November rain beats builder
Wednesday 30th December 2009, 2:29PM GMT.
AN office in the Social Security building was damaged by rainwater while work was being carried out to make the roof watertight.
The water damaged floor and ceiling tiles and plasterboard around four windows in the office at Edward T. Wheadon House.
Minister Mark Dorey said the contractor’s specification of works had not insisted on a canopy being erected and the UK contractor, HT Forrest Ltd, had chosen not to use one.
The work was to replace a split bitumen felt roof with a glass reinforced polyester covering and increase the roof’s insulation at a cost of £139,000.
Deputy Dorey said the rainwater had caused internal damage to the building during the course of work that had been going on since October.
‘The contractor was unfortunate in experiencing the wettest November on record. The staff worked around this inconvenience. This is a minor issue which will be sorted out between the contractor’s insurers and the States’ insurers,’ he said.
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Why was a UK Contractor used!!!
Employment for lcoal business and people.
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Looks like yet another States decision to apparantly save money on a job a LOCAL company could do by hiring imported trade, it will now end up costing a lot more then expected of our Tax payers money, simply because our Government has not got any foresight at all. Congratulations again to the States for adding to the ever growing list of Cock-ups, do these people have any clue what they are doing ???
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If you read the full article in the paper it does state that only 1 local company entered the tender process and they were unable to meet the requirements set out in the process and were considerably more expensive. I cant understand why the GP dont put the whole story up on these boards? I suppose it just means they can add fuel to any debates they wish by handpicking parts of the story – particularly if it leads to State bashing.
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It is far worse than Deputy Dorey is admitting and will they now have to get a local firm again, to sort out the mess.
Why on earth do we keep getting UK companies to do this work, with the subsequent problems always happening.
Can you Deputy Dorey stop wasting taxpayers hard earned money from continually being, badly used?
If you can not do the job properly, close the door as you leave into the sunset.
Is the Clinical Block up to standard or is there problems there as well?
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I cant believe anyone would attempt to renew a roof of this size without a canopy esp a flat roof. I think the reason the local tender was more is purely because they would have had the sense to include a canopy. The amount of rain has little to do with it either as that should have been taken into account at this time of the year and measures taken (canopy) rather than trusting to luck. Who ever the heck let them go ahead with this without protection ought to be sacked.
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Well if the local builders were any good……….
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Auntie GP ” only 1 local company entered the tender process and could not meet the requirements set out in the process and were considerably more expensive”
The tendering process seems to be, select the cheapest UK firm and then local firms will then be asked to clear up the mess.
The Rondin School and the Airport, which were build by UK firms cost more than they should of by millions of pounds overspends.
Also a lot of the work was poor quality and is costing to repair on an annual basis.
Across the road from the Rondin is the Forest school, built by a local builder. It was built on budget on time and a lovely school with low maintenance.
Guernsey firms build better and cheaper in the long run, and also keeps the money in the Island.
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Auntie GP. I agree it does not look good that only one local company forwarded a tender. There were a lot more companies expressing an interest but the paperwork involved was far to onerous for a relatively small job, therefore scaring off some of the smaller companies who do not carry a back room staff capable of preparing these tenders,though they would be more than capable of doing the works.
I would suggest that the problem lies in the tendering process which can not possibly be getting “best value” for the tax payer if not enough tenders are forwarded!
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Guernsey States are simply disgusting, in a time of recession too. I agree, these UK builders are lazy, not even putting a canopy up during Winter! Any Guernsey firm would know that Guernsey has a similar weather pattern to the UK, thus Winter generally means wind and rain.
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