TORONTO – Crews are working under dangerous conditions as they try to rescue any survivors still trapped under concrete at the Algo Centre mall in Elliot Lake. Officials confirm at least one person was killed and another 22 people were injured when the roof collapsed on Saturday.
In 2009, The Elliot Lake Standard reported that business owners in the mall were complaining about leaking water damage to their stores.
The Bank of Nova Scotia located inside the mall, had to temporarily close its doors in order to repair the water damage, according to the Standard.
A former contractor who worked on repairs for the Algo Centre Mall says the building’s roof had constant leaks.
“It’s not really shocking this has happened,” Glen Day said in an exclusive interview with Global News. “Every time it rained when I was there, there were buckets placed all over the place.”
Day said he was hired in the summer of 2008 by the mall’s owner to patch the leaking roof, which also acts as a parking area, in order to prepare the roof for a water-proof membrane.
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“I noticed the corrosion on the beams, the corrosion on the concrete core slabs, it was quite a mess, I brought it to the attention of the owner,” Day said.
Day said he quoted the owner, Richard Nazarian, just under $1 million for the job, that included a water-proofing membrane on the roof to prevent further leakage.
However, the contractor says shortly after he gave his quote for the work, Day and his crew were told their services were no longer required by the owner.
“They were doing a bandage job, repair the structure and then make the necessary repairs to the outside,” said Day. “You might be able to stop the water but you’re not going to be able to stop what’s already been done.”
A mall spokesperson said repair and maintenance work had been done on sections of the building’s roof over the last year, but not in the area that collapsed. An engineering and structural study of the building was completed in May, which found no serious problems.
Global News contacted the owner of the mall, but his lawyer said he had no comment.
Building codes
Current building standards in Ontario do not require regular structural inspections, only fire safety inspections. Currently, only the building owners are required to maintain the building in “good repair,” according to Sean Tracey, the Canadian regional manager at the National Fire Protection Association.
“Once a building is built, it’s basically grandfathered in for all intents and purposes at that frozen in time, 20 years ago. We do not have standards in our building codes to go in and require mandatory retrofit or upgrading, particularly in regards to structural sufficiency,” Tracey said.
“There is an assumption that at the time it was built that it met the requirements, and that the building was maintained.”
Even if they were required to do structural inspections, Tracey says most communities in Ontario do not have the resources within their building departments to do them.
“Follow on inspections is the purview of the fire department to do fire and life safety reviews. Structural reviews, with time of buildings, are not something that’s normally considered or done – the building is considered intact,” Tracey said.
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