# Contractors Board wants to pull license of firm in Berkeley balcony collapse



## mark handler (Dec 18, 2016)

Board wants to pull license of firm in Berkeley balcony collapse
http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Board-wants-to-pull-license-of-firm-in-Berkeley-10646058.php
SACRAMENTO — A state board wants to suspend or revoke the license of a Bay Area construction company it accuses of shoddy work on a balcony that collapsed in Berkeley last year, killing six people.
In an accusation filed Tuesday, the Contractors State License Board said Segue Construction Inc. of Pleasanton “willfully departed from acceptable trade standards” during the construction of the balcony that collapsed and that if the balcony had been built as designed, it would have been able to hold the 13 students who fell.
The board’s efforts to revoke Segue’s license come as a Bay Area lawmaker said Wednesday that he is urging cities and counties to review other work done by the construction company for possible defects.

The board’s investigation in Berkeley found that decayed joists caused the apartment balcony at 2020 Kittredge St. to collapse on June 16, 2015. Investigators found joists were not pressure-treated as called for in design plans, that flooring materials were improperly substituted and protective sealing for waterproofing was not applied during construction.

The contractors board is also asking that any contractors licenses held by David Dunlop and Kirk Wallis, who were in charge at Segue at the time the balcony was constructed, be suspended or revoked. Dunlop and Wallis did not return calls for comment
Segue’s license is currently active. The company has until Dec. 14 to contest the allegations. If it doesn’t, the licenses will automatically be revoked.
“We expect they will take advantage of the rights they have to defend themselves,” said Rick Lopes, spokesman for the contractors board.

If the company fights the charges, the state could either reach a settlement with Segue or hold a hearing before an administrative law judge.
At a hearing, the administrative law judge would submit a proposed decision to the Registrar of Contractors, which would make the final decision on any disciplinary action.
The maximum time the state can require a person to wait to reapply for a license is five years, although there is no guarantee when that person reapplies that the license will be granted, Lopes said.
Six young people died when the balcony collapsed. Five of them were visiting from Ireland. The students were celebrating the 21st birthday of Aoife Beary, an Irish student who suffered a traumatic brain injury, broken arms, a broken pelvis, a broken jaw, a collapsed lung, broken ribs and other injuries in the fall.
Several civil lawsuits have been filed in connection with the collapse. The Alameda County district attorney declined to press criminal charges.
Segue Construction had come under scrutiny for alleged construction defects even before the balcony collapse in Berkeley.
Segue and its hired waterproofing outfit, R. Bros. Inc. of San Jose, were sued by the owners of a Millbrae condominium who alleged mold and dry rot destroyed balconies at their complex just three years after the buildings were completed.
Segue had agreed to $26.5 million in legal settlements for construction defect cases between 2012 and 2015.
State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, said he would like cities to review other work by Segue to ensure they meet city building standards and are safe.
Hill said his office contacted the city of Half Moon Bay and San Mateo County alerting them to a previous project by Segue and to ask whether that work has been inspected for possible defects. Segue was the contractor for a senior affordable housing community that opened in Half Moon Bay last year.
Hill said he will be reaching out to other Bay Area cities and counties in the coming days to urge them to double-check previous work by Segue. Hill wrote a bill signed by Brown in September that requires the Contractors State License Board to study whether contractors should be required to report to the board settlements or judgments related to faulty work.
The bill also requires the Building Standards Commission to study whether existing building standards for apartment balconies need to be updated. Both studies will be reported the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2018.
“We don’t want another tragedy,” Hill said Wednesday. “The history of Segue with settlements shows their workmanship hasn’t been up to appropriate standards. That’s why I think we need to check all of their projects.”


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