CPA sues Texas firm for alleged defective design of Tinian airport

The Commonwealth Ports Authority has filed a $1 million lawsuit against a Texas company for alleged faulty design and management of the West Tinian Airport facility project.

CPA is suing Leo A. Daly Co. for breach of contract, professional malpractice, negligence, fraud, and violations of the Consumer Protection Act and the CNMI Building Safety Code.

CPA, through counsels William R. Satterberg Jr. and Matthew T. Gregory, alleged that Leo A. Daly used its international reputation to secure a contract then proceeded to violate it in several respects.

“For example, [Leo A. Daly’s] work was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, nor was it compliant with typhoon and earthquake standards applicable to Tinian,” the lawyers stated in the complaint.

Satterberg and Gregory said that Leo A. Daly’s acts and omissions have damaged CPA and must be redressed.

Leo A. Daly got the CPA contract in 2003 for $399,000. Funding was part of the $2.6 million approved for the Tinian airport using CIP monies. The company designed the West Tinian Airport facilities improvements and provided construction management services during the construction phase of the project. It completed its services under the contract in December 2008.

The Taniguchi Ruth Makio Architects, which performed other services for the West Tinian Airport facilities, discovered that Leo A. Daly’s design and construction did not comply with the American with Disabilities Act’s requirements in various sites, including the restrooms. Specifically, the restroom doors and stalls are too narrow to allow for ADA compliance and the sinks do not allow wheelchair access as required by the ADA.

The architects also found that Leo A. Daly’s design and construction of the facilities did not comply with the CNMI Building Safety Code.

CPA then hired the engineering firm GK2 to evaluate the structural integrity of the facility. The engineers, according to the complaint, found many deficiencies in the design produced by Leo A. Daly. The evaluation determined that the terminal did not comply with typhoon or earthquake protection standards applicable to Tinian. The structural deficiencies, CPA said, require major structural reengineering and retrofitting.

On March 28, 2011, CPA told Leo A. Daly about the design flaws to have it fix the defects. In response, the complaint said, Leo A. Daly repudiated its contractual responsibilities on April 12, 2011.

The CNMI government also sued Leo A. Daly in 2009 due to the defective design of the Commonwealth Health Center’s dialysis center. The parties reached a $2 million settlement in 2010.