Engineer behind faulty New Brunswick apartment designs offers $4M insurance pot, warns it won't cover the claims

Building owners across New Brunswick allege in their suits that designs by Thériault and Match Engineering, where she was the sole director, left them spending hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars on fixes, mostly in multi-storey apartment buildings. The cases involve apartment blocks in Dieppe, Shediac, Saint John and Miramichi, plus a Caraquet arena. The owners claim lost rent, construction delays and retrofit costs. Thériault's statements of defence acknowledge design deficiencies.

This month her lawyer, James Boudreau, asked the court for direction in 11 of the suits and said more claims are likely. His affidavit says the policy limits appear set to be exceeded. At a hearing Wednesday before Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Tracey DeWare, Boudreau proposed that the court take the $4 million and set up a payout process. He also raised bankruptcy, with a trustee dividing what is left. Thomas O'Neil, lawyer for a Dieppe building owner, objected to moving the money before the policies are disclosed and before anyone knows whether legal fees are covered.

DeWare said the defendants could not simply pay in and walk away. She ordered a case-management judge to oversee the suits, which are spread across several court jurisdictions, possibly with trials held back to back. Boudreau has until mid-November to draft a motion putting the $4 million before the court, and the cases return on Dec. 18.

The problems surfaced in early 2024, when Halifax engineer John Richardson was called in to look at cracks in a Dieppe building under construction. He later reviewed other Thériault projects and concluded some risked collapse, and several buildings were shored up while permanent fixes were designed. New Brunswick's engineering regulator suspended her in May 2024. In September she gave up her licence and accepted $75,000 in fines after admitting her incompetence put public safety at serious risk. No full list of her buildings has been released.