Ceiling Work ‘Unacceptable’
By Ina Paiva Cordle, The Miami Herald
Feb. 24–One of the priciest punch list issues lies high above the heads of Miami International Airport’s travelers, and after years of dispute, it may be the hardest to fix or replace.
Thousands of metal panels line the bay ceilings at the South Terminal and into Concourse J. Architects, Miami-Dade Aviation officials and construction managers from Dade Aviation Consultants say the panels look wavy, pillowy and misaligned rather than flat.
The architects who designed the ceiling issued a formal notice of nonconformance as far back as July 2005, saying that the metal ceilings were being installed without approved shop drawings and didn’t meet specifications.
In response, POJV, the main contractor on the South Terminal, hired an independent consultant to do a survey of the ceiling. The finding: The installation did not meet specifications.
“The survey was performed with a three-dimensional laser scanner and shows that the ceiling is miserably out of tolerance. In some areas, the panel varies as much as 7/8 inch” in a 10-foot section, according to a March 24, 2006, letter to Dade Aviation Consultants from architects Borrelli & Associates and Mateu Carreno Rizo & PartnersThe specifications allow for a maximum deviation of one-eighth inch in 10 feet.
“The real problem is the high percentage of results that are outside the tolerance,” said Gary Abernathy, construction manager for Dade Aviation Consultants.
“It is clear that the ceilings are unacceptable and do not meet several of the fundamental specification requirements,” architect Judy Carty, principal and senior project manager for Borrelli + Partners, wrote in the letter.
The ceilings were installed with elaborate scaffolding, and the airport has estimated that it will cost up to $1 million to repair or replace the panels. It has set aside more than $1 million in payments to the contractor.
John Montgomery, president of Hudson, N.H.-based Environmental Interiors — the company that installed the metal ceiling panels — stands by the work.
“All of the materials we have provided on the project are exactly what was specified,” Montgomery said. “The installation was all done within specifications and within industry standards.”
The company, whose contracts for the South Terminal and Concourse J totaled $16.2 million, also has several contracts at the still-under-construction North Terminal, including ornamental metals, metal wall panels, column covers, specialty ceilings, metal ceilings and specialty millwork, Montgomery said.
“We have been involved with Miami airport construction for 10 years,” he said. “We have a commitment to the community and to the architects and to the city of Miami to make everybody happy, and have this beautiful airport meet everyone’s satisfaction.”
No resolution has been reached to date.
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