The designer and prime contractor of a leaning condominium building in Yokohama ordered a subcontractor to use 14-meter piles to build the structure, knowing that a demolished building at the same site had used 18-meter piles, a document obtained by Kyodo News showed Wednesday.
The findings strengthen the possibility of Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co. having known the building would require longer pilings but ordered shorter ones for the subcontractor, Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Corp.
The October revelation of the leaning building has embroiled Asahi Kasei Construction Materials in a scandal and led to its admission that data had been fabricated for 360 out of the 3,052 projects it worked on over the past decade, including in piling works for the condo. The incident fueled public concern over the safety of buildings in general.