Rot is slowly taking hold in 162 condos built less than 15 years ago in Boisbriand. The co-owners, who risk losing their homes and going bankrupt, are crying out for help and suing the builder, engineers and architects of the project.
This nightmare, revealed by Radio-Canada on Wednesday, concerns 27 identical buildings of six apartments each located in Faubourg Boisbriand, on the grounds of the former GM factory.
“The panic at the start turned into sadness. It’s anxiety-provoking, we have no recourse. We don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel,” says the Log Marc Olivier D’Amours, owner of one of the 162 condos affected.
The story is reminiscent of that experienced by 48 owners of Saint-Jérôme, whose buildings are in danger of collapsing and who must spend $200,000 each, more than the value of their condo, to make the necessary repairs. .
The architect hired by the syndicate of co-ownership in Boisbriand estimates the value of the repairs at $2.8 million on the “guinea pig” building, the one that serves as a reference for the 26 others.
This establishes the value of the work at nearly $500,000 per co-owner, which is higher than the value of their condo.
“We hit a wall. No decision is good. It’s an extreme disaster,” laments Éric Gagnon, also the owner of a condo among the 162 condominiums affected.
Only unpleasant solutions
The problem affecting the 27 buildings was discovered in the fall of 2021 by architect André Flora-Velhinho, indicates the lawsuit filed in Superior Court against Construction Nomade, Bouré Therrien Architectes and CLA Experts-Conseils.
“All the facades inspected are affected by significant and recurring water infiltration. […] Intermediate coatings are irretrievable and will need to be removed and replaced,” the court document reads.
It is the wooden frame, which is behind the brick, which is affected, and this, in each of the 27 buildings.
“The natural shrinkage of the wood was not considered and the facades sank,” describes the general manager of the Faubourg Boisbriand condominium syndicate, Marie-Josée Leclerc.
Two solutions are now available to co-owners, she adds, “and neither is happy”.
“Each pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to do the major work; the brick, the windows, the doors are removed and the intermediate covering of each building is rebuilt. Either we dissolve the union, everyone loses their house, and we sell the land, ”explains Mme Leclerc.
The time of choice is approaching
For now, almost all of the 162 condos are still inhabited. But for how much longer?
“If you come home to me, never in a hundred years would you suspect a thing. But in some others, the mold is starting to come in, ”reports Marc Olivier D’Amours.
It is case by case, concedes the DG of the syndicate of co-ownership.
“But we can’t afford to wait years while justice takes its course,” she says.
People’s health and safety are of concern to the union, although no evacuation date has been set.
Both Ms. Leclerc, Mr. D’Amours and Éric Gagnon challenged the authorities.
“We could never have seen the problem with the purchase. We need to educate people and the government. We hope to get help,” says Mr. Gagnon.
The question is also to prevent it from happening to others, they say. Because “surveillance of construction sites is not compulsory in Quebec”, recalls Marc Olivier D’Amours.
“Here, in Boisbriand, there are some who have it harder, others less hard, but we’re all going to go through the wringer,” he laments.
The City of Boisbriand is also asking Quebec to review the regulations governing residential construction.
“Close monitoring of construction sites […] during construction and before delivery of buildings to future owners is crucial,” she said in a statement this week.