Inspections on exterior missed

The sleek glass exterior of the Mandarin Hotel at CityCenter was never inspected while it was being installed, according to violation notices sent by Clark County inspectors to Perini Building Co. and Converse Consultants.

Perini, the general contractor, is preparing to submit to Clark County a plan proposing how it will remedy the missed inspections, county spokesman Dan Kulin said recently.

Converse is the special inspection company that failed to do required checks as the glass sheath went up on the 47-story Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas, a tower that faces the Strip. It will offer both hotel rooms and condominiums and is scheduled to open in December.

"We want to build this to code," MGM Mirage spokesman Gordon Absher said late Monday. MGM Mirage is one of the owners of the CityCenter project, which will open in stages, starting with its Vdara tower in early October.

"In the end," Absher continued, "we want to build a structure that's comfortable and enjoyable to the guests and beautiful to behold -- and also meets, to everyone's satisfaction, the highest safety criteria."

Kulin said county inspectors noticed a lack of paperwork on the Mandarin inspections.

He also said Perini needs county approval before it can carry out any plan to verify that Mandarin's exterior glass and related components were properly attached. He said the plan probably will entail sampling locations throughout the facade.

Some destructive work might be necessary to access such locations, Kulin said. "Depending on what those (initial) inspections turn up, (that) would dictate whether they do more" sampling.

The glass exterior of a modern high-rise creates a dramatic visual. But, Seattle architect Blaine Weber said in a 2003 article, "poorly designed or improperly installed curtain walls leave a trail of litigious misery that takes years and sometimes millions of dollars to diagnose and repair."

Converse holds multiple third-party special inspection contracts at CityCenter, including at the Harmon Hotel, another tower.

MGM Mirage announced in January that it was cutting the Harmon's final height by almost half, partly as a response to structural construction errors -- discovered in 15 floors of the hotel -- which Converse did not catch. Converse sent reports to the county that said the flawed work was fine.

The county has set a hearing for May 8 on the performance of Converse and two of its inspectors.

Contact reporter Joan Whitely at jwhitely@reviejournal.com or 702-383-0268.