Urgent inspections should be carried out on all Scottish public buildings built using private finance initiatives (PFIs), say architects, following the publication of a damning report into the safety of PFI schools.
The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) said the recent report into building standards in 17 Edinburgh schools should not just be “put on the shelf” and ignored.
The investigation by the construction industry expert Prof John Cole, published last week, was prompted after the collapse of an external wall at Oxgangs primary school in Edinburgh in January 2016.
The report blamed inadequate quality supervision and cost-cutting measures for wall collapses at Oxgangs and a number of other PFI schools.
RIAS called on local authorities across Scotland to carry out a programme of inspections to ensure other PFI buildings were safe. The RIAS president, Willie Watt, said it it was fortunate that nobody had been injured or killed in this instance. “An early process of inspection by appropriately qualified experts should proceed as urgently as the various public commissioning authorities – local, health and governmental – can muster the skilled individuals who can do this work,” he said.
“When major inquiry reports are published there is a tendency for everyone to breathe a sign of relief, mutter ‘well, that’s that dealt with’ and move on,” he said. “That should not be the case with this extremely well researched and deeply concerning report. The message is simple and the responsibility of all commissioning authorities is clear.”
Edinburgh city council instituted a process of inspection of all 17 schools procured through PFI following the wall collapse at Oxgangs, but the RIAS secretary, Neil Baxter, said the other 31 Scottish local authorities had not yet done the same.
Evidence from RIAS submitted to Cole’s inquiry was published on Monday and highlighted changes in project management over the past 30 years that saw architects answerable to contractors instead of directly to the client. Baxter said this built a conflict of interest into the system, potentially leaving the contractor to choose between the long-term interest of the client and the interest of shareholders.
A Scottish government spokesman said the housing minister, Kevin Stewart, had written to all local authorities “highlighting the issues and recommendations the Cole report raises and underlining the importance of adhering to building regulations, technical standards and the inspection processes which are in place to protect the public”.
A spokesperson for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities said the safety of public buildings was of the highest priority. “When problems were first identified with schools in Edinburgh, local authorities quickly prioritised the inspection of school buildings to check for similar issues,” they said.
“Local government takes these responsibilities extremely seriously. However, we should not forget that the report published last week also has implications for the construction sector. As a result, all involved must take time to consider carefully the lessons to be learned from what was a serious report.”
