Fellow contractor blasts cowboy element in city’s demolition trade.
Before the collapse of the Market Street building that left six people dead on Wednesday, Carl Mason had never heard of Griffin Campbell Construction, he said.
“They’re cowboys,” said Mason, president and owner of Central Salvage Co. Inc., one of the city’s major demolition contractors.
He explained that while unqualified contractors have always been around, he has seen their numbers grow amid the recent economic downturn.
“More and more projects are driven by economy than safety,” Mason said.
Mason said that part of the problem with demolition is that, unlike construction, it is impossible to tell the quality of work by the end result.
Mason said he knew of “half a dozen” contractors in Philadelphia who would have the expertise to properly demolish the Market Street building, but estimated that there were 20 or so companies that could do it cheaply, and without proper safety precautions.
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