Division of Administrative Hearings, Florida
Latest Update: Dec. 04, 1990
Whether Respondent's license as a Certified General Contractor should be suspended or revoked, or the licensee otherwise disciplined, for alleged violations of Chapter 489, Florida Statutes, as set for the in the Administrative Complaint dated July 17, 1981. This case arises from an administrative complaint filed by the Department of Professional Regulation, seeking to take disciplinary action against Respondent Lawrence M. Stoner, a certified general contractor, for alleged derelictions in connection with the construction and subsequent collapse of a condominium at Cocoa Beach, Florida in March, 1981. Although this case was consolidated for hearing with the case of Department of Professional Regulation, Construction Industry Licensing Board v. Bruce Alles, Case No. 81-2057, the parties announced at the commencement of the hearing that they had elected to hear this case separately. This case was originally noticed for hearing to be held on November 2, 1981. Petitioner filed a motion for continuance of the hearing on October 23, 1981 based on additional information that had been received subsequent to the filing of the Administrative Complaint. However, the matters sets forth in the motion were not considered to constitute good cause for continuance and the motion was denied. The petition alleges that although a firm named Univel, Inc. entered into a contract with another company, Palm Harbor West, Inc. to construct the condominium project in question, Univel hired Respondent to pull the building permit in the name of the corporation for which he was the qualifying agency, Dynamic Construction Company, Inc. It further alleges that Univel supervised the construction of the building and that Respondent exercised no such function. Further, it alleges that Univel supervised the construction of the building and that Respondent exercised no such function. Further, it is stated that the building collapsed in March, 1981 killing eleven persons and injuring twenty- three others, and that violations of the Southern Standard Building Code in the improper placement of steel rebars in columns, and inadequate thicknesses of floor slabs contributed to the collapse. Thus, the petition alleges grounds for disciplinary action against Respondent for acting as a contractor in the name of another, failing to notify Petitioner of his affiliation with another business organization, and failure to supervise the project. It also predicates discipline upon willful or deliberate disregard in violation of the applicable building codes in covering reinforcing steel without an inspection and deviating from approved plans and drawings. In his answer to the complaint, Respondent averred that pursuant to an agreement between his firm and Univel, Inc., his services were provided to Univel to serve as the general contractor for the project and that he did so, exercising proper supervision over construction, and that the building was built according to its engineering plans and drawings and applicable codes. The parties entered into a pre-trial statement of the issues as follows: Was there a duty under Florida Statutes 49.119(3)(b) for LAWRENCE M. STONER to notify the Department of Professional Regulation that he intended to affiliate with Univel, Inc. to do the Harbor Cay job? Did LAWRENCE M STONER act in the capacity of a contractor under any name other than the names set forth in his contractor's certificate? Did LAWRENCE M STONER have a duty to supervise and be responsible for the Harbor Cay project and, if so, did he supervise it and was responsible for that job? Did LAWRENCE M STONER willfully or deliberately disregard Section 108.2 of the Southern Standard Building Code by covering steel in concrete columns on the Harbor Cay job prior to inspection, or did he willfully and deliberately disregard Section 114 of the Southern Standard Building Code by failing to follow plans and specifications calling for an eight inch slab thickness and/or by improperly placing the steel rebar in the concrete columns? At the hearing, Petitioner presented the testimony of fourteen witnesses and submitted fourteen exhibits in evidence. Respondent called three witnesses and submitted five exhibits. Respondent's Exhibit 5 is a late-filed exhibit received by agreement of the parties. A Proposed Recommended Order filed by the Petitioner and Respondent's Summation have been fully considered and those portions thereof which have not been adopted herein are considered to be either unnecessary, irrelevant, or unsupported in law or fact.Petitioner didn't prove Respondent was negligent/unprofessional in construction of condominium that collapsed. Recommend six-month suspension.