External investigators denied access to review children’s hospital site for six weeks

The timeline for the completion of the new national children’s hospital could “slip further” after another breakdown in communication between the board and builders, while a squad of external investigators were shut out of the site for six weeks.

The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB), overseeing the building of the project, has hired one of the world’s leading investigative and intelligence companies, Kroll, to review the works on the site.

[ Who are Kroll, the investigators brought in to run rule over National Children’s Hospital? ]

[ Just 27 rooms at National Children’s Hospital finished out of 3,000, committee hears ]

[ Tensions between children’s hospital board and contractor cause ‘real difficulty’ - Tánaiste ]

However, board members met last month to discuss issues with the “behaviour” of lead contractor BAM. According to minutes of that meeting, BAM said it would not attend meetings if the development board were present, while Kroll was “excluded” from the site for six weeks.

The members were given an update on “challenges on site and BAM’s behaviour”. Examples included: the employer’s representative being told that “BAM will not attend meetings if the NPHDB is in attendance”; that construction company personnel were told “to refrain from interfacing with NPHDB personnel, to include Kroll” who “are carrying out a critical review of the execution of the works”.

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The meeting heard that Kroll’s engagement was critical to helping them forecast an accurate timeline for completion of the work “in the absence of a compliant programme from BAM”. A construction company spokesman said the firm “has fully engaged with the board and its advisers throughout the new children’s hospital project and will continue to do so in order to deliver a world-class facility for Ireland as quickly as possible”.

[ Who are Kroll, the investigators brought in to run rule over National Children’s Hospital? ]

A hospital development board spokeswoman said it has “nothing to add beyond what is stated in the minutes”.

BAM’s most recent progress report, issued in April, said the substantial completion date would be May 2024. This is 21 months beyond the original contracted completion date.

However, minutes of the meeting, seen by The Irish Times, show that the board received an update last month that “the May 2024 timeline could slip further as the NPHDB expert advisers are of the belief that the BAM timeline is optimistic”.

It comes as a 2020 case brought by the development board of the new children’s hospital against contractor BAM Buildings Ltd yesterday re-entered the Commercial Court after “thousands of hours” of discussions failed to achieve a settlement.

The application for the case to return to the fast-track list was made by lawyers for BAM after intensive talks over 18 months “broke down”. The children’s hospital works have been mired by delay and overrunning costs, with the latest projection putting the project above €2 billion. The construction company told the court on Monday that it will not be possible to calculate the total cost of the works until this court case is resolved.

[ Stephen Donnelly says ‘nobody right now’ knows final cost of national children’s hospital ]

Mr Justice Denis McDonald re-entered the proceedings into his fast-track list on Monday and scheduled a hearing for October.

An Oireachtas committee was told earlier this month that the cost of the National Children’s Hospital could surpass €2 billion, while just 27 rooms have been completed out of an expected 3,000.

A definitive completion date for the project is expected to be contained in a report from the contractor this week.

However, a spokeswoman for the NPHDB said last night: ”As you will have heard last week at the Oireachtas hearing, NPHDB was still waiting for a programme from BAM; as of now, that hasn’t changed.” It is understood that the construction company does intend to submit the revised programme this week and will note changes to the hospital’s design as the reason for delays.

To date, expenditure on the hospital has reached €1.325 billion, of an authorised capital spend stretching to €1.433 billion. BAM has submitted approximately €750 million in cost claims which threaten to escalate the overall cost to almost €2.2 billion, The Irish Times reported last week.

Inflation and other factors delaying the build have continued to stoke tensions, with the board noting the contractor has not yet provided progress updates for March, April, May and June of this year.