ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Weir's Construction Ltd. has been ordered to pay $4,200 in fines for violating a City of St. John's bylaw.
The company's conviction in provincial court Thursday came two years after it was hit with fines for breaching the same bylaw.
Weir's Construction pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching the City of St. John's Act by failing to have occupancy certificates for an extension of its batch plant and a new storage building at its Conception Bay South Bypass Road location, as well as by failing to have appropriate fire separation in the batch plant. A charge of failing to have a permit to construct washrooms in the storage building was withdrawn by the Crown.
The issues were identified by a senior building inspector with the city during an inspection on Sept. 13, 2017. Despite having been given a month to have the issues addressed, the company failed to do so.
Weir's was fined $1,200 each for the lack of occupancy certificates, and $1,800 for the fire separation issue, which is also a violation of the National Building Code of Canada. The company has 60 days to pay the fines.
Two months before that inspection, Weir's had pleaded guilty in provincial court to four different violations of municipal legislation, involving steps and landings not being up to code, missing fire extinguishers and a concrete tank that had been built without a permit. It was fined $3,750 as a result.
At that time, lawyer Kyle Rees, representing Weir's, told the court communication matters had played a role in the situation getting out of hand, and the company was working to resolve them.
