A Tri-City architect firm and the insurer for a construction contractor sued by Moses Lake School District over the new elementary school that suddenly closed in spring 2025 are denying responsibility. They argue that the school district knew about potential problems and took actions that limit the insurers’ liability.

The school district sued Richland-based Fowler General Construction along with Chicago-based Western Surety Company in 2025 after closing the $18 million Groff Elementary School due to reported defects with the building.

The school district claimed improper and incomplete work by Fowler, which district officials say the contractor then attempted to conceal. Fowler has denied the claims.

Western Surety declined to pay out the district’s claim on its insurance bond for the project. In October, the district also sued Design West Architects for allegedly failing to administer the project and ensure the district was aware of problems.

Along with failing to plead any specific design error in connection to Groff Elementary, Design West, which maintains a Tri-Cities office, said in court documents the school district “had notice at/around substantial completion of construction … including (alleged) defects of which Design West notified (the school district) or otherwise discussed with (the district), its representatives, or defendant Fowler in connection with closing out the project.”

The architecture firm also noted that it relied upon information from the school district, as well as government agencies and other inspection service providers, to administer the project and ensure work was being completed.

Western Surety, in its response to the district’s suit, pointed out that students and staff moved into the building and “used the property for its intended purposes, thereby accepting performance under the underlying contract, satisfying (Fowler’s) obligations under the contract, and thereby discharging both (Fowler’s) and Western Surety from liability under the bond.”

The school district hired Design West to design the 500-student Groff Elementary as a prototype, so that it could be used to build future elementary schools. The school began welcoming students at the start of the 2021-22 school year.

However, the school district said the school began facing “immense challenges,” ranging from electrical shocks to water intrusion, almost as soon as students and staff arrived in the building.

The problems were persistent and severe enough that in addition to suing Fowler and its insurer, the district’s board voted in April 2025 to close Groff and move its students and staff to several schools throughout Moses Lake.

Fowler has denied the school district’s claims regarding Groff’s construction, saying it worked on the school as detailed by plans and specifications. It is countersuing the district, claiming it breached their contract by failing to pay for the work completed and retaliating against the construction company in bad faith.

Fowler also countersued many of the project’s subcontractors, saying any defective work is a breach of their contracts with Fowler.

One of the countersued subcontractors, Spokane’s Pro-Mechanical Services Inc., or PMI, recently rejected both the school district’s and Fowler’s claims in court documents, saying the company’s workers performed within accepted industry standards and in accordance with plans, specifications and material lists it was provided.

PMI alleges the district or Fowler may have failed to take reasonable steps to minimize or prevent damages, that the problems with the school may have come from the builder’s or school district’s own negligence or that PMI’s work may have been changed without its knowledge.