Architect not liable for McHenry County jail's poor work

The architect of McHenry County's $14.1 million jail expansion cannot be held liable for shoddy work by the contractors who built the new jail space, a judge ruled Thursday.

Rejecting county arguments to the contrary, Judge John D. Bolger dismissed Jacobs Facilities Inc. from the county's lawsuit seeking to recoup $36,637 it says it had to spend to fix mistakes made by contractors.

Bolger ruled that the contract between Jacobs and the county makes it clear that the architects have no legal responsibility for contractor error.

The county filed the lawsuit last year, alleging that Vernon Hills-based contractor STS Consultants Ltd. failed its duty to locate and mark wiring and piping beneath the jail's thick concrete floors so they would not be damaged during construction.

As a result, the suit states, workers severed pipes and wiring while cutting into the floors, requiring the county to spend additional money to repair them.

The suit claimed Jacobs should be held liable because, as the project's architect, its job included making sure workers adhered to its design and specifications.

Portions of the suit against STS and the project's general contractor, Camosy Inc. of Waukegan, remain pending.

The project, completed in 2005, doubled the capacity of the jail, allowing the county to obtain a lucrative federal contract to hold detainees for the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.