Swiss cladding firm's collapse could leave two major London projects in turmoil

Concern was raised this week over the capacity of the cladding market in the wake of the collapse of the Swiss producer Schmidlin.

The worries, voiced by leading QSs, clients and construction managers, came as project teams on at least two major central London projects were assessing the impact of the closure of the continental fabrication plant.

Schmidlin UK, which is still trading, has pledged to complete ongoing projects, such as the Aldermanbury Square office scheme at London Wall, being built by contractor Bovis Lend Lease, and the Willis Building on Lime Street, being construction managed by Mace. It is understood that six bidders are vying to buy both the fabrication plant, where some work has restarted, and the design business based in Aesch, Switzerland.

Concern centres on the lack of competitiveness among high-end façade contractors. Schmidlin worked on the Swiss Re building and the GLA headquarters, both designed by Foster and Partners.

Experts have pointed to only three other players capable of competing with Schmidlin, all based on the continent - Permasteelisa, Gartners and Scheldebouw. The latter two firms are wholly owned by Permasteelisa. "Where will that leave people in the future?" one senior QS said this week. "The level of competition is just not there."

One leading client said that having to bring in a new cladding contractor on a scheme was extremely difficult. "It's a major problem," he said. "Each manufacturer has their own systems and prototypes. It makes the curtain walling contractor the most difficult to replace."

Many in the market were confident that a sale of the Swiss plant would be struck, ensuring the continuation of Schmidlin's operations in the UK. One QS said he would be "very surprised" if the firm was not quickly snapped up. "They are a very strong player over here." One construction manager said he thought fabrication could restart at the plant "in the next couple of weeks".

But uncertainty still hangs over projects under construction. A source on the Aldermanbury Square project, due for completion this October, said he was unable to assess whether the collapse of the parent firm could affect the project's programme. "It's impossible to say," he said. "The plant might be open in days and we could lose a week. But if negotiations over the sale of the (fabrication) plant are protracted it could be longer."

Each manufacturer has their own systems and prototypes. It makes the curtain walling contractor the most difficult to replace

Leading client

The source said the complex cladding system, which consists of stainless steel panels attached to outside columns and has reached at least the seventh floor of the 18-storey building, involved a convoluted supply chain linking four to five other separate companies. "It's a logistics problem. There is a lot of forming and bending needed to be carried out once the basic steel is made."

The source added that Bovis was doing a "fantastic" job in dealing with the uncertainty and expressed confidence in the scheme. "It will be built, but at what cost to the contractor is still uncertain."

The project team on the scheme includes architect Eric Parry Associates, QS Northcroft, development manager Hanover Cube, M&E engineer Hilson Moran and structural engineer Whitbybird.

Sources close to the Willis Building in the city, designed by Foster and Partners and being developed by British Land, said the project team was confident it would deal with the issue. "They have weeks before cladding is needed. They have time to let things sort themselves out."

British Land construction director Richard Elliott said the firm was monitoring the Schmidlin situation.

Production stopped at the plant last month after Schmidlin Façade Technology declared itself bankrupt on 22 February. The firm cited a loss of £5.7m on two projects, both believed to be in Germany.