The University of British Columbia is taking an engineering firm to court over a delayed five-storey building at its Okanagan campus.

The $119 dollar project was supposed to be finished last December, but the university claims faults in the design led to safety issues and construction delays.

That’s according to a lawsuit filed by UBC Properties Investments Ltd, alleging the firm breached its contract and misrepresented its structural design for the new interdisciplinary building.

There’s no mention of any injuries at the job site, but UBC claims Fast and Epp Structural Engineers Inc. approved a “deficient” design that had “numerous” errors, including inadequate transfer beams on two floors.

UBC said costs rose for various reasons as it delayed the project. The university paid third-parties for adjustments in the project, paid additional insurance costs and had temporary shoring work done to “correct the deficiencies” in Fast and Epp’s design, according to the notice of claim.

Just how much extra work has cost the university isn’t detailed in the notice of claim.

The Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Innovation building is meant to be a blended research centre for sciences and humanities, funded through the Okanagan campus’s capital reserves. It was given the syilx name “x̌əl sic snpax̌nwixʷtn,” meaning “for the purpose of innovation” and “a place where people work together to enlighten and inform each other,” according to UBC.

It’s now expected to open in the spring of 2027.

It’s the second UBC Okanagan building to be the subject of litigation after the residents of a subsidized housing facility near the school’s downtown Kelowna tower project were evacuated. They were not able to move back due to safety concerns at Hadgraft Wilson Place, and the matter is now before the courts.

iNFOnews.ca reached out to Fast and Epp for comment on the lawsuit’s allegations but has yet to receive a response.

None of UBC’s claims have been proven in court.