Dunne Group collapse delays £150m hospital

The collapse of Dunne Group and fellow subcontractor JB Brickwork have contributed to around a six month delay to the opening of the new £150m Royal Hospital for Children and Department of Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh.

NHS Lothian said the hospital opening date has been pushed back to Spring 2018 from autumn next year.

The hospital is being delived by a consortium comprising Brookfield Multiplex as design and build contractor, Bouygues E&S as facilities management provider and Macquarie Capital as sponsor and financial advisor.

The consortium is reviewing the construction timetable with a new programme expected in October, NHS Lothian said.

The administration and liquidation of Dunne Group and JB Brickwork respectively caused a pause in work on the site, the client said, while progress was also hit by unfavourable winter weather and “unavoidable” technical construction problems.

The consortium has increased staffing on the site and working hours along with altered construction methods to lessen the impact as it looks at a revised timetable. Work is still continuing on the site.

Jim Crombie, acting chief executive at NHS Lothian, said: “Projects of this scale and, of this nature, are very rarely straightforward and bring with them many complex and sometimes unavoidable challenges.

“It is important to note that these alterations to the construction timetable will not result in any additional costs to NHS Lothian. 

Dunne Group was responsible for construction of the concrete frame, ground works and associated support services such as tower cranes, while JB Brickwork was providing materials and labour to construct brickwork services.