New children’s hospital board says design changes not to blame for costly delays

The board overseeing the new national children’s hospital has disputed claims by the main builder that it is “persistent change” to the hospital’s design that has led to costly delays.

The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) also said it has had to “significantly increase” the size of the site inspectorate “over and above statutory requirements” in a sign of deepening tensions around the project.

The new claims are contained in information given to Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane who submitted written questions to the board and Department of Health about design changes, cost overruns and the contract for the building of the hospital.

The main contractor BAM has said that the “level of persistent change to the hospital’s design has made the programme submission process complex” and that such variations are leading to claims.

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However, in correspondence to Mr Cullinane, the board have said that “it is project delivery and not design that is impacting on the substantial completion date”.

“There is no material change to the design of any department, room or corridor, envelope, finishes apart from those agreed with the contractor as value engineering savings or changes resulting from the integration of the employer and contractor designs.”

The documents given to Sinn Féin also reveal that more than 300 doors in the hospital may have to be replaced or demolished. The board said there was a review of the doors as they did not meet “the effective clear width”.

“Following a detailed review by the design team to demonstrate that the reduced effective clear width may be suitable for clinical practice, a derogation is being currently explored with Children’s Health Ireland. If accepted it will prevent the replacement of 313 doors and part demolition of these doors and frames on site,” the document states.

Mr Cullinane says he believes the row between the board and main contractor “is escalating and deteriorating. The two main stakeholders responsible for delivering this project need to work together to provide certainty, contain costs and complete the build as quickly as possible.”

Fianna Fáil TD John Lahart, a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Health, said the State “appears to be seen as a pushover by large companies when it comes to construction projects. This cannot continue.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said on Tuesday that the Government is not satisfied with the main contractor and said the project has been “consistently understaffed and under-resourced”.

He was speaking after The Irish Times revealed that the timeline for the completion of the hospital could “slip further” than May 2024 after a breakdown in communication between the board and BAM, while a squad of external investigators were shut out of the site for six weeks.