June 14, 2010

YOUTUBE

When the first wall fell, it narrowly missed a flag person and damaged a car.

Investigations launched into botched Vancouver demolition

BRADLEY FEHR

Journal of Commerce editor

Two separate investigations have been launched and construction work halted after a botched demolition was caught on video in Vancouver.

During rush hour on June 10, an excavator used by Global Excavation and Demolition was knocking down the former William Davis Centre for Acting Development to make way for a luxury condominium development.

However, two of the walls fell onto Hornby and Helmcken streets.

“On a construction site, you have to expect the unexpected,” said Karmjeet Singh Panesar, co-owner of the Surrey-based company, which was incorporated in 2007.

His business partner Jagjeet Singh Panesar was operating the excavator at the time.

The first video shows that part of the building came down as it should, but a large portion of the wall fell towards the street, narrowly missing a flag person, shooting a dust cloud into the air and damaging a car that was waiting at the nearby stop light.

The second video was shot minutes later from the street and shows the same excavator knocking down the remaining standing wall, but it too didn’t come down as expected.

The lower portion of the wall fell towards the street, knocking over a fence and a lamppost.

No one was hurt in the incident, which Karmjeet said is a testament to the safety precautions that were put in place.

“We complied with all safety regulations for WorkSafeBC,” he maintained.

He added that a traffic safety plan was requested, to shut down the streets, but was told that three flaggers would be sufficient for the job.

The pair of YouTube videos had reached a combined total of more than 310,000 views, only four days later.

No one was hurt in either collapse, but the car at the stoplight was damaged and the cost to replace is the city lamppost is pegged at more than $4,000.

Karmjeet said that his company will cover those costs.

Work on the site has since been halted and an investigation is underway, confirmed Will Johnston, Vancouver’s chief building official.

“We are looking at what the requirements were around the (demo) permit,” he said. “We’ve spoken to the demo contractor and the developer.”

He said that part of the bylaws relating to demolitions include a requirement for a traffic management plan.

He said it’s too early into the city’s investigation to say if such a plan was in place or had been implemented.

The incident was first reported to Vancouver police, who passed the case onto WorkSafeBC.

The occupational health and safety authority started interviewing workers with the demolition company as well as witnesses to determine what caused the walls to fall they way they did.

The investigation will also determine whether the demolition company completed a notice of project.

Karmjeet said that Jagjeet has more than 15 years of experience doing that sort of work.

He also said that they blocked off one of the streets on their own and that the other street was half blocked off.

“We tried out best to keep everyone safe,” he said.

Jagjeet told the Vancouver Sun that he didn’t know why everyone was trying to blow the incident out of proportion, while Karmjeet told the paper that he was hurt that the media were treating it as a joke and making them out to be some sort of criminals.

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