The Leelanau County Construction Code office may issue a permanent certificate of occupancy for the new Government Center in Suttons Bay Township sometime this summer.

In the meantime, some 95 full and part-time employees as well as members of the public have been occupying the 67,000-square-foot building under a “Temporary Occupancy Certificate,” according to county administrator David W. Gill.

The temporary certificate was issued because not all of the work required under the Michigan Construction Code had yet been completed by the time the first county department moved into the facility in February, Gill explained.

The most significant single item still requiring correction is the location of draft induction fans that are integral to the building’s heating, cooling and ventilation system. Gill explained that original plans called for the fans to be mounted in the attic, but a subcontractor located them in the basement because plans had not also called for code-required access points, decks and guard rails required in the attic.

A subsequent check of code requirements showed that installation of the fans in the attic was required after all – necessitating construction of decks and guard rails required for access through the attic.

“The price for this mistake falls entirely on the contractor – not on taxpayers,” Gill said.

The county’s contract with Devere Construction called for the county’s payment of one “guaranteed” price – $10.6 million – with the cost of any mistakes or cost-overruns borne entirely by the contractor.

Gill said he expected that work on relocating the fans would be completed in the coming weeks. Almost all of the other items listed on a Temporary Occupancy Certificate as needing completion have already been done, Gill said. They include the installation of “panic hardware” on two doors, grab bars for one restroom, installation of some missing “barrier free” signs, plus finished drawings and alarm test reports for an official file.