Leaning house of Leslieville received multiple warnings before being demolished

What happened to Leslieville's leaning house? A CTV News Toronto exclusive looks into an investigation into the leaning house in Leslieville. Natalie Johnson reports.

A house under construction that came to be known as the “leaning house of Leslieville” after high winds toppled it over in March had received multiple warning notices for building code violations while it was being built, a CTV News Toronto investigation uncovered.

The frame of the partially built structure, toppled into the adjacent house at Leslie Street, just south of Queen Street around 11:30 p.m. on Mar. 1 due to high winds, Toronto Fire District Chief Stephan Powell said at the time.

The building permit at 65 Leslie Street was requested in June 2015, and the following month warning notices were handed out at the site by the city.

For eight months leading up to the collapse six warning notices were issued at the site, according to building permits and inspection records for the property, which CTV News Toronto obtained through a freedom of information request.

“Examination of your building permit application revealed that certain requirements of the Ontario Building Code and/or other applicable By-laws have not been satisfied,” the warning notices said.

The notices state “it appears that the submitted lot line footing … may require reinforcement due to the eccentric load.”

Frontop Engineering Limited, the engineering firm responsible for the project, responded that it would “change the location of the footing and make the foundation wall on the centre of the footing.”

The building permit was finally granted, as a result, in August 2016.

Nearly three months later, the first building code violation notice was issued stating that excavation had damaged a neighbouring metal fence and was compromising the adjacent property.

“The contractor has dug right up to the concrete slab … and there is no reinforcement, no shoring, and the foundation … is now all exposed,” the Nov. 4, 2016 notice said.

The city responded with an Order to Remedy Unsafe Building, an order to stop work immediately after a routine inspection found “the building to be in an unsafe condition.”

“It’s a huge concern,” Coun. Mary-Margaret McMahon told CTV News Toronto. “We want safety for neighbouring residences, safety for passerby, safety for homeowners.”

When city inspections began, the project failed inspection five times between November and December 2016, but according to the city, the problems had nothing to do with the building falling over

“Those inspections and initial orders that were issued do not relate to the failure that occurred,” said the city’s director and deputy chief building official, Mario Angelucci.

Then on Feb. 24, 2017 a neighbour complained.

“The building appears not be constructed in accordance with the issue permit plans,” the subsequent inspection report reads.

The city said they checked into it and everything was fine.

“We’re evaluating the built form to ensure the built form is consistent with what we’ve issued the permit for,” Angelucci said. “We don’t comment on the construction techniques being used.”

Five days later, the city issued the “order to remedy unsafe building” to the developer stating, “the three-story wood frame structure is tilted and unstable, creating unsafe condition.”

That was Mar. 1, the evening Toronto was hammered by high winds swaying the structure into the neighbouring house.

CTV News Toronto reached out to the engineers involved. They blamed the construction quality and labour opposed to the design.

The builder did not return CTV News Toronto’s request for comment.

No one was injured in the incident. The warped wooden frame was demolished on Mar. 6 after a building inspector accessed the damage.

“There are a lot of changes around here, a lot of renovations going up quickly, so it didn’t completely shock me,” said neighbour Donald Sweeney.