A tough lesson from a PFI school

Most are about a builder someone has had in to do a job on their house usually for cash, no VAT, no questions asked, no answers required which has gone wrong. My response is usually that you get what you pay for.

But when a head teacher I know tells me about some of the horrors from the PFI project producing her new school, I have to listen a bit more intently.

What came across from the head and the teachers was how disappointed they were that those involved seem to have such a little appreciation of what schools are about.

Teething problems are inevitable, but those arising from poor workmanship are particularly frustrating. As I was in a meeting with the head a message came through that the kitchen had shut down in the middle of preparing the school lunches when the gas went off. Out of 1,200 children there was only enough food ready for 200. The problem was traced to a poorly-installed appliance, which caused the gas to shut off.

While the safety system worked as it should by shutting the gas off, proper installation of the appliance would have made it unnecessary, as would an adequate inspection before the M&E work was signed off. This is basic stuff.

As for feeding the other 1,000 children, there was no solution from the operator – I suppose coming up with one might have meant admitting that the service provided was below par. In the end the teaching staff went out and bought a load of sandwiches.

The other big frustration from the head concerned the snagging list. The big things that are wrong just fall off the list because they are both expensive to rectify and are an admission of a cock-up. In the head’s mind, that means they will be ignored.

One of the requirements is for filing space for storing confidential documents such as school records with access only by the head and her PA. The space was put in but it was decided that it would also be the ideal place for the main systems control panel with every Tom, Dick and Harry having access. Not fit for purpose for the head, but convenient for the builder no doubt.

What is of concern is the apparent inability or unwillingness to see the problem from the users’ perspective. The delivery team are too busy pointing the fingers at each other; the designers to blame here, the M& E contractor there. This might be an isolated case but if not it has the potential to do more damage to the image of the industry than anything else.

Chris Blythe is chief executive of the CIOB