Town picks firm to probe mold case

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Town picks firm to probe mold case

Article Launched: 04/03/2008

Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT*

By Hoa Nguyen

Staff Writer

http://www.greenwichtime.com/ci_8790961

A Fairfield firm known for its expertise in construction disputes

has been chosen to investigate what caused mold to grow at the

Hamilton Avenue School modular building.

A Board of Education committee is recommending that Navigant

Consulting be hired to investigate the design and construction flaws

that school officials believe caused mold to grow in the modular

building. The firm's work would then be used to help the town pursue

litigation, if necessary. The full board is expected to vote on the

recommendation during its meeting tonight.

An architect who made an initial investigation of the modular

building has said a vapor barrier appears to have been placed on the

wrong side of wall insulation and that the design of the unvented

and uninsulated roof eaves may have contributed to mold growth at

the school. Based on his review, the board is looking to hire

Navigant to help document in detail all the problems with the

modular.

Navigant, which has worked with state, local schools and

institutional clients, has a good reputation when it comes to

identifying construction shortcomings, including looking at

maintenance records, and then later working with lawyers to settle

the dispute in court, according Mike Bodson, a Board of Education

member who checked on the firm's references.

He described Navigant as " absolute killers in litigation. "

The only negatives Bodson said he found was that the firm's costs

appear somewhat high.

" I couldn't find anything wrong with them, " he said.

Hiring the firm is expected to cost up to $40,000. Navigant

representatives have told school officials that they could start on

the project immediately.

A Navigant representative could not be reached for comment. A

spokesman for Greenwich Hospital confirmed that it used Navigant to

help settle potential construction disputes.

" Navigant Consulting worked with the hospital in 2000 to help

clarify discrepancies with contractors, subcontractors and

architects in the closeout of our Helmsley building project, "

spokesman Pawlush said. " That's pretty much as far as I want

to go into it. "

Byrne, the district's facilities director, warned the costs

may escalate because as the firm investigates the building, their

work may help spread the mold spores inside the classrooms. He said

once that happens, the district will have a harder time cleaning

mold spores from the classrooms if it ever decides to reuse the

modular building.

Bodson recommended setting the upper limit of the work at $50,000 to

allow for additional costs.