The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) has referred to the stance taken by the construction company BAM as “aggressive” in relation to the building of the national children’s hospital and associated works.
The NPHDB’s meeting minutes for July 2019 state that the board needed to respond to BAM’s failure to take responsibility for delays on the project. “The board discussed actions necessary in response to BAM’s aggressiveness, noting resourcing and costing implications for the project,” according to the minutes.
“A significant increase in the frequency of claims notifications in the preceding month was highlighted, and that BAM were seeking to apportion blame for the current delay with the employer’s team.”
In the minutes of the June meeting, the NPHDB was advised that BAM had been asked to revert with a plan on how it would address delays with the project.
“The board distinguished this request from an acceleration order and indicated it would be prudent to make that clear to BAM,” according to the minutes.
The board was provided with a summary of the project budget report.
A spokesperson for the NPHDB told the Medical Independent that different aspects of the development may be “ahead or behind projected timelines and such issues are constantly being worked through”.
“The main construction contractor is currently reporting that the project is behind on certain elements of the construction; however, they are currently developing a revised programme that will set out mitigation measures,” according to the spokesperson.
The hospital is scheduled to be completed in 2022 and it will open in 2023, after a period of commissioning.
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