Contractor John Sisk is close to signing up for a bumper project in north London, despite concerns that the council will not be able to afford the project.
Haringey Council “recommended the award in principle” of a £54m contract to John Sisk for the restoration of its civic centre, which now needs approval by the council’s cabinet, according to minutes of a council meeting last week (12 November).
If approved by the cabinet, Sisk will restore and refurbish the Grade-II listed building, while adding an annex that still needs planning permission.
Despite the recommendation, the council documents also reveal that Sisk’s £54m price for the work is “above the available construction budget”.
“If no savings are achieved, the council would not be able to award the contract,” it added.
“However, the council still has the responsibility to restore, repair and maintain the listed building and an alternate restoration approach would need to be considered.”
Sisk has already been working on a pre-contract services agreement basis since August, after being one of just three firms invited to tender for the project.
The council document also reveals that multiple contractors refused the terms of an initial draft of the fixed-price contract, which led to the termination of the procurement process.
But the council decided not to launch a new procurement phase, and appointed John Sisk on a renegotiated contract. It said the contractor had met “a significant majority of the council’s original procurement objectives” in the initial procurement phase, including around the fixed lump price.
Going back into the “challenging” marketplace “would not have been in the council’s best commercial interest”, the council added.
It said doing so would have brought about a “significant time delay that would have incurred additional cost”, as well as an increase in tender prices due to inflation.
The council has been paying for security around the clock to keep the site off limits since it closed in spring 2020, meaning costs would continue without construction work.
It also flagged “ongoing maintenance costs” relating to repairs to hoarding around the site, as well as to stop vermin infestation and overgrowth.
In a statement on its website, Haringey Council said it closed the centre after its condition “significantly deteriorated and needed major repair and replacement”.
Ruth Gordon, the council’s cabinet member for placemaking and local economy, said the Sisk plan for the refurb job “offers the best value for money of all the options available”.
“Doing nothing is not an option and even that, given our responsibility to the listed building, would cost millions and not bring the site back into civic use,” she added.
