A leading construction trade body has added its voice to concerns about delays and building faults at a flagship Highland school project.
The £48.5million Wick Campus was originally supposed to open to pupils in October last year – but the project has been beset with problems and is now not expected to open until the end of February.
The project is part of the Scotland-wide hub initiative for procuring new community infrastructure, led by the Scottish Future’s Trust.
The Scottish Building Federation has now written to the trust to highlight concerns about Hub North Scotland which has been responsible for delivering the Wick project.
The trade body is concerned about reputational damage for the construction industry and is keen to work with the Scottish Futures Trust to ensure problems are not repeated.
Scottish Building Federation managing director Vaughan Hart said: “A number of local members of the Scottish Building Federation have expressed serious concerns to me regarding recent reports of delays and building faults on a number of projects delivered through hub North Scotland, notably the new Wick Campus.
“These issues follow on from the widely reported Edinburgh schools issue which was the subject of a recent inquiry to which we gave evidence.
“Although these projects were not themselves managed by the Scottish Futures Trust, it is worrying that wider lessons appear not to have been learned.
“We know of contractors working on hub projects that have consistently adhered to the high standards of quality, safety and performance we should be entitled to expect – and these deserve to be congratulated on their hard work and diligence. However, these recent examples can cast an extremely poor reflection on the construction industry in the eyes of the public – and this has important implications not only for our members but for the industry as a whole.”
A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “Highland Council has expressed its disappointment with delays to the Wick Campus, and has always been clear regarding it expectations in relation to the quality and standard of facility it expects to be delivered by Hub North Scotland.
“The council has been working to a target for the new facilities to be operational by February 27.
“The council will be issuing a project update to stakeholders at the end of this week.”
