PITTSBURGH - The University of Pittsburgh and the state have sued the architects and contractors who worked on the university's new basketball arena, claiming a shoddy design and construction has left the two year-old building with more than 200 holes in its roof and subpar ventilation, sprinkler and communications systems.

The school and the Pennsylvania Department of General Services, which ran the construction project, filed two lawsuits Thursday seeking unspecified damages against the companies and their insurance companies for alleged problems at the $107 million Petersen Events Center, which opened in November 2002.

Neither the state nor the university estimated how much the alleged problems would cost to repair.

In the lawsuit, the university claims an architectural partnership between Pittsburgh-based Apostolou Associates and Atlanta-based Rosser International drew up shoddy plans and caused construction delays that cost the university $5.5 million to settle claims by contractors.

The university also claims the arena's steel and aluminum roof, which was installed by Kansas City-based Havens Steel Co. and G&W Roofing & Construction of Eighty-Four, Pa., is deteriorating and has leaks from poor workmanship.

Officials with Apostolou Associates, Rosser International and Havens Steel did not return phone calls for comment after business hours Thursday evening. Officials with G&W Roofing could not be reached for comment.

The school claims Havens did not make the steel trusses at the correct height and that the aluminum roof wasn't properly fastened to the trusses by G&W. In some places, the roof isn't fastened at all. Other fasteners are rubbing holes in the roof and pulling out insulation, according to the lawsuit.

"The Petersen roof has experienced and continues to experience accelerated and severe deterioration and water leaks into the building," according to one of the lawsuits.

Pitt spokesman Robert Hill declined comment on the lawsuits but said that the leaks would not prevent the university's basketball teams from completing their seasons.