Administrators for ISG are pursuing a specialist contractor and AtkinsRéalis for £4m worth of damages over an allegedly faulty school roof.
The legal action has been launched against consultancy AtkinsRéalis PPS and roofing contractor Longworth Building Services over defects at a special educational needs (SEN) school it built in Bury, Greater Manchester.
Documents seen by Construction News claim the roof was “seriously defective”.
The claim is being brought in an attempt to recoup £4m in costs that ISG incurred when repairing the roof for the client, Bury Metropolitan Borough Council.
In 2011, the council appointed ISG Construction as the main contractor on a project to build Millwood SEN School in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, for £9.1m.
ISG then appointed Longworth to design, supply and install the structural insulated panels (SIPs), roofing, cladding and rooflight works for the school.
AtkinsRéalis ─ then known as Faithful + Gould, but owned by Atkins ─ was appointed to provide design and engineering professional services.
The 5,600 square metre school was built for SEN students aged between two and 11. ISG finished the job in May 2012.
But ISG’s administrators said investigations in subsequent years showed the school’s flat roof was “seriously defective” and in places became unstable, with some parts of the school declared unsafe.
ISG had agreed to carry out remediation work for the council. But the contractor’s administrators have now said the roof was defective “as a result of flaws in its design and construction for which Longworth and/or Atkins were responsible”.
They have claimed £4m plus interest from the two firms, in relation to “the loss and damage […] suffered as a result of the defendants’ breaches of duty in designing, constructing and providing services” for the school roof.
‘Not best practice’
ISG’s administrators allege that design and construction errors allowed moisture to enter the roof, causing some joints to deteriorate, while some steel beams were designed incorrectly.
Prior to construction, SIP manufacturer SIPCO had advised that vapour control layers (VCLs) and ventilation should be installed in the roof to avoid “moisture effectively being trapped” in the top face of the SIP panels.
According to the administrator’s claim document, in a technical note sent to Longworth, SIPCO described a lack of VCLs and ventilation in the proposed designs as “not best practice”.
However, Longworth sent only an excerpt of SIPCO’s advice to AtkinsRéalis, omitting the page raising the VCL and ventilation concerns, ISG’s administrators claim.
Longworth also failed to reinforce the panel joints as suggested by structural engineers at Hugh Morrison Associates, the document adds.
That meant the roof’s structural performance was “adversely affected by interstitial condensation”, school attendees were not protected from condensation, and the roof did not meet building regulations, the claim states.
In addition, ISG’s administrators argue that AtkinsRéalis designed steel roof beams that lacked adequate buckling resistance, failing to comply with Building Regulations and “ensure the quality of its work”.
The defendants have until 23 January to file their defences to the court.
After they file, ISG’s administrators will have up to three months to lodge their reply to the defence.
EY and AtkinsRéalis declined to comment on the story.
A spokesperson for Longworth Building Services said the firm was aware of the claim, adding that it “intend[s] to vigorously defend it, with complete confidence of success”.
Timothy Vance and Alan Hudson from EY were appointed as ISG’s administrators following its collapse, and Vance is carrying out the legal action on behalf of ISG’s creditors.
In October, Vance and Hudson said they were “actively pursuing” claims in court to reclaim funds for ISG’s creditors.
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