Report reveals Fazio and Norristown officials were negligent

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NORRISTOWN - The failure of Norristown officials to properly inspect the condemned, 26-unit condominium building on Sandy Street during construction in 2006 and 2007 can be attributed to an “inadequate and untrained building department,” a lack of “ownership of the project by any municipal department, employee or consultant,” and a loss of “leverage” with the builder to get compliance with regulations when the municipal solicitor allowed use and occupancy certificates to be issued after a March 20, 2007 meeting.

Those are the major conclusions of the June 22 “final report” by Keystone Municipal Services.

Click here for a PDF of the official report

The 26-page, independent audit details “the process that allowed the structure to be constructed and ultimately occupied” and not “each individual code violation.” Plans for the four-story condominium building at 770 Sandy St., constructed by Norristown developer R. Bruce Fazio, received Norristown Planning Commission approval on March 14, 2006 and council approval on May 2, 2006.

After condominium owners complained about safety violations and construction problems this spring a municipal inspection led to the May 21 condemnation of the building. Twenty-three families moved out. A separate inspection detailed more than $232,105 in required repairs and Fazio claimed he could not afford the remediation work. Norristown has asked Montgomery County Common Pleas Court to appoint a receiver to supervise the work and a court date was set by Judge Garrett Page for Aug. 13.

The report details how both Fazio and Norristown officials were negligent in building and inspecting the construction work.

When Norristown agreed to enforce the state’s Uniform Construction Code (UCC) as an opt-in community, reviewers and inspectors were allowed to be “grandfathered” as a current Construction Code Official up until April 2009, while they were completing their certifications. Norristown was required to appoint a Building Code Official (BCO) to enforce the UCC, grant permit applications and issue all use and occupancy certificates. A registration period for obtaining BCO certification ended in April 2007, the report said.

Lynn Bixler, the municipal building inspector, was registered as a current code official and certified as the BCO and Accessibility Plans Examiner and Inspector.

Bixler did a building permit review for ADA compliance and general building code compliance for 770 Sandy St., according to a May 12 interview by Keystone officials. Bixler said the municipal engineer, Remington, Vernick and Beach (RVB), had reviewed the plans for mechanical, plumbing, electrical and energy compliance.

RVB representatives said in a June 3 interview by Keystone officials, that they had looked at the plans but were “opposed to reviewing the plans for code compliance.” Continued...

Keystone said a municipality hiring an engineering firm could expect a review and a recommendation for granting the building permit.

Bixler said she signed a set of Fazio’s plans but that plan set could not be located “in the property file, within the code office or within the (municipal) attic storage area,” the report said. The missing plans violate a UCC regulation.

The general building permit was issued Aug. 25, 2006 but was not signed “by any Norristown code and/or building department representative.” This also violates UCC regulations.

A pre-construction meeting was held Aug. 25, 2006 with Bixler and Norristown Director of Planning Jayne Musonye, Fazio, architect Walter Wyckoff, along with Christopher Fazio and Thomas Harris, representing municipal engineer RVB. Special inspections of the concrete work, masonry and steel framing at the building were to be performed by engineer Gary Talbot, according to meeting minutes from RVB.

The builder was required to perform and certify special inspections although no reports on the inspections were found by Keystone investigators. Wyckoff said he was “unaware of any information available regarding the required special inspections,” the report said.

On May 27, Keystone interviewed engineer Gary Talbot, the engineer Fazio said he hired to perform masonry and concrete inspections. Talbot said that although his name appeared on the plans as the Special Inspector, he “had never been contacted by Mr. Fazio or Mr Wyckoff to perform any inspections at the site.”

“We deny any involvement with the inspections that were, or should have been, a part of this project,” Talbot told Keystone investigators.

“The required special inspections identified on the plans were never performed by the applicant, contractor, builder, engineer or consultant and the reports related to these inspections do not exist,” the Keystone report concluded. “We believe the applicant was negligent due to the fact that the required special inspections were not performed. In addition, we believe the municipality may also been negligent because there was no follow-up regarding the required Special Inspection Reports and the applicant was not required to produce documentation indicating compliance with the requirements of the approved plans prior to Use and Occupancy Certificates being issued.”

The fast approval process by Norristown officials, four months from the date of submission on Feb. 15, 2006, shows how eager municipal officials were to get upscale condos in a town known for inexpensive rental units, according to the report.

The building plans significantly understated the cost of construction at $17 per square foot when International Code Council values put the cost of the building at $94 per square foot, the report said. Inspection fees are based on construction costs. “We believe that the fees collected for this project did not cover all costs associated with the plan review and inspection process,” the report said.
NORRISTOWN - The failure of Norristown officials to properly inspect the condemned, 26-unit condominium building on Sandy Street during construction in 2006 and 2007 can be attributed to an “inadequate and untrained building department,” a lack of “ownership of the project by any municipal department, employee or consultant,” and a loss of “leverage” with the builder to get compliance with regulations when the municipal solicitor allowed use and occupancy certificates to be issued after a March 20, 2007 meeting.

Those are the major conclusions of the June 22 “final report” by Keystone Municipal Services.

Click here for a PDF of the official report

The 26-page, independent audit details “the process that allowed the structure to be constructed and ultimately occupied” and not “each individual code violation.” Plans for the four-story condominium building at 770 Sandy St., constructed by Norristown developer R. Bruce Fazio, received Norristown Planning Commission approval on March 14, 2006 and council approval on May 2, 2006.

After condominium owners complained about safety violations and construction problems this spring a municipal inspection led to the May 21 condemnation of the building. Twenty-three families moved out. A separate inspection detailed more than $232,105 in required repairs and Fazio claimed he could not afford the remediation work. Norristown has asked Montgomery County Common Pleas Court to appoint a receiver to supervise the work and a court date was set by Judge Garrett Page for Aug. 13.

The report details how both Fazio and Norristown officials were negligent in building and inspecting the construction work.

When Norristown agreed to enforce the state’s Uniform Construction Code (UCC) as an opt-in community, reviewers and inspectors were allowed to be “grandfathered” as a current Construction Code Official up until April 2009, while they were completing their certifications. Norristown was required to appoint a Building Code Official (BCO) to enforce the UCC, grant permit applications and issue all use and occupancy certificates. A registration period for obtaining BCO certification ended in April 2007, the report said.

Lynn Bixler, the municipal building inspector, was registered as a current code official and certified as the BCO and Accessibility Plans Examiner and Inspector.

Bixler did a building permit review for ADA compliance and general building code compliance for 770 Sandy St., according to a May 12 interview by Keystone officials. Bixler said the municipal engineer, Remington, Vernick and Beach (RVB), had reviewed the plans for mechanical, plumbing, electrical and energy compliance.

RVB representatives said in a June 3 interview by Keystone officials, that they had looked at the plans but were “opposed to reviewing the plans for code compliance.”

Keystone said a municipality hiring an engineering firm could expect a review and a recommendation for granting the building permit.

Bixler said she signed a set of Fazio’s plans but that plan set could not be located “in the property file, within the code office or within the (municipal) attic storage area,” the report said. The missing plans violate a UCC regulation.

The general building permit was issued Aug. 25, 2006 but was not signed “by any Norristown code and/or building department representative.” This also violates UCC regulations.

A pre-construction meeting was held Aug. 25, 2006 with Bixler and Norristown Director of Planning Jayne Musonye, Fazio, architect Walter Wyckoff, along with Christopher Fazio and Thomas Harris, representing municipal engineer RVB. Special inspections of the concrete work, masonry and steel framing at the building were to be performed by engineer Gary Talbot, according to meeting minutes from RVB.

The builder was required to perform and certify special inspections although no reports on the inspections were found by Keystone investigators. Wyckoff said he was “unaware of any information available regarding the required special inspections,” the report said.

On May 27, Keystone interviewed engineer Gary Talbot, the engineer Fazio said he hired to perform masonry and concrete inspections. Talbot said that although his name appeared on the plans as the Special Inspector, he “had never been contacted by Mr. Fazio or Mr Wyckoff to perform any inspections at the site.”

“We deny any involvement with the inspections that were, or should have been, a part of this project,” Talbot told Keystone investigators.

“The required special inspections identified on the plans were never performed by the applicant, contractor, builder, engineer or consultant and the reports related to these inspections do not exist,” the Keystone report concluded. “We believe the applicant was negligent due to the fact that the required special inspections were not performed. In addition, we believe the municipality may also been negligent because there was no follow-up regarding the required Special Inspection Reports and the applicant was not required to produce documentation indicating compliance with the requirements of the approved plans prior to Use and Occupancy Certificates being issued.”

The fast approval process by Norristown officials, four months from the date of submission on Feb. 15, 2006, shows how eager municipal officials were to get upscale condos in a town known for inexpensive rental units, according to the report.

The building plans significantly understated the cost of construction at $17 per square foot when International Code Council values put the cost of the building at $94 per square foot, the report said. Inspection fees are based on construction costs. “We believe that the fees collected for this project did not cover all costs associated with the plan review and inspection process,” the report said.

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    Kickin' Extra Points

    Andrew Marcus has been a sportswriter with Montgomery Media since June 2008. Follow his blog for extended coverage on local sports in the Montgomery County, Pa. region.