The contractor that oversaw construction of the shuttered Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco is suing the authority that owns the facility for $150 million, claiming its faulty design documents and general unresponsiveness led to delays that caused the project cost to soar.

The suit covers the $2.2 billion center’s construction phase and makes no mention of the current problems facing the facility, which remains closed as the Transbay Joint Powers Authority investigates cracks found in two steel support beams last month. But the action is the latest in a series of lawsuits stemming from the project’s delays and cost overruns, and it blames the authority for “mismanagement, failures, and delays.”

Over the course of engineering and construction work that began a decade ago and culminated with a grand opening celebration in August, general contractor Webcor/Obayashi had to issue more than 12,000 requests for information and 1,603 change order requests to fix errors or omissions in the project design, the lawsuit says. It rebukes the authority for responses it says “were often late” and included code updates, clarifications or significant revisions that seemed to illustrate deficiencies in the construction drawings.

In the 21-page complaint filed Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court, lawyers for the joint venture described a process that veered out of control and prompted elected officials, transit advocates and reporters to criticize the authority “for its management failures, numerous errors, cost overruns and (the) exorbitant travel costs” of one official.

Authority officials shot back Wednesday that they “will hold Webcor/Obayashi Joint Venture responsible for their contractual commitment to deliver this project to the people of the Bay Area and the state of California.

“While we are still reviewing the details of the complaint, at first glance, many of the accusations that deal with delays to the project predate Webcor’s repeated commitments to deliver the transit center on time,” Mohammed Nuru, chair of the authority’s board of directors, said in a statement.

The building was mired in litigation before inspectors found two cracks in beams that hold up its bus deck and sprawling roof. In May, the engineering firm in charge of structural steel, Skanska USA Civil West, sued Webcor/Obayashi, claiming the contractor’s poor planning led to significant cost overruns.

The building’s intricate and expensive steel structure came under scrutiny after work crews discovered the cracks. More than a dozen manufacturers fabricated 22,000 tons of steel to make the transit hub, which resembles an iridescent balloon but weighs as much as 111 Boeing 747 airplanes.

Webcor/Obayashi denied each of Skanska’s allegations in a court filing. The general contractor has instead pointed fingers at Transbay officials for allowing the center’s design to evolve and its budget to swell.

The project’s budget at groundbreaking in 2010 was just under $1.6 billion, a number that eventually climbed to $2.2 billion. It opened about nine months late.

The contractor’s complaint notes that San Francisco officials asked the Department of Public Works to take over management of the project two years ago, after the authority’s board of directors severed ties with the project’s former executive director, Maria Ayardi-Kaplan.

Although some aspects of the project improved under the Department of Public Works’ supervision, “unfortunately the damage was largely already done,” the suit said.

Sam Singer, a spokesman for Webcor/Obayashi, said the latest lawsuit against the authority is likely the first of many “by subcontractors claiming the TJPA owes them money.

“There’s going to be a lot of people who want to get compensated for the work they did,” he said.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan