Developer, Concrete Sub Fined $85K Over Garage CO Exposure
Fines totaling C$85,000 hit both a Toronto constructor and its concrete finishing sub after workers were exposed to carbon monoxide, per Daily Commercial News.
What Happened
Fieldgate Construction Management Inc. (FCML) was fined C$55,000. Metro Concrete Works [2016] In Both penalties came after guilty pleas in Provincial Offences Court in Toronto on Aug. 28, 2026, handed down by Justice of the Peace Esther Daniel. The case stems from a July 4, 2023 incident.
FCML was the constructor on a new car dealership at 5868 Yonge St., which included a three-level parking garage. Metro was subcontracted to install an approximately three-inch concrete topping layer over the structural floor, according to a court bulletin cited by Daily Commercial News. On the day of the incident, workers were finishing concrete with hand tools and gasoline-powered finishing machines. A Metro worker and several others began to feel unwell. Emergency Medical Services treated multiple workers for carbon monoxide exposure.
Toronto Fire Services tested the air, found elevated carbon monoxide levels in the garage, and began ventilating the building. FCML and Metro were also testing and monitoring air quality, but initial testing showed exposures above the applicable limits. A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation found that Level P2, where the gasoline-powered equipment was in use, was not adequately tested for airborne carbon monoxide as required by section 47(3) of Ontario Regulation 213/91.
The source does not say how the fines were split by charge or whether the companies had a written ventilation plan. It also does not give the exposure readings or the applicable limit.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Settle monitoring ownership in the subcontract. Both the constructor and the finishing sub were penalized here, and the finding was about testing, not the absence of testing. Spell out who tests, how often, and who keeps the records for enclosed pours.
- Test where the machines run. The ministry’s finding focused on Level P2, the level where the gasoline-powered finishers were working. Monitoring on other levels did not cover it. Specify test locations by level or zone, not just “the garage.”
- Assign control of fuel-powered equipment. If your crew runs gas finishing machines indoors, confirm in writing who approves equipment and fuel type and who signs off on ventilation before the pour starts. Price any change to electric or alternate equipment or added ventilation as a scope item.
- Document your own readings. Both companies were testing and still pleaded guilty. Keep dated logs with locations and instrument details, and escalate any reading over the limit to the constructor in writing.
- Plan for a long tail. The incident was in July 2023, and the fines came in August 2026. Hold monitoring and incident records for the long term.
- Inference, not sourced: Because the court penalized the constructor and the sub separately, subs in Ontario should not assume a developer’s monitoring program covers their own obligations. Confirm this with your safety counsel.
