Bungling council bosses ordered £40,000 worth of windows that didn’t fit the Buckie homes being done up as part of a major project.
The blunder has only now been revealed years after the mishap, with the valuable glazing left gathering dust in storage since the shambles unfolded.
It has now only now emerged that the council was notified of a potential problem with window sizes when the contract was being prepared.
But it was only when they were uncovered in October that an investigation was launched.
Who were the windows for?
A contract for 765 new windows for 101 properties in Moray was issued back in 2021.
This included houses and flats in Dufftown, Rothes, Cullen, Raffan and Buckie.
A year later, 96 replacement windows were delivered to replace those at 17 properties on Carnie Place in Buckie.
It quickly became apparent the windows did not fit.
When were the ill-fitting windows discovered?
During spring 2022, a contractor reported an issue when they arrived at Carnie Place to install new windows in the properties.
This was reviewed by Moray Council’s building standards team, who found the windows to be significantly larger than the openings there.
They were returned to a storage facility in Keith – along with 51 other windows that were not installed because “tenants refused access to the properties.”
An elected member raised the alarm in October last year over the windows still sitting in storage and an investigation was ordered.
What did the investigation find?
The investigation concluded in March and a report has detailed several failings by those involved to double check the window sizes.
Back when the contract was tendered, manufacturers were informed of “approximate dimensions” of the windows by the council.
Moray Council’s then contracts manager said plaster board could be “chipped away” to fit the windows if there was a size problem.
The windows were then manufactured to the “approximate dimensions” of the original tender contract and were found to be between 2 and 10cm larger than the window opening.
As a result the windows could not be installed without “structural changes to the properties at significant cost” and disruption to the tenants.
The report also investigated how the wrong windows along with the other non-installed windows were then sat in storage for years.
An oversight with the council’s storage management system not taking note of materials “ordered for a specific contract” was reported as the issue.
The report adds the contracts manager responsible is “no longer employed by the council” but does not mention if this was a direct result of the window mishap.
Council reminded to ‘verify accuracy’ of deliveries
The report has listed a number of recommendations for councillors to decide on.
It states: “Officers should be reminded to check deliveries on receipt against the purchase order to verify accuracy and allow for any issues to be raised with the supplier/manufacturer.”
The report adds that the council should implement stock checking of contract materials to avoid any windows or other materials getting lost.
Councillors will the discuss the results of the investigation and the future of the windows on Thursday.
Conversation