The developer of a condo project in Coquitlam where a shoring wall collapsed on Wednesday will be required to hire a third-party geotechnical engineer to supervise its repair.

“While this is not standard practice, city officials felt it was important to ensure there is additional oversight and trust for the protection of city infrastructure as well as the surrounding neighourhood,” said the city’s building permits manager, Doug Vance, in a statement released late Friday.

The shoring wall’s failure sent a cascade of dirt and rocks into the deep excavation for a new condo tower being built at 500 Foster Ave. by Amacon Construction Ltd. Nobody was injured, but the scene was captured on video and posted to social media Thursday afternoon, alarming nearby residents.

“The priority of the developers who work in our backyards should be to protect citizen safety,” said Suzana Kovacic in an email to the Tri-City News. “It wasn’t just a wall that collapsed — the integrity of developers and city has also collapsed.”

Vance said the city relies on developers to take the lead on issues related to their construction sites. He added since the shoring wall is just a temporary structure it isn’t covered by the BC Building Code.

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