Cal State Fullerton Sues Builder, Cites Fireproofing as ‘Hazard’
Cal State Fullerton has filed a lawsuit accusing a San Bernardino construction company it paid $9 million to expand the campus’ University Center of installing a spray fireproofing that is falling in chunks from the ceiling.
According to the lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court this week, soon after the work was finished in 1992, chunks of the fireproofing “of such a size and weight as to present a health and fire hazard” began to fall.
The university has spent about $10,000 to date to prevent the fireproofing from “crashing down on unsuspecting members of the public,” and will spend about $1 million to remove and replace it, the suit says.
Neither officials with the university nor Berry Construction could be reached Wednesday for comment.
According to the lawsuit, the university paid Berry Construction about $9.2 million to expand the University Center.
School officials later commissioned tests that showed the fireproofing does not meet minimum requirements for bonding, the lawsuit said.
The suit also alleges that after Berry and its subcontractors determined there was no easy way to fix the problem, they refused to repair the ceiling.
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