An Office of Public Works (OPW) project to replace an unsafe 70-metre perimeter wall around a government office ended up costing over €490,000.
The works at the Dublin headquarters of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) were originally expected to cost around €200,000 exclusive of VAT.
However, a live ESB cable and a leaking pipe were discovered during preliminary works leading to extensive delays and unforeseen costs.
It resulted in a doubling of the bill with around €240,000 spent on demolition of the wall and rebuilding, in line with the original OPW estimates.
The extra works to deal with the high voltage live electricity cable that was uncovered during the work however, ended up adding more than €250,000 to the bill.
The OPW acknowledged there were “very significant delays as well as increased costs” on the job at Lansdowne House in Ballsbridge.
This included payments of €54,000 to the ESB to redirect the wire and €61,500 to Dublin City Council so footpaths and public parking could be closed off.
A further €82,200 was spent on ancillary costs, according to a detailed breakdown of spending provided by the OPW under the Freedom of Information Act after a long delay.
The saga began in March 2021 when the OPW was conducting an inspection of the building where they found the perimeter wall was “deemed unsafe for health and safety reasons” and had been built without a proper foundation.
A record of a site visit said there was a risk it could collapse during a “strong wind or through accidental force.”
A decision was made to rebuild it using salvaged bricks with the building firm Sensori approved as contractors and a preliminary estimate of €213,366 inclusive of VAT for the work.
However, the project ran into difficulties in October 2022 when the leaking water main and an electrical cable were discovered.
An email said: “We encountered an ESB cable within the earth in close proximity to where we need to excavate and partially encased in the existing foundation. We are of the understanding from speaking with ESB that the cable is live.”
It was mid-2023 before the ESB removed the cable work on the actual wall only recommenced in December of that year.
In early 2024 however, the contractor discovered there was still a section of live electrical cable near where works were taking place.
They contacted the ESB who said this was not part of the original work and would require a new application to them for removal or rerouting.
The OPW builders then decided it would be quicker to hire a specialist contractor so that they could get back to work on the reconstruction.
Then in August 2024, it emerged that the reconfiguration and building of the wall had left a shortfall of around 750 blocks of a special type that were needed.
A note said: “The main contractor provided [six] bespoke samples to replicate the existing blockwork.
“Following an extended period of review and a subsequent sixth sample (19th September), [this] was approved and is now in production.”
The delays on the project caused frustration for the WRC, which lost a large number of parking spaces.
An email from their director general to the OPW in December 2022 said: “This latest issue has caused the project to come to a complete stop.”
By June 2023, the WRC said there was “no sign of any activity today.”
Another email from an official said: “While I know that the power cable replacement is outside of your control, it is really very frustrating to see the lack of progress on this issue.
“I know that the Director General and senior management of the WRC and the chairman of the Labour Court are concerned about the apparent lack of progress.”
In an information note, the OPW said the two-metre-high boundary wall was around 70 metres in length and was built in the 1960s.
They said because the site was an architectural conservation area, a decision had been made to retain the existing blocks to “rebuild the wall in accordance with the original design.”
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On the rebuilding project, they said: “The total costs involved in the wall removal and reconstruction was €201,500 ex VAT in line with the original estimate.”
For the unforeseen electrical cable, they said works on that were now complete.
“The total additional cost due the discovery of the live wire cable was €211,300 ex VAT,” an information note said.
“The fact that the live wire was found, which posed a serious health and safety risk introduced an unforeseen complexity into the project, increasing the time and costs involved.”