[Closed] Local councils and building projects

Not sure why the council gets grief for that? It's a contractor failure.

Things go wrong on construction projects. What's more important is that no one was injured, that the causes of the failure are found and potential further failures are investigated and rectified.

Not sure why the council gets grief for that? It’s a contractor failure.

All too often the council let the contractor away with sloppy workmanship and cost/corner cutting to the degree that they can be considered complicit.

Local flagship school build near me I understand has a load of construction issues making it unsuitable for use in time for students moving in, but yeah it's contractor failure. Or a council failure for appointing crap contractors.

Wastes of money & resources though, yeah Woking council is full of it. Currently undergoing a massive redevelopment in the town to build loads of skyscrapers which is nothing more than a vanity project for unelected council chief exec Ray Morgan. The main reason he wanted them is to make Woking "like Singapore" (huh?) and because he once went up the Shard and said he couldn't see Woking from there.

No one wants the things but he's got it forced through with the backing of spineless Tory council who won't overrule him (the idiots here voted them in again).

Justified for "housing", but it's luxury apartments for foreign investors, not needed housing.

God knows what the construction quality will be. I'll fear going near them. Just hope they don't have lethal cladding.

I think you will find that building procurement routes are driven very much by national (scottish) government and that what you are experiencing is the the joy of market driven design and build. D&B was supposed to take the risk off local government but contractors are not fit to ‘police’ themselves (shock horror).

i could go into it but I’d probably be breaking some social media guidelines and make myself potentially liable for dismissal.

council budgets have been slashed this year. Thank the greens that it wasn’t even worse. It’s not going to get any better sometime soon.

plus, don’t get me started...

Some clients have massively unrealistic expectations as to the transfer of project risk in D&B work, these things go both ways.

I have worked both sides of the fence, I’ve seen how it’s done.

its not big (or clever). Designers working for contractors effectively wash their hands of responsibilities (to be fair, the contractors rip the specs up from the start). In traditional contracts, these are the enforcers.

contractors don’t work directly for councils, as a result I’ve seen clerk of works ignored, they have no teeth.

whilst i’ll agree that transfer of project risk expectations are not aligned (esp wrt cost and programme), the delivery of a properly constructed and compliant building by a D&B contractor should be a given.

My local council are clearing a site ready to build a new flyover.

Its costing £23 million.

There is no consultation as apparently the one done 22 years ago (in 1996) is sufficient.

Its on a nature reserve.

And the final straw...its a bridge to nowhere!  It was originally for a new ferry terminal and leads into a privately owned Port.  A port who's vision for the future was clean green tech, but is currently building a huge scrap mountain and who's tenant is currently going through planning for a 24/7 concrete/aggregate plant (having dropped a proposal for concrete block making).

There will be a handful of new jobs but apart from that, none of the towns residents are likely to ever use the flyover or benefit from it.

We're getting a new skateboard park in our village. Paid for by a £50k donation. Supposed to be an 8 week project,  started in Jan 2018.

It's half finished. So all the children, now on holiday, have a building site instead of a park. The project is being 'run' by the parish council. The contractors turn up when they feel like it, and the council accept whatever excuse they give.

I'm sure it's not all the fault of the council, but they seem to be very laid back about timescales and plans. I just hope the charities behind the grant don't change their minds.

#@metalheart.   Totally agree. I know a few people who have been involved in recent disastrous projects...  My son was doing some structural calls for said council as a contractor. The on site builder contacted him with a concern that the council architect had given him the wrong details of a particular aspect of the design. After a site meeting it turned out that the council architect hadn’t updated the design and the builder was working to an older spec!!!!!! That is only one of many stories!!!!!!!!

We also have a new hospital, there is practically no mobile phone service!!!!!!!!!!

Rumour has it that the helicopter pad is sinking....

There is a problem with the drainage system, a new upgraded pumping system has had to be installed.

It has been built on a bog!!!!

There is also the issue of recycling of waste to be resolved, many ££££££S have already been spent with no visible outcome.......

It's a inevitable consequence of the self promoting and omnipresent made up industry of "Procurement" and the consequent inability of Public Sector clients to be able to actually select Quality over Price. Despite all the bullturd initiatives and gimmicks that Scottish Government, Scottish Futures Trust etc... throw about.

Having said that DG1 was a royal malehenup, which appeared to be more than a procurement issue. DGC must be due a right good audit... Which will no doubt leave them with "lessons to learn" and "things to take forward" without any backsides being booted. It's the way of the public sector I am afraid. Ye tax payers get to foot the bill for  incompetence as always.

Common sense was forced out of the construction industry with the Latham report. The rife problems of corruption meant that the public sector was forced down alternative procurement routes instant of dealing with the actual problem of weak willed public sector management and corruption.

I could go on and on. But the public sectors relentless pursuit of more for less through Procurement is causing ills across the construction sector.

I've worked through this change in the industry and still work in it and I think that there may be a lot more of these issues coming out in the future. Edinburgh Schools was a warning shot.