The new Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve paddocks will cost the City of Montreal $6 million more, according to the terms of an out-of-court agreement reached with the contractor, Groupe Geyser, and approved last week by the executive committee.
Posted at 3:41 p.m.
In 2018, the Geyser Group obtained the 60 million contract to build the building which hosts the Formula 1 teams, during the Grand Prix which takes place annually on Île Notre-Dame.
The new paddocks were inaugurated in May 2019, but Geyser filed a $10.4 million lawsuit in June 2021 against the Société du parc Jean-Drapeau (SPJD), the paramunicipal organization responsible for the case.
In particular, the contractor was claiming costs for the worksite acceleration measures put in place in order to be able to deliver the building on the scheduled date.
The SPJD disputed this claim, but the legal process was suspended last July so that the parties could begin a mediation process, which made it possible to come to an agreement for the payment of 6 million to Geyser.
“The discussions held between the parties during the case and during the mediation sessions brought to light a real risk of shared liability, including that of the SPJD, for the additional costs claimed by Geyser, mainly due to changes in a project context with an immutable deadline”, indicate the decision documents submitted to the executive committee.
“The proposed settlement would thus avoid the costs, inconveniences and uncertainties of a trial. In the event of a trial, it is expected that it would be of long duration, and this, considering its many issues, the number of parties involved in the trial and the need for exhaustive evidence, in particular by the intervention of experts”, argue the municipal officials.
Water infiltration
The City points out that the out-of-court settlement makes it possible to conclude all disputes between the SPJD, Geyser, the subcontractors and the professionals “excluding the problem of water infiltration, which remains under investigation and for which the SPJD gives no receipt to Geyser and FABG [la firme d’architectes] “.
Indeed, in the event of rain, water seeps into several places in the building where the watertightness is deficient.
The new paddocks have three floors. The first level accommodates the wells and garages of the F1 stables. The second level houses the media room, rooms for the International Automobile Federation (FIA), rooms for the race promoter as well as boxes. The third level includes boxes for the spectators.