Home rebuild a 'nightmare' for Fort McMurray wildfire victim

A Fort McMurray woman is one of almost 200 homeowners whose builders are being investigated by Service Alberta for practices that may have violated regulations governing rebuilds.

LorieVeitch lost her three-bedroom, wood-framehome in the Abasand neighbourhood in the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire.

Edmonton-based builder MCG Construction promised to rebuild Veitch's home usingpre-fabricated concrete and other materials.Veitch was told she would be one of the first residents to move back into the neighbourhood, she said.

But 17months after the wildfire, she doesn't even have a foundation yet for her new home. She is currently living in Kelowna, B.C., and describes the experience as "horrible" and a "nightmare."

"It is so tough I can't even stop crying,"Veitchsaid. "I spend every waking moment phoning someone to help me."

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Service Alberta has confirmedMCG is under investigation. Its consumer investigations unitis handling the matter and will not comment further.

MCGpresident and CEO Tony Naccaratosaid he's complying with Service Alberta investigators. No charges have been laid against the company, Naccarato said.

Leaning foundation walls

As of the first week of October, Service Alberta confirmedit has269 investigations open as a result of the Fort McMurray wildfire. Of that, 194 relate to home rebuilds, renovationsor pre-paid contractors.

The province has two investigators on the ground in Fort McMurray. Theyreview whether builders have potentially violated the Fair Trading Act or committed more serious violations.

The investigators examine warranty issues, contract disputes, whether contractors have engaged in misleading sales tactics, and whethercontractors have proper business licences.

"It's a wide range of topics that we have the ability to investigate," Service Alberta Minister Stephanie McLean said.

McLean said Service Albertacan penalize contractors with finesor removetheir licences.

Veitch said she submitted documents toinvestigatorsaftera random inspection by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo found that her foundation wasn't heated during construction.Alberta's building code requires the bottoms of foundations be kept free from freezing.

The inspection report ordered that an independent engineer must inspect the foundation before work could proceed.

When that independent report was completed in May, it found uneven concretefoundation walls that were leaning.

"The concrete foundation walls, as constructed, are suitable to carry loads required by the Alberta Building Code, but only after significant additional confirmations and remediation," the report said.

That remediation, the report said, would be comparable to the same cost of demolishing and rebuilding the foundation.

Veitchsaid her contract indicated her insurance company would pay$433,015 to rebuild her home.

A portion was paid to the contractor, but MCG wouldn't confirm how much.

MCGsays foundation can be fixed

MCG, which continues to build 12 specialty concrete homes in Fort McMurray, maintains that its contract with Veitch remains in effect and thatit hasn't done anything wrong with the build.

MCG hoped to have Veitch back in her home by June or early July, Naccarato said.

When MCG was asked about two reports detailing concerns with Veitch'sfoundation, Naccarato said MCG followed all procedures when it came to heating foundations.

He said the reason the foundation was without heat during a random inspection was because the MCG construction crew was transitioning from building the foundation to adding the flooring system.

Naccarato said the issues outlined in the engineering report were fixable, and had the company not been removed from site, theywould have been rectified.

"So the home, the way we would have constructed it, it's all engineered. It's all designed by engineers, inspected by engineers and completed to a higher quality of most wood-frame construction," Naccarato said.

He said MCG still wants to build Veitch's home.

ButVeitch refuses to let MCG back on site. As she awaits updates from Service Alberta on its investigation, all she wants is her money back.

"Is there anyone else who can help me? There has to be someone with power who can fix this," Veitch said.

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