As reported in today’s Reading Chronicle the opening of the Cedar Court extra care housing scheme at Basingstoke Road is being delayed while contractors deal with structural issues.
Reading Borough Council identified potential structural issues during its monitoring of the construction work in May this year and immediately called for a technical report from the contractors to identify the cause. The report has now been received and we are awaiting detailed analysis of its contents from the council’s own independent expert consultants. When this is complete, we will agree any repairs with the contractor, including a realistic time frame for completion.
“Cedar Court is being delivered under a design and build contract. This means the contractor is responsible for the design and construction of the building. The contractor is also liable for meeting the full cost of any remedial work and for compensating the Council for any delays. We have already invoiced the contractor for compensation for the delay so far.
We expect our contractor to make good any defects and to deliver a high-quality building which meets the required specification and delivers the highest standard of support for older residents in the Borough. The delay is disappointing, but we will continue to push our contractor to get the work done as quickly as possible. The contractual requirement to compensate the Council for delay should be a strong incentive to complete the work by an early date.
The £6m contract for the Cedar Court scheme, designed to provide 40 extra care flats, was let in October 2010.