City seeks $1.4M from police station builders: Faulty air conditioning, heating system prompts lawsuit

The city first caught wind of the faulty system around June 2014, and spent at least $1.4 million in repairs at the state-of-the-art police station on the corner of Saratoga Drive and Hillsdale Boulevard.

Without proper ventilation at the 47,000-square-foot headquarters for the nearly 155-member department, City Attorney Shawn Mason said conditions were unpleasant for San Mateo’s emergency responders.

“The fact that the system didn’t work properly made it very uncomfortable to work,” Mason said, noting he couldn’t comment on the litigation itself.

The city is pointing the finger at Leach Mounce Architects, which designed the station; Mazzetti, Inc., which was subcontracted to design the HVAC system; and its general contractor Charles Pankow Builders, which also worked on the San Mateo Main Library.

A representative from Mazzetti said they could not comment on pending litigation and had not yet received a copy of the complaint. Officials from Leach Mounce and Pankow did not immediately return requests for comment.

The city spent nearly a decade planning for the department’s new two-story facility that includes underground parking, a firing range, emergency operations and dispatch centers, wireless internet and space for its K-9s.

Mason said construction estimates alone topped $40 million. Including design as well as land acquisition expenses, he agreed the $58 million price tag seemed accurate.

But after the long-planned-for facility opened in 2009, the city alleges the HVAC system prematurely deteriorated in 2014 due to faulty design and construction, according to the complaint.

Some of the failures included rooftop units that leaked refrigerant and failed to produce air causing stale conditions, a snapped fan belt damaging a cooling tower and a fan that made loud noises. Access panels were not installed on certain equipment and some components were enclosed in a metal box instead of a controlled temperature environment, which caused it to fail during hot days, according to the complaint.

There were also daily failures that often required the system to be reset and an oversized boiler that sent off an alarm every day until it was abandoned, according to the complaint.

In keeping with San Mateo’s sustainability goals, the site was designed to reach Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Silver. The lawsuit alleges Leach Mounce Architects and Mazzetti made false and misleading statements to the city as part of its application regarding is energy efficiency.

The city is seeking a judge to make a ruling on the case in which it seeks at least $1.4 million in damages as well as attorneys fees, according to the complaint.

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

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