Construction defects found at another 71 Scottish schools

Grant Prior 8 years ago
Share

Construction defects have been found on at least 71 more schools across Scotland following a wall collapse at Oxgangs Primary in Edinburgh.

Extensive remedial work was needed at Oxgangs Primary school when a wall came down in high winds due to inadequate ties
Extensive remedial work was needed at Oxgangs Primary school when a wall came down in high winds due to inadequate ties

The collapse in January last year led to the closure of 17 schools in the city while remedial work was carried out.

The main issues concerned the inadequate use of wall ties and poor construction quality

A BBC investigation has now revealed the extent of the problem across Scotland after councils were quizzed about defects discovered in their school buildings.

Problems were found in 71 more schools across 15 council areas.

Remedial work has been completed on most of them with repairs still ongoing at six sites.

Fears have now been voiced that construction problems could be present at other schemes built under the public-private partnership model used for the Edinburgh schools.

Glasgow had 23 schools affected, including 22 built through PPP programmes and one under design-and-build.

Elsewhere, there were five in Aberdeenshire, four in Angus, five in Argyll and Bute, two in Clackmannanshire, three in Dundee, four in East Lothian, two in Fife, three in Inverclyde, one in North Lanarkshire, 10 in South Lanarkshire, three in Stirling and three in West Lothian.

Prof Alan Dunlop, a fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and a visiting professor at Robert Gordon University, told the BBC: “The PPP financing process was not only used for schools, it was also used for hospitals and a number of public buildings, care homes, things like that.

“I’m wondering, if they found a similar problem in schools, are other things happening in other building type that have been used and building under PPP?

“And this is focusing primarily on wall ties and header ties – are there other elements of the building’s structure that are actually at fault? I find it difficult to believe it could only rest with wall ties and header ties.

“We have to review and re-think how we build these buildings, especially for our children.

“The only way we found out about Oxgangs was because the wall collapsed. If the wall hasn’t collapsed, we would never have been any the wiser – so we need intrusive surveys to find out just what on earth is going on.”

Ian Honeyman from the Scottish Building Federation said: “The fundamental point that has to be addressed is that people have to have confidence in the buildings that are being produced, and also be confident that people are safe when they’re living or working in them.

“I don’t think it’s something that can be tackled by one individual company or one individual organisation – I think it has to be done by a combination of all organisations and people involved in the construction industry to look at the fundamental things that have gone wrong here, and look at how we can address it as an industry rather than as individuals.”

Honeyman added the way construction work was signed off might need to be looked at.

He said: “The system itself in terms of the certification process requires ultimately one person to sign off a piece of paper called a completion certificate.

“Unfortunately there’s not one person involved in the whole project who is actually in a position that can do that, because it’s a combination of everybody – not one person can be on the site 24/7, see every piece of brick or steel or whatever else is put up, you can only be there so often.

“There are systems in place that are supposed to pick up these issues going through – but that relies on everyone in the chain to do what’s expected of them.

“And when things get missed, that can have an impact further down the chain, and ultimately I think that’s part of what’s happened here.

“I think the whole industry has to look at the system and manage the system better than we have, as it’s indicated at the moment.”

Latest news

Universal Civils and Build picks-up another ISG job

Contractor to complete Wilson Sports Village in Clayton-le-Moors
2 days ago

Prep work starts for vast HS2 box slide under A46

Freyssinet designed system will push 14,500t box under Kenilworth Bypass
3 days ago

Downing Construction hit by third year of losses

Building safety works and problem student job tip Liverpool builder £5.8m into red
2 days ago

Problem contracts make it another tricky year for Taziker

Infrastructure specialist confident restructure and new strategy now paying off
2 days ago

£250m Stockport homes scheme set to start

Oak Construction to deliver first block in 440-flats scheme
2 days ago

Morgan Sindall wins Canary Wharf office-to-labs job

Construction to start this month on £65m conversion
3 days ago

Building stone firm ignores silica dust safety warnings

Workers at risk after manufacturer ignores HSE improvement notices
2 days ago

Resi developer Sheen Lane heading for administration

Richmond based firm has a turnover of £50m
3 days ago

Building safety act adding six months to delivery times

New approval gateways slow student room development programmes
3 days ago

Five contractors win £550m airfield framework deal

MAG picks team for Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports
3 days ago

Galldris bounces back to strong profits

South east civils specialist gets trading margin up to 11%
3 days ago

Management buyout at Midlands contractor

Family business GI Sykes sold to management
3 days ago

Taylor Woodrow wins Wolverhampton city centre revamp

£19m contract will last two-and-a-half years
3 days ago

Morgan Sindall contracts league champion for second year

Kier ranks second in closely contested race between majors
4 days ago

New Year layoffs as Scottish modular house builder collapses

East Ayrshire Connect Modular falls into administration
4 days ago

Thames Water bidders day for £2.2bn reservoir scheme

Tenders to be invited in October for new Abingdon reservoir in Oxfordshire
4 days ago

Buckingham Plant Hire quits heavy kit market

Firm to sell fleet and focus on lighter, sustainable plant
5 days ago

Clients ‘ignoring building safety’ reforms

Clients still subjecting contractors to aggressive and sub-economic pricing
4 days ago

Castleforge plans expansion after £100m data centre deal

Investor moves into booming data centre market
4 days ago

Construction output growth drops to six-month low

Subcontractor rates rise at fastest rate for 18 months
5 days ago

Suir Engineering swoops for Scottish M&E contractor

Irish M&E firm launches UK expansion with Taylor & Fraser acquisition
5 days ago

Aggregates supply firm files administration notice

Ashville Aggregates and Concrete operates across London and South East
5 days ago

Plans in for 44-storey Manchester resi tower

Developer Glenbrook to appoint contractor this year
6 days ago

Briggs & Forrester names new engineering services MD

Will Newman replaces Ian Lawrence who steps down after eight years
5 days ago

Morgan Sindall bags Salford Uni acoustics building

Planning submitted for Acoustics Building at Crescent Innovation area
5 days ago

Lambeth to release six sites for £250m homes plan

Call for development partner to deliver 450 mixed tenure homes
5 days ago

Adrian Speller joins brother as joint MD of Midlands builder

Speller Metcalfe boosts senior leadership team
6 days ago

Winner unveiled for £2.9bn aqueduct revamp

Construction costs for Haweswater Aqueduct rise to £2.9bn from £1.75bn
1 week ago

Fortem and Equans face fight for £3bn housing upkeep deal

Birmingham City Council aims to sign new 10-year deals for four regions
6 days ago

Lendlease strikes deal to sell UK construction arm for £35m

US private equity firm Atlas to finalise purchase deal by summer
1 week ago

Contractor services