Western Building Systems: Two Dublin schools shut down

Significant structural issues were discovered at Ardgillan Community College in County Dublin

Two Dublin schools have been shut down after structural problems were discovered in the buildings.

"Significant structural issues" were also uncovered at Ardgillan Community College, Balbriggan, on Friday.

According to Irish broadcaster RTÉ, the schools are among more than 30 built by Tyrone-based company, Western Building Systems (WBS).

The firm said that both buildings were subject to inspections and certified as meeting compliance standards.

A spokesperson for WBS added: "We fully recognise that this is a very important matter, not least for the pupils, parents and teachers of the schools involved.

"Until now, our integrity has never been questioned. Each of our Department of Education and Skills' projects, both before and since the amendments to building regulations in 2014, were subjected to inspections during construction.

"Every time, each was certified as meeting compliance standards. We are interested in getting to the bottom of this and that starts with establishing the facts.

"We are moving to intensify our engagement with the Department and other relevant bodies to better understand the issues which have now arisen and to work to resolve them."

'Urgent'

The Irish Department of Education is to carry out "urgent structural assessments" at all of them.

Meanwhile the Department of Education in Northern Ireland told BBC News NI that it is "reviewing" buildings built by WBS.

A spokesperson said: "In light of the recent press reports in Republic of Ireland, the department is currently reviewing buildings supplied by WBS.

"The vast majority of buildings supplied by WBS in Northern Ireland schools are single storey, modular classrooms rather than the larger, multi-storey wings supplied via the so-called 'rapid build' construction system used in the Republic of Ireland.

"All NI schools are constructed to NI building regulation standards and are signed off by council building control teams."

Closures

The schools closed down on Tuesday were Tyrrelstown Educate Together, and St Lukes National School in Mulhuddart, west Dublin.

More than 1,200 pupils are affected as the schools will not open on Wednesday.

At Ardgillan Community College, phase 1 of the building, which was constructed by WBS in 2009, was closed with immediate effect and a number of students were told to stay at home this week.

Phase 3, which was built in 2015 by a different builder was not affected.

The remaining schools are to be assessed in the coming days. They were all built by WBS in the Republic of Ireland over the past 10 years.

The department has initiated legal proceedings against WBS in relation to four schools.

An education department spokesperson told RTÉ News on Tuesday that it was in ongoing consultation with the chief state solicitor's office in relation to these cases.

WBS, which is based in Coalisland, Northern Ireland, has been contacted for comment.

'Rapid-build'

On Friday, engineers carrying out fire remediation work at Ardgillan Community College discovered that ties fixing exterior walls to interior walls were inadequate.

A decision was taken to close the 18-classroom section of the school - constructed by WBS in 2009 - with immediate effect.

A second building, constructed in 2015 by a different company, is not affected.

The Department of Education has now decided to examine the structure of all school buildings built by WBS between 2008 and 2013.

It said priority would be given to schools built by the company in 2008 and 2009.

These were "rapid-build" modular schools, constructed quickly to meet an acute school shortage at the time.

'Different regime'

The Department of Education said oversight on construction projects was now "vastly different" to the regime that was in place between 2008 and 2013.

There was disagreement in September of last year between the department and WBS as to responsibility for the failings.

Western Building Systems claimed the Department of Education would have inspected the work and itself issued a "final, substantial completion certificate".

In a statement issued at the time, it said all built schools went through a process of inspection prior to handover, conducted by departmental representatives, and that following this process those representatives issued a certificate.

It also said that the company believed all of its school buildings met all relevant fire safety and building regulations that prevailed at the time of handover.

But the department has maintained that the contractor was responsible for applying for and securing the fire certificate for the buildings and for certifying that the building was constructed in accordance with fire safety regulations.