The city has issued a notice of default to the contractor of the $53.6 million state-city Joint Traffic Management Center, citing numerous deficiencies on the part of Watts Constructors LLC that could delay the project’s completion.

Among the defaults: incorrect installation of the roofing and the weather resistant barrier behind the exterior metal panels, each of which may have contributed to water infiltration into the interior of the building, as well as incorrect installation of lobby glass walls assembly and the parapet walls.

The city broke ground on the facility, at South King and Alapai streets, in April 2015. The original completion date was June 2017.

City Corporation Counsel Donna Leong asked the City Council Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee today for special private counsel to assist her office in the matter.

“The Default Letter was issued only after many opportunities had been given to Watts to correct the various issues that had been identified by the city,” Leong said in a release. “We trust that Watts will take this letter seriously and cure the defaults in accordance with the construction contract.”

The release said: “Over the course of the past year, the city informed Watts of numerous deficiencies under the construction contract for the JTMC, which were not appropriately corrected in a timely manner. Out of the more than 90 Non-Compliant Reports issued to Watts, approximately 80 percent of the non-complaint work remains uncorrected.”

The contract requires Watts to begin correcting the defaults within seven calendar days after receipt of the default letter, which was sent on Monday. Failure to do so could result in termination of the contract. If that happens, the city could call on Watts’ performance bond to complete the project, Leong told the committee.

The Federal Highway Administration is providing $37.8 million toward the contract. The city’s contribution is $15.8 million.