Richmond's Olympic oval has mould in its roof

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Richmond's Olympic oval has mould in its roof

City says $2.2m problem to be fixed by fall

Vancouver Sun,British Columbia, Canada*

Published: Saturday, April 19, 2008

Derrick Penner

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=0883574f-cc80-

41c5-aec0-370a00760e50 & p=1

The City of Richmond is investigating what caused a mysterious mould

problem in the roof of the Olympic Speed Skating Oval, and who

should pay the estimated $2.2-million remedial cost.

Spokesman Ted Townsend said the $178-million project's contingency

fund will be used to cover the cost, but the city is looking into

where the fault may lay and whether the money can be recovered from

the contractor or roof manufacturer.

The roof was built without a warranty as a cost-cutting measure, but

officials said it would not have covered this problem.

Fixing it is not expected to delay the building's completion in the

fall.

Greg , Richmond's director of major projects, said the roof

system is a well-known, durable product, and the contractor has told

the city it followed the manufacturer's installation recommendations.

" This product is used throughout North America, " added, " and

in talking to [the manufacturer] this [mould problem] is something

brand-new for them. "

said testing revealed three fungi had begun to form mould in

the facing material in the first of two layers of insulation that

are sealed beneath a PVC plastic membrane.

added that contractors have installed 70 per cent of the 2.4

hectares of membrane, and potentially face having to pull up the PVC

layer to replace the first insulation layer beneath it.

Jim , technical manager for the Roofing Contractors

Association of B.C., said mould can form in some roofs, " but in new

construction this brand-new, it's not that common. "

Air, warmth and moisture are needed to create mould, added.

He said it is likely the outside plywood surface of the oval's

unique wood panels became wet somewhere between manufacturing and

installation.

said the roof was initially supposed to include a 10-year

warranty overseen by the contractors' association, but that was

dropped during the project's value-engineering process to reduce

costs.

said another specification that was dropped from the project

was the application of a vapour barrier on each of the panels as it

left the factory.

However, said a tarp system was used to protect the panels and

the roof during installation, and that each panel was checked for

moisture before the roof's surface material was applied.

He added that for the type of roof being used on the project, the

top membrane is intended to be the roof's vapour barrier, so a

vapour barrier at the bottom isn't considered necessary.

" The [contractors] are telling us they did what they were supposed

to do, " said. " They followed the manufacturer's

recommendations, and we had this problem. "

Once the city has determined which parties may be responsible for

the problem, " they will have to be dealing with that issue when it

comes up. "

As far as the roof's warranty goes, said the city opted to

rely on the manufacturer's warranty from the maker of the membrane

system. Neither warranty, however, would cover this particular

problem.

Harry Bains, the NDP's government critic on Olympic issues, said the

mould problem could be a " huge setback. "

For one, it is another cost overrun that Richmond taxpayers will

have to absorb. For another, Bains added, a mould problem in the

much-heralded roof made from B.C. wood products could damage B.C.'s

international reputation.

" I think Vanoc and the government need to get to the bottom of this,

fix the problem as soon as possible so that the international

community will know that their athletes can come into a safe

facility and a healthy facility, " Bains said.

Bartlett, an associate professor in the University of B.C.'s

School of Environmental Health, said mould spores are ubiquitous in

the environment, and the ones found in the Richmond oval are among

the most common.

None are associated with the mountain-pine-beetle damaged wood used

in the roof's unique construction. Neither are they particularly

harmful, Bartlett said, but two are potential allergens that

shouldn't be inside a building, particularly one used for high-

performance sports.

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