A Laurel contractor has sued the Annapolis Housing Authority for $1.2 million, alleging that it failed to disclose the poor condition of its Harbor House complex when it solicited contractors for bids to renovate the buildings.
R. J. Crowley Inc. charged in the suit that crews found so many building code violations and design defects when they went to work that it took a year longer than expected to complete the project and cost far more than the original $3.4 million bid.
"The building code violations and design deficiencies resulted in nearly 20 additions to the scope of work of the original contract," according to the suit, filed Friday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court.
Harold S. Greene, the housing authority's executive director, declined to comment Friday.
But he acknowledged, in a 1993 interview with The Sun, that he was unaware of the code violations when the contract was awarded.
"This was totally unexpected," Mr. Greene said in January 1993, responding to public criticism that the Harbor House renovations were taking too long.
According to the suit, the Crowley company was hired in mid-1992 to renovate 25 buildings at Harbor House. Under the terms of the contract, the company was to complete the project within 560 days.
Crews started work Aug. 23, 1992, with plans to renovate two to three buildings at a time.
But soon after work began on the first two buildings, inspectors from the city of Annapolis found numerous building code violations, including electrical defects and plumbing problems, the suit says.
In September 1992, work crews also found the authority's
contract specifications did not match the contours and designs of actual construction of the buildings at Harbor House.
Door assemblies and installation methods specified in the contract, for instance, "did not fit many of the apartment entryway openings," the suit says.
To keep the project moving, the company's crews moved on to a second group of buildings, but discovered the same set of code violations and design deficiencies there, according to the suit.
"In fact, the building code violations and design deficiencies have been present in each of the 25 buildings included in the contract," the suit says.
In December 1993, Crowley submitted a request to add $991,197 to the original contract price because of the additional work required to complete the job.
After extensive negotiations, Crowley reached an agreement with Mr. Greene to settle for $605,900, according to the suit.
But nine months later, the authority's board of commissioners, which must approve any contract changes, rejected Crowley's claim.
Crowley resubmitted its claim directly to the commissioners Nov. 14, but it was rejected a second time Jan. 11, the suit says.