Northern Ireland school builds delayed due to rising cost of materials
- Published
New buildings for a number of schools have been delayed due to rises in the cost of construction materials.
The Department of Education (DE) said that "some projects are now facing costs that are significantly higher than approved business case and/or tendered costs".
As a result, a number of schools expecting new buildings will have to wait longer for work to begin.
In some cases, contractors have pulled out of contracts or tender processes.
The Stormont Executive had previously agreed that companies facing big rises in the cost of building materials could be allowed to increase the prices of public sector contracts.
Housing associations in Northern Ireland have also been given up to £15m to deal with the soaring costs of building materials.
There have been recent rises in the costs of a number of core building materials - including steel and wood - due to factors like increased demand and increases in shipping costs.
Increasing energy costs could also affect suppliers of materials and therefore prices.
Some builders contracted to build schools in Northern Ireland have decided that they cannot complete jobs at their previously agreed price.
According to the DE, a number of schools have been hit by delays.
For instance, a contractor appointed to build a new school for the 870-pupil Dunclug College in Ballymena has pulled out of the contract.
The new school was originally expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
"The contractor for Dunclug College submitted a Termination Notice just before construction work was due to commence," the Department of Education said.
"Discussions took place with the contractor, but unfortunately agreement could not be reached and the project will now have to be re-procured."
Dunclug College is one of a number of schools affected.
"St Ronan's College, Lurgan, is currently progressing through a re-procurement exercise as a result of these market uncertainties," the department said.
The completion of a landmark shared education campus in Ballycastle has also been delayed.
The new campus is to be shared between 1,200 pupils at Ballycastle High School and Cross and Passion College, and has been funded with 'Fresh Start' money.
"Unfortunately, several bidders were unable to stand over their tender prices and withdrew from the process, prior to contract award," the department said.
"As a result, the procurement was terminated and a new competition commenced."
Increasing construction costs have contributed to the landmark shared education campus in Omagh costing almost £60m
The department also said that a new building for Islandmagee Primary School in County Antrim had been affected by increased construction costs.
"Due to material price increases over the past number of months, the estimated project costs have increased since approval of the original business case was granted in 2019," the department said.
"In response to this the Education Authority is in the process of finalising a business case addendum."
This needs to happen before the project can progress to tender for a contractor.
But the department also said it was committed to delivering a new school at Islandmagee.
Building has started at a number of other schools where contractors had faced some difficulties with supplies, but the department said that there had been sustained increases in the costs of construction materials throughout 2021.
It had previously been revealed that increased construction costs had contributed to the landmark Strule shared education campus in Omagh costing almost £60m more than its initial estimate.
It is the biggest school building in Northern Ireland but has faced a number of problems and delays.
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