A 1 p.m. meeting was cancelled today by the Town of Surfside Beach. A stop work order was issued for the entire $18 million Surfside Beach pier project.
Initially the stop work order was issued for only the 3 metal buildings at the entrance of the Pier. The CBO found on Friday, October 7th, that Consensus Construction did not have the appropriate permit for metal building construction.
A Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) notification to the Town Manager informed Surfside Beach that while conducting due diligence in reference to the issue of Consensus Builders, LLC not having a permit for the metal buildings, the department (LLR) found the contractor did not have the type of operating licenses to conduct marine work. This finding was based on an anonymous tip submitted to LLR.
LLR requires the town to:
- Place an immediate stop work order on the entire pier project.
- Put all work out for a re-bid.
- Consensus Builders, LLC are not allowed to re-bid.
- Work with the Surfside Beach town attorney in reference to the above.
John O’Brian, President of Consensus Construction, reached out to us and stated that Consensus Builders, LLC was the residential construction arm of the company. Consensus Construction and Consulting Inc. is the arm of the company working on the buildings for the pier.
Consensus Construction and Consulting Inc. owns the license the contractor operates under for this type of work. The anonymous tip was sent in on the license for Consensus Builders, LLC.
Said O’Brian, “There was a hurricane. There is a claim. The insurance company came in and said everything looks amazing, but recommended the town hire an engineer to confirm that everything is sound.“
“We are fully compliant,” said O’Brian. “LLR previously vetted the combination of Licensure between the general contractor, Consensus Construction, and the the subcontractor for marine work, Coastal Marine. The previously submitted anonymous complaint was dismissed by LLR, now here comes another one.”
Consensus Construction has already performed 60% of the buildings on the pier work towards completion, O’Brian informed us. This meets the standard of state law.
“I fully expect this anonymous LLR complaint to be dismissed,” said O’Brian.
The Surfside Beach Pier was scheduled to be completed late Spring to early Summer 2023.
All work is now on hold until these issues are cleared.