Pittsburgh city officials have stopped work on the 900,000 SF UPMC Presbyterian Hospital Tower in a matter related to the city and the Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Council and work permits for the project. The billion-dollar project involves building a 17-story inpatient tower. Ground was broken for the tower two years ago.

City orders work stoppage

On June 20, Pittsburgh’s Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections issued a stop work order on the building, leaving 120 workers temporarily out of work.

One council official said the Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Council has no involvement in the matter apart from advocating for the union workers on this job who are out of work due to an error from the contractor, the city, or both.

“My problem is I have over a hundred union workers sitting at home today,” said Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Council business manager Greg Bernard, a trained ironworker. “I need to get them back to work as soon as possible. That’s our issue with it.”

Required permits not yet approved

According to Maria Montano, the city’s communications director, UPMC didn’t have the required permits for the project and was ordered to obtain them before work could resume. The large nonprofit failed to get the necessary permits for the building’s electrical, mechanical, and fire suppression work, which has been under construction for over a year.

“These permits were applied for six months ago but not approved by the city yet,” Bernard said.

City officials are taking the matter seriously and halting project work. It’s currently unclear who is at fault, but work should not have progressed without the required permits.

“It is our job in city government to ensure the safety of workers and citizens,” Montaño said to CBS Pittsburgh. “UPMC did not have the required permits for the work it was doing, and when that was discovered, our inspector issued a stop order.”
UPMC told CBS Pittsburgh the matter should be resolved quickly. It’s unclear how soon that will happen.