Customer considering class-action lawsuit after Highbridge Construction abruptly closes

A homeowner, whose two-story house addition was left incomplete, is considering a class-action lawsuit after losing a large sum of money to Highbridge Construction.

The east Ottawa company's abrupt closure last week left customers, workers and contractors in the lurch and in some cases, owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

As Chris Thomas looks at the wood framing of his ceiling, water drips from the floor above, pooling on the floor below, adding to the pile of ice forming on the interior of his home addition project and problems.

"It’s tough, we’ve been saving up for a home improvement and we decided this was a good thing for our family to do," Thomas says. "Now I’m scrambling; it’s not even half built and we need to get it done because we can’t just leave it like this."

The two-story addition to the back of Thomas’s Glebe home would include a first floor powder room and living space, while the second floor would be used as a master bedroom and ensuite. 

Currently, the framing is in place, along with some electrical and duct work. The exterior wood is exposed to the elements and up until a short while ago, there was no roof. Thomas had to have that installed himself.

Thomas says Highbridge Construction promised the project would be completed by last September, but it was a build barraged by problems and constant delays.

“They framed the second story one foot too low, they had to completely tear it off and rebuild the thing because they didn’t bother checking to ensure that it was level with the floor they needed to connect to in the house," Thomas said, adding some irreplaceable, century-old bricks were smashed off the side of his house as well.

"I thought I did my due diligence. As it turns out now as I get more and more information, I clearly didn’t do enough. We’ve paid 70 per cent of the project up until now and at best maybe 40 per cent is done, maybe I’m not even sure.”

Thomas is amongst a growing list of people who say they have lost tens of thousands of dollars after the construction company abruptly ceased operations last week.

Contractors, as well as employees were left in the lurch, some who say paycheques bounced.

On Friday, workers were allowed to enter the Orleans office after the property manager locked the door last week, posting a sign in the window, which claims Highbridge owes more than $100,000 in rent. 

"I came to pick up my personal things,” says former employee Sharri Fermoyle. "We were devastated last Friday (when the company shuttered), the group of us … hopefully you get another job and you move on and you recreate yourself somewhere new."

Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs calls the situation a "very unfortunate set of circumstances". On Thursday, Stubbs confirmed complaints had been received and that the fraud section was actively investigating.

Thomas says many of his nights are now spent researching to find individuals and products required to complete his renovation project. He is considering a class-action lawsuit against the owners of Highbridge Construction. 

“There is obviously many, maybe hundreds of people in my situation," Thomas said. "I would really appreciate getting together with everyone and I don’t know if there is anything left to go at Highbridge but there’s people, owners."

CTV News Ottawa has made multiple attempts to contact Highbridge Construction and has not yet received a response.