The controversy over who is responsible for the failure of the epoxy-sealed floors of the new Williamson Co. Juvenile Justice Center took yet another turn last week. On Aug. 18, a claims adjuster from Utica Mutual, the company that insures Austin-based flooring subcontractor Sunrise Commercial Painting, penned a letter to project construction manager, FT Woods Construction Services Inc., saying that the insurance company’s investigation into the flooring situation found that Sunrise bears no responsibility for the flooring failure.
“Our investigation has found that the epoxy was correctly applied by our insured,” Utica claims specialist Sheila Barkley wrote. “Our investigation has also found that the epoxy floor covering damage was a result of excessive moisture vapor present at the slab surface.” In summary, Barkley wrote that Utica “finds no legal liability or negligence on behalf of Sunrise,” and will “deny any claim that you may have regarding this matter.”
Williamson Co. Attorney Gene Taylor and FT Woods, the company hired as an agent of the county to oversee construction of the $19.9 million project, have claimed that Sunrise improperly applied the epoxy sealant to the concrete floors, which in late 2002 caused the floors to bubble and fail and has subsequently forced the county to hire a second contractor to replace all of the concrete floors. Meanwhile, Sunrise alleges that representatives of FT Woods forced them to apply sealant to the floors despite their concerns about high moisture readings coming from the concrete. At press time, Sunrise Vice-President Nemesio Sanchez had not gotten any response to Utica’s findings from either FT Woods or county officials. FT Woods has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in late payments from the county for the JJC project — money that the company would only be due, under its controversial contract with the county, if the delays were not its own fault. For more on the story, see “Money for Nothing,” Aug. 15.
This article appears in August 29 • 2003.