Claridge Icon [505 Preston St] | 143m | 45 fl | Completed

[c_speed3108]

They are using Bellai Brothers Construction.

The stop work order was for two items:

1) for materials to be stacked to prevent tipping

2) the employer to install a fall protection system


I suspect those would not take too long to rectify. The CBC article from March 26th indicates that #1 was completed, and #2 still needed to happen

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by daud

I'm no expert, and not in real estate or development, but wouldn't claridge be hiring a construction firm to manage the project? Wouldn't they not be directly involved in the actual construction?

I could be way off base here, just asking the question. My understanding would be they'd outsource the actual project work to be performed to their specifications with a standard contract.

I think it was more common in the days of Campeau and Teron to see the developer also be the builder of its projects. Nowadays, developers hire subcontractors, be it Claridge, Minto, Richcraft or any one else.

In any case, I think the developer should be held responsible for any work accidents regardless because it is their site and they should be responsible for frequent site inspections.

[ServiceGuy]

Originally Posted by daud

My understanding would be they'd outsource the actual project work to be performed to their specifications with a standard contract.

These companies are called "home builders" but they don't actually build anything themselves. It's all subbed out to various companies that do the specific work needed. The one area that can change is sometimes the "home builder" will hire a general contractor to manage the entire project like Richcraft did for Galleria 2 (Pomerleau and Broccolini come to mind) or often the "home builder" will mange the project themselves and all various subtrades. Claridge hired Bellai to form and pour the concrete... Bellai would have subcontracted the rebar to a company like Harris. You can actually end up with three or four levels of subcontractors depending on the way contracts are written. No idea on how the bottom guy still makes money though given each level would take a cut of profit. Over all Claridge or any other builder is responsible for the safety of their site but if an incident occurs specific to one trade's involvement the investigation will be mostly based on that companies actions and procedures. I talked to a few Bellai guys and it seems to me the news is sensationalizing this a little bit given the coincidence of being two years to the day of Olivier's unfortunate death. I was told the guy hurt last week was out of the hospital within a couple hours, was tied off at the time, and that this was just a freak accident that can happen when building highrise.

COMMENTARY (and only my personal opinion): I have been to many different highrise projects from different builders in Ottawa given what I do for a living and I can not say any one company is bad at safety issues. They all put a ton of time, effort, and money into it at the corporate level but it tends to vary more based on the specific site and how much the site super adheres to the MOL guidelines. ANY worker has the right to refuse work if they feel a safety issue is concerned and protected by law from any reprisal. I have no doubt this was not from negligence but rather just something that happened that could not really be prevented or foreseen. If you want to see safety issues on a construction site just look at the LRT project.

[J.OT13]

I can't speak for this incident, but what happened to the young man 2 years ago was nothing short of gross negligence from both the developer and the sub-contractors.

[ServiceGuy]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I can't speak for this incident, but what happened to the young man 2 years ago was nothing short of gross negligence from both the developer and the sub-contractors.

Based solely on news reports you would be correct but there is often more to the story that isn't news worthy. If gross negligence was involved there would be charges by now. Yes, there is a court case scheduled for May 2019 but I bet it goes no where. What happened to Olivier is tragic and I am not dismissing the situation in the least. What I am saying is there is often way more to the story than what we hear from the CBC and/or union officials. Claridge has been dead quiet on this but that is most likely based on legal advice as long is the issue is before the courts. I have been involved in highrise construction for almost 15 years now. I was on site when an elevator tech fell down the shaft and when a pedestrian was killed by a dump truck (different builders). We all love to see these buildings go up (for better or worse) but highrise is still a dangerous job even though workers no longer need to walk the steel beams hundreds of feet up. In those 15 years I have only refused work once that I felt was unsafe and it wasn't a corporate request, it was from the site foreman but I am also not normally involved at the open slab structural stages either.

[BlueJay]

Originally Posted by daud

I'm no expert, and not in real estate or development, but wouldn't claridge be hiring a construction firm to manage the project? Wouldn't they not be directly involved in the actual construction?

I could be way off base here, just asking the question. My understanding would be they'd outsource the actual project work to be performed to their specifications with a standard contract.

Claridge is the Construction Firm. They are the "Constructor" on the MOL notice of project. The site is under direct supervision from a Claridge Site Supervisor. They are a General Contractor which is common practice on most projects. They hire sub-contractors to perform the various tasks associated with specific trades. Clardige at most would have a few labourers, and believe it or not, a safety representative. Each sub-contractor is responsible for safety however, Claridge is responsible for the overall safety and if they would practice due dillengence, they would not be issued orders by the MOL as they have on this project a few times now.

Some projects are owned by the developer like the Icon, ans some are not like the SOBA project which is owned by Lamb in which he hired a developer (Doran) to construct the building.

[BlueJay]

[QUOTE=acottawa;8133348]

Originally Posted by BlueJay

Thanks for clarifying.

Still, a single 95 DB power tool at 50 metres (which is farther than the closest houses) would still be over 50 db (at least according to this calculator http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu...c/isprob2.html). Until the building is enclosed it would be hard to do much.

In some cases they may be right, but other factors such as weather conditions, wind, sound absorbing materials present etc. could also play a factor in varying the DB readings. I have personally been through a few instances on projects where noise was a concern and had to monitor sounds levels. It was quite suprising how loud you think it is and it's not, and how quiet you think it is and it's the total opposite.

[daud]

[daud]

[IMG][/IMG]

[daud]

any idea how to resize a photo posting to something a bit smaller?

I tried reducing the image size on the site but it seems to have no impact on the size of the post here. I have a few other shots of other buildings but would love to figure out how to reduce image size first.

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by daud

[IMG][/IMG]

This trick seems to work:
https://thomas.vanhoutte.be/miniblog...umbnail-trick/

[daud]

Testing H size:

[daud]

thanks for the tip @rocketphish. the H size gives 1024x1024 which seems perfect for this board.

[GeneralLeeTPHLS]

Great updates Daud! They're great. I recommend keeping the size the way it is, any smaller is too small. Heck, it would be better to enlarge them by a bit.

[kevinbottawa]

I haven't driven by this site since it was on the third floor. I've only seen it from the highway, but seeing it in this picture, it looks big already.

[cr872190]

Has work restarted at this site since the accident?

[jitterbug]

Originally Posted by cr872190

Has work restarted at this site since the accident?

Yes, in fact every day since then, except this Wednesday due to the rain and snow and wind. Though the project was in the news yet again about collapsed scaffolding from the wind. I still say this tower is jinxed.

[dhottawa729]

Tower crane was raised up quite a bit today. They seem to be on a pretty consistent schedule now as they’ve been forming the walls on a new floor every second Friday for the past 6 weeks. They’re on floor 9 at the moment.

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by dhottawa729

Tower crane was raised up quite a bit today. They seem to be on a pretty consistent schedule now as they’ve been forming the walls on a new floor every second Friday for the past 6 weeks. They’re on floor 9 at the moment.

I popped into the sales centre on Thursday. The podium of this thing is pretty huge and imposing already. It's not Toronto big but it's a big condo for Ottawa!

[JHikka]

flickr, me