Dive Brief:

• The general contractor for the Gaillard Center in Charleston, SC, Skanska-Trident, has filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the project’s three architectural firms and a project management company alleging negligence and breach of warranty of plans and specifications, which it said led to delays and cost overruns, according to the Post and Courier. Skanska-Trident, whose contract was worth $110 million, delivered the project six months late and is seeking $20 million in damages for each of its three causes of action and a jury trial.
• Skanska-Trident struck an agreement with Charleston to perform the renovation and expansion under a maximum guaranteed price contract. However, Skanska said that it was impossible to meet the city’s budget because, unbeknownst to them, the plans were grossly incomplete.
• Skanska said in a statement that the company tried to work out a settlement for extra costs and time allowances with the city, but the city refused to negotiate unless the designers agreed to participate, which they declined to do "in a timely manner," according to the Post and Courier. City officials said the costs for the project came in at $6 million over the amount of Skanska-Trident’s contract.

Dive Insight:

Skanska said the structural drawing and finish details were so incomplete that, over a three-year period, architects David M. Schwarz Architects, Earl Swensson Associates and Evans & Schmidt Architects, in response to 1,440 requests for information from Skanska-Trident, had to issue 1,065 drawing sheet revisions, 37 architectural supplemental instructions and 154 construction change directives in order to achieve a complete design, according to the Post and Courier reported.

The Gaillard Center, with its 1,800-seat concert hall, theater and administrative wing, was a priority project for Mayor Joe Riley as his term ended. The revamped center is expected to open in the next few months.

Skanska could also be in for a future legal battle in Miami, as the funding for the $300 million, under-construction Frost Museum of Science has run out because the museum could not raise enough money. City officials said Skanska, who has a $101 million contract, is due to be paid $5 million to $7 million at the end of January, but the museum will not be able to make that or any further payments.