The cost of refurbishment

This appeared on the BBC News.

 

Ceiling collapse is investigated

An investigation has begun after part of the ceiling collapsed in the States of Jersey chamber. One side of the public gallery, above the senators' benches, was affected, with plaster and ceiling materials falling on to seating and a corridor. Maintenance engineers, who are investigating the collapse, think it could have been caused by heavy rain over the weekend. No-one was hurt. The entire States building was refurbished about five years ago. It is not know how long the ceiling repairs will take. The next states meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday.

 

Five years is not a long time, after an expensive refurbishment! One wonders what excuses the builders will come up with!

 

It makes one wonder how good these "refurbishments" are. I remember back in the 1980s, that when Terry Hampton left St Aubin's, the Vicarage needed to be "refurbished" for the new Curate, Bob Booth. All well, and good, but in the space of almost no time at all, possibly within around five years, he left, and it needed urgently to be "refurbished" for the new Curate after him. After he left to St Mark's Church, it needed "refurbishment" again.

 

In each case, these refurbishments were notable for the cost, and the repetitive nature of the work, which suggests that the builder was not doing his job properly.

 

A similar occurrence occurred with St James Church when it was taken over as a "new" venue for the Arts in Jersey - they had the Arts Centre and Opera House, but needed - apparently - another venue. All well and good, but it was only in the course of "refurbishing" the Church interior for use as an arts venue that it became apparent that dry and wet rot was present, and the purchase costs had not taken into account the extra expenses needed for its repair. Here is the report on how to waste tax-payers money -read and despair!

 

Seven years after acquiring the building, and during the Trust's conversion project when it was necessary to erect a full internal scaffold to facilitate both the redecoration of the vaulted ceiling and to act as a safety platform for men working above, it was discovered that the plaster of the plaster-lath ceiling was detached from the laths. Visually the ceiling was in sound condition, but upon taking core samples (which necessitated a scaffold) it was found that the key between the plaster and the laths was suspect. It is possible, but not certain, that the necessary works to soundproof the roof in connection with the building's conversion to an arts venue may have disturbed the ceiling and contributed to the breakdown of the plaster to lath key.

Upon commencing the repair works to the ceiling, it was discovered that the timber support structure to the ceiling in the vicinity of the column head and external wall support points was seriously rotten, and extensive repair of rotten timberwork was needed before the ceiling repairs could be completed. These timbers were obscured from view due to their location at the column heads, and furthermore, timbers which visually appeared sound, were found to be hollow with rot when cut and drilled. .

When the problem with the ceiling was identified, the Arts Trust sought the help of the Planning and Environment Committee as works were delayed. The Chairman of the Trust met the President and Chief Officer. Subsequently the Committee identified funding of £150,000 from savings from 2-10 Halkett Place and Belle Vue capital projects which, with the agreement of the Finance and Economics Committee, was transferred to the Arts Trust project budget. The Arts Trust requested the Director of Property Services to take over the project as project manager to ensure the problems were fully assessed and the scheme put back on target. This arrangement was agreed free of charge by the Committee in order to help the Arts Trust. Technical evaluations and a thorough review of works was prepared. The Finance and Economics Committee agreed further funding sufficient to deal with the ceiling. That Committee has asked the Planning and Environment Committee to give a guarantee that no further funding will be required. The Committee is unable to provide this undertaking, having not been responsible for the conversion contract, and having taken over project management at a late stage.

 However, the Committee has recently forwarded a report to the Finance and Economics Committee from the Department of Property Services which identifies the need to deal with certain building elements which are still compromising the building's wind and watertight state, at a further cost of £50,000.