It looks like the people of Bath will get their hot tubs – six years late. Bath and North East Somerset Council has kicked contractor Mowlem off site, installed Capita Symonds as project manager, and says it will be open by April 2006.

It seems an extreme thing to do, kicking Mowlem off, especially since it had offered to finish the spa in six months. But the project was a Gordian knot of mistrust and hostility. The council decided it was easier to cut than untie.

It’s a big setback for everyone. For one thing, no party comes out looking very clever. But reputations aside, Mowlem and the council spent a lot of time and money trying to win the war, and they look set to spend even more winning the peace. This could turn out to be construction’s legal battle of the decade, with each side claiming the other broke the contract.

The real losers, however, are the people of Bath, whose taxes have helped fund the whole sorry show and will continue to do so until it lurches to its acrimonious conclusion.

Where exactly did this straightforward, £13m leisure project begin going off the rails? We’ll never know. Mowlem and the council have been hunkered in their trenches since before 2003. And with the council an elected body, the battleground has naturally been public opinion, so each side has been spinning harder than New Labour.

How can the industry avoid another one of these débacles? Some say the answer lies in dedicated partnering contracts, framework agreements, or other methods of locking the fates of clients and contractors together. But as we can see from Peter Gracia’s report (page 34) these are open to fiddling too. And anyway, many prefer more traditional forms such as JCT, used on the Bath Spa.

The answer is not in the form, but the people. Contractors can protect themselves by having all the legal angles covered, but it is just as important to cultivate a project ethos that avoids blame and seeks results.

For one thing, it gives you more time to enjoy a good, hot soak.

Source

Construction Manager