Partner Jeffrey Respler Discusses Quantum Condo Association’s Construction Defect Lawsuit in Daily Business Review

The firm’s lawsuits alleging major construction defects against the developer, general contractor, architect and engineers behind Miami’s Quantum on the Bay condominium towers were the subject of an article by the Daily Business Review that appeared in the June 16, 2014, edition of the newspaper. The lawsuits allege that the defendants’ work resulted in hundreds of defects, including stucco and HVAC problems as well as inadequate drainage that has led to severe flooding in the community’s fitness center and loading dock.

Firm Partner Jeffrey S. Respler is quoted in the article indicating that “[t]he unit owners want to have the property that should have been delivered to them. At the end of the day, we’re not looking for a windfall. We’re only looking to be made whole.”

The lawsuit names as defendants developer Terra ADI-International Bayshore LLC, builder Facchina-McGaughan LLC, architect Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates Inc., contractor Fred McGilvray Inc., and engineers Florida Engineering Services Inc., VSN Engineering Inc., Gopman Consulting Engineers Inc. and John J. Kirlin LLC, a Maryland-based firm that specializes in plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

“The biggest problem is whenever there’s even a minor rain event, there’s flooding,” explains Respler in the report. “Every single day, the association people have to go out and pump the drainage wells in this luxury development. If not, there’s flooding – even when there’s no rain.”

The article describes how sandbags are being used at the property to keep water out of a service area during storms, and residents have been forced to have repairs made to swamped elevators.

Respler concludes: “The parties who we know are responsible are pointing fingers at each other. We are just the end users. We weren’t there when it was being built. The bottom-line fix is we’re probably going to have to move the drains to the front of the property. The speculation is the building was built too low.”

Click here to read the complete article in the DBR’s website (registration required).