BC man blames parking gate car damage on building management

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A BC man claimed thousands against the management of a building where he was involved in an incident involving the parkade’s parking gate.

Shahab Afhami was driving his vehicle into the underground parkade of a commercial building when the incident took place.

The entrance gate closed and scraped his vehicle, and he asked the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal to order the building’s management, Triovest, for $2,741.90 in repair costs.

In a publicly posted decision, Triovest denied responsibility, telling the tribunal that it performs regular gate maintenance and meets all safety standards.

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Nearly two years ago, on June 3, 2022, Afhami was driving into the parade when the entrance gate scraped his vehicle’s grill, hood and bumper.

Triovest provided a dated and time-stamped video of the incident, while Afhami provided pictures of his vehicle damage and a quote for the cost of fixing it.

Afhami claimed the gate was unsafe, telling the tribunal that he believed the safety sensors were either installed incorrectly or not working correctly. He also believed Triovest was negligent in not ensuring the parkade’s safety.

The tribunal placed “significant weight” on Triovest’s last servicing of the gate, which took place six weeks before the parking gate incident that damaged Afhami’s vehicle.

There was no consensus on whether the sensors had actually failed, and the tribunal suggested that Afhami needed to provide expert evidence to prove that they did, which he did not have.

“Since Mr. Afhami has not proven that Triovest breached the standard of care, I find Mr. Afhami has not proven that Triovest was negligent. Therefore, I find I do not need to address whether Triovest can rely on a liability waiver as a defence,” the tribunal member overseeing the case concluded.

Afhami’s claims were dismissed, and he was not awarded any damages.