiple letters over the past week. They are in response to recent letters sent from DiNisco Design instructing TLT to finish phase one by the first week of August and demanding the construction firm repay the town the $2 million in overpayments.
     In his letters, Christopher R. Cormier, executive vice president of TLT, argues that the other two firms are just as culpable as his for delays on the project.
     “It is important that either DDP or Gilbane be a bit more honest and forthright with the Building Committee and Selectmen and explain the truth of the matter,” Mr. Cormier wrote. “Own up to the failures of each one of your firm’s performance on this project and stop hiding behind the shield TLT has been providing. It is high time your firms take responsibility for your actions and explain to the committee the real reason that this project cannot be completed by 8-8-08.”
     Among the reasons he gives for not being able to finish phase one, which includes House A and 10 classrooms and the cafeteria in House B, is that there has been a lack of direction given by DiNisco Design to numerous construction questions, some of which were posed over a year ago.
     That includes the type of wood trim and finish needed for the auditorium. “The delay in issuing direction as to the wood material approval cost us over three months in releasing the order and is the single biggest delay in the auditorium,” he wrote in a letter last Monday.
     Even after repeated requests, the letter goes on to say, DiNisco Design did not provide direction on this issue until the end of last month. The delays, Mr. Cormier writes, will require overtime by the painting subcontractor to finish by September 1. This could have been avoided, he claimed, if DiNisco had provided “timely direction, and the wood could have been ordered well in advance.”
     When answers to construction questions are not provided in a timely fashion, Mr. Cormier said in a phone interview yesterday, it impacts the entire project. “When you hit an obstacle that doesn’t allow you to go forward, when you stop and wait for an answer, it affects the flow of the job,” he said.
     He admitted that many of the issues concern the existing construction drawings, something not necessarily DiNisco Design’s fault. Those issues, he said, still require direction from DiNisco, which, when delayed, can translate to subcontractors leaving the site. That adds to the difficulty, he said, because “then you have to get them back once you have an answer.”
     Further complicating the construction, Mr. Cormier said, is the fact that DiNisco Design changed the design on June 27 for phase one, adding work that relates directly to life safety issues.
     This includes mandating that TLT renovate an additional stairwell, altering the partitions and egress to the temporary classrooms, and changing the proscenium of the stage. In his letter to DiNisco Design, Mr. Cormier writes, these changes cast an undue burden on TLT. “Why was this not brought forward a year ago, or even six months ago?” he asked. In May, he said DiNisco confirmed the direction of the project, then changed it in June.
     “The limit of work that needs to be turned over was expanded and your office insists on holding the arbitrary date of 8-8-08 with threats of contacting our bonding company,” he wrote. “Your office and Gilbane should be severely sanctioned for allowing the scope of work to be changed less than five weeks to the completion date, when not one fact has changed over the last year.”
     The change in design, Mr. Cormier wrote, has impacted numerous issues, such as the stage curtains, which had previously been reviewed in detail over a year ago. “Since that time none of the facts have changed, but DDP waited over a year to deal with this [life safety issues] and now casts blame on TLT for delay,” he wrote.
     Since changing the stage design, DiNisco was slow to choose a color for the curtain, delaying the ordering of the product. “Your office held this color and did not provide direction to us so we could release last week, even after your office specifically indicated we would have this direction on Thursday morning, 7-3-08. I am quite certain you will provide this on Monday 7-7-08, and then in your mind you will have avoided the responsibility for delay again even after wasting another week of precious time,” he wrote.
     Yesterday, Mr. Cormier said, delays like this mean the curtain, needed to finish phase one, will not arrive until after the August 8 due date. Once the curtain arrives, he said, it will need to be installed and tested because it is connected to the fire alarm system. It is one example that illustrates that, regardless of manpower, he said, “if you don’t have the material, you cannot finish work, no matter what.”
     As to when phase one will be finished, Mr. Cormier said it will be complete sometime during the week of August 22. “We will get it done in time before kids get back to school,” he promised. He also called the town’s August 8 date “arbitrary...That is not a date in my contract.”
     Mr. Cormier also refuted DiNisco Design’s claim that the town overpaid TLT nearly $2 million for work not completed. In a letter to the architect last Monday, he contends that the project is not overbilled, and there is roughly $29,000 due to TLT.
     He also took umbrage with the fact that DiNisco Design sent out its requisition letter “which you found necessary to copy everyone, including Town counsel before even sharing your concerns with us.” In the future, he asked DiNisco to “please contact me with any questions before you inform the world the sky is falling when it is not true.”
     Mr. Cormier admitted that the recent communication between DiNisco Design on behalf of the town to TLT is not normal in construction and is very unfortunate.
     He called on DiNisco Design to “change the course of this project and revert back to the team concept that existed a year ago when three entities worked together to solve major problems on a difficult project without pointing fingers and casting blame.”
     To that end, he said yesterday, DiNisco Design has begun to provide answers to many of the outstanding issues concerning phase one. He also commended the architectural firm, saying “they are doing a good job. They just have so many issues left over that it is hard for everybody to keep up.”
     Whether the relationship between TLT and the town will continue is still unknown. Mr. Cormier submitted a proposal to the town for the second phase of the project on May 19 and has yet to hear from the town or participate in any negotiations to extend his firm’s contract.
     Kenneth F. DiNisco and Gary E. Ainslie of DiNisco Design could not be reached for comment.