Graham Construction will be making a claim for damages from the provincial government. In a statement released Monday evening, the former construction manager for the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital says it “is confident in its forthcoming fact-based claim for damages arising from the Government of Alberta’s actions.”
Alberta Infrastructure announced earlier in the day that it had terminated the services of Graham Construction, saying the mitigation plan it submitted on August 17th didn’t give the government confidence it could finish the new hospital on time or on budget. It was previously issued a Notice of Default on July 30th.
Graham Construction says in its August 17th letter, it gave its own Notice of Termination to the province, as it feels it has failed to properly fund the project.
“As a result of the entirety of the foregoing and Infrastructure’s failure and continued refusal to correct its default within the 5 working days allotted to it under GC 7.2.4 of the Contract, this correspondence hereby serves as Graham’s Notice of Termination of the Contract,” the letter reportedly stated.
In response to the issuing of the Notice of Default, Graham had said the province was well aware that the building’s design would cost more than its budget. It added that there had been more than 600 change orders and 400 design clarifications in the last two years, many needing the demolition of previously done work.
“As previously stated, Graham was placed in an untenable position by the Government of Alberta,” the release states. “Graham was hired as the cost-reimbursable construction manager of the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital and was confronted with a number of significant issues including multiple design delays on an underfunded project. Alberta Infrastructure made it clear it was not prepared to stand by its obligations under its contract with Graham Construction.”
The construction company says it met with the province as recently as last week and believed the two parties were moving towards a solution. It says it was willing to take part in a “conciliatory process” that included an offer to bring in a third-party mediator.