A Las Vegas construction project that had third party oversight from California based Converse Consultants went awry due in part to the company falsifying reports that rebar was being installed correctly….read some of this here below;c

SOLID BEGINNING

Things started fine with the Harmon, one of six high-rise buildings at CityCenter’s 67-acre campus. The 47-story mixed-use tower officially broke ground in 2006 at the northeast corner of Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard amid fanfare and great expectations. Construction progressed and the building took shape, steadily climbing skyward. Plans called for 207 posh residences perched above a 400-room hotel, with a Mr. Chow’s Restaurant and Frédéric Fekkai salon, among other amenities.

Trouble surfaced in July 2008 when it was learned that rebar — reinforcing steel bars used in concrete — was improperly installed on 15 floors of the building. The discovery resulted in a temporary project shutdown and construction repairs. Clark County’s Building Department launched an investigation, as did the Nevada State Contractors Board.

They found that the Harmon’s third-party inspection firm, Monrovia, Calif.-based Converse Consultants, falsified 62 daily reports between March and July of 2008 stating that things were OK when they weren’t. County inspectors missed the problems, too. It seems rebar was misplaced inside link beams that transfer horizontal loading to the building’s shear walls. A shear wall is a braced panel wall that counters lateral loads on a structure. In other words, it supports the building and keeps it from falling over.
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