Construction companies hit with suit over insurance payout on collapse of Oak Park building facade

An insurance company is suing over claims its insured's building collapsed during construction work.

Westfield Insurance Co. filed a lawsuit July 14 in the Cook County Circuit Court against Builtmax Construction LLC and L.K. Precision Tuckpointing Inc., alleging property damage.

According to the complaint, C.D. Klere Ltd. and Jersey Development Partners Inc. hired Builtmax as a subcontractor, who then hired L.K. Precision Tuckpointing to do work on a building on Harrison Street in Oak Park in 2011. Metro Bank and then North Community Bank held the mortgage on the building when it went into foreclosure, the suit states.

Westfield alleges that the front facade of the building collapsed when Builtmax and L.K. were working on it on Aug. 10, 2011. It accuses Builtmax of negligence, breach of contract and breach of implied warranty, and L.K. of negligence and breach of expressed warranty.

The insurance company is seeking compensation for damages it paid to its insured and is being represented by attorney W. Gregory Aimonette of Clausen Miller P.C. in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L007360.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.