Officials in Clark County ordered MGM Mirage to bring in an expert to recheck all the work done on the buildings at CityCenter, after work by a previous inspection firm proved to be essentially worthless.

Converse Consultants failed to discover errors in 15 of the 22 stories finished at the Harmon. In its reports, Converse noted that all the work since proven faulty was “in substantial compliance” with the approved building plans.

“There were 62 reports that later proved to be incorrect,” Phil Rosenquist, an assistant county manager, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Converse also had contracts to inspect portions of CityCenter’s Mandarin, Veer and Vdara towers.

The errors at Harmon consisted of incorrectly placing reinforcing steel in the concrete. The errors threatened the structural integrity of the buildings, particularly in the face of horizontal stresses such as high winds.

In addition to requesting MGM Mirage reexamine all the other buildings at CityCenter, the county has filed a complaint with the state Board of Engineers and Land Surveyors against Converse. The county also filed complaints with the state Contractors Board against Perini Building Co., the general contractor on the project, and Pacific Coast Steel, the subcontractor accused of doing the faulty work.

Perini is disputing the claim that it was construction problems that led to the faulty installation of the rebar.

In a statement, company President Craig Shaw said Perini “stands by its opinion that design conflicts contributed to the Harmon Hotel structural issues and that portions of the structural drawings, as designed and permitted, contained elements of reinforcing steel that could not be installed as drawn.”

Shaw said Perini and Pacific Coast Steel tried to resolve the problems by “modifying the placement of the reinforcing steel, as it was installed.”

The county said the design plans it approved were accurate. “If they had followed the plans, there would not have been an issue,” county spokesman Dan Kulin said Friday. “The subcontractor did not follow the approved plans.”

By Casino Connection Staff