Construction users depend on the mature, reasonable judgment of the general contractors that they hire. They expect their contractors to be competent. (Alpha Sigma Building Ass'n v. Paras General Contractors, Case No. 98-2-00138-9.)
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Going into construction Paras knew that there was an easement dispute between the neighbors. Paras nonetheless commenced excavation without notifying the affected neighbor or properly protecting the neighbor's house with shoring as required by law. This resulted in a severed gas line, a chimney collapse, and danger of the foundation wall collapsing. The city of Pullman issued a dangerous building declaration forcing the neighbor's house to be declared uninhabitable. Paras was also cited for "failure to protect adjoining building from an excavation".
Paras must have known its excavation was going to be very risky because they had a law firm waiting in the wings. The day after the neighbors' house was condemned and the same day it was cited Paras's lawyer wrote a letter to the architect and the client trying to blame them. The letter included the following:
In general we view this as a designer/owner problem. Paras has attempted to construct the retaining wall utilizing normal construction means and methods and has concluded that the wall cannot be constructed with normal construction methods…. It now appears that some type of shoring or ground stabilization plan will be required as a precondition to construction of the wall.
Considering that the hazards of excavation cave-ins are well known in construction and the fact that Paras was cited, this defense shows what type of contractor you get when you hire Paras. Do you want your contractor to "figure it out as they go" or to have a full, complete, and adequate plan for success before commencing construction? Paras is fortunate that a no one was killed in the chimney collapse. One of the pictures submitted to the court record shows a worker standing in the area of the chimney prior to its collapse.
After three years into this 6-year lawsuit it was stipulated that the defendant should have been "Paras General Contractors Inc." instead of "Paras Construction Inc." And, after the conclusion of this lawsuit Paras filed papers with the State of Washington to operate as "Paras Concrete Construction". The name change appears to be a way for Paras to attempt to limit their scope of work and future liability. If basic retaining walls and digging are beyond their abilities maybe they should do more than just attempt to limit their work.
The Court entered a partial summary judgment against Paras for entering plaintiff's property when plaintiff's easement rights were destroyed. Then six years after the case was filed and shortly before trial began, the parties entered a private settlement on secret terms. As a potential user of The Paras Construction Companies services you should ask them how much did their reckless excavation cost them. This is a construction user's worst nightmare, even if you eventually prevail in court which the neighbor did, it takes years of litigation and enormous expense.