Claims for costs over Children’s Hospital delays ‘significantly exaggerated’ by builders

BAM to submit revise work programme for completion of hospital today

A large number of claims for costs in relation to changes in the design and construction of the National Children’s Hospital are ‘significantly exaggerated’ by its builders, the head of the board overseeing its development has said.

Chief officer of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) David Gunning said that of €819 million worth of claims lodged by construction company BAM, those deemed by the employer’s representative (ER) to be valid make up just seven per cent of this amount.

“3,165 claims have been determined by the ER. Her award of that completely nets out to €52 million, where BAM has claimed €819 million,” Mr Gunning told the Dáil Public Accounts Committee yesterday.

He attributed much of the discrepancy to a ‘very significant over-claiming of time’. It is now 41 months since the developers missed their first deadline for completion of the hospital.

“€819 million is equivalent to 11 years of time extension, not 41 months,” Mr Gunning added.

“If BAM is entitled to money for a delay, they can only get paid once for a delay. You can’t get paid multiple times for the same days.”

He explained that other claims are being made by BAM through the High Court. There have been 16 adjudications in relation to claims made so far. In these cases, BAM sought amounts totalling €72.8 million. They were awarded €4.9 million.

The Committee heard how BAM has yet to provide a new date for when their part in the hospital’s development will be complete. This is due to take place today when BAM submits an updated programme to the ER.

In recent months Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has been critical of BAM for what she believes is an inadequate workforce on site to complete the hospital in a timely manner, something which the construction company denies.

BAM has also put the blame on the delays and cost overruns on changes made in the design and layout of areas across the building. The PAC heard how 23,500 drawings of rooms and other spaces have been issued since 2009.

However, in recent months changes have been far fewer, with no design changes made in 2026, and 58 made in the past nine months. Many of these changes involved the installation of emergency lights or relocating of sockets on walls.

“In that same period BAM closed 60,000 defects and snags in the building,” said NPHDB Project Director Phelim Devine.

“I don’t think you need to be a brain surgeon to understand what’s causing delay in this project.”

Mr Gunning later added: “The BAM narrative is very clear. It’s all about change and the cost of these extensions of time is all the employer’s fault. We rebut that in its entirety.”