Matthew Grellier, head of construction and engineering at Slater Heelis, assesses the ‘fundamental planning mistakes’ made during the construction of the new Eastenders set that went £30m over budget.
… four years later, and almost £30 million over budget, the set has come under fire from the National Audit Office…
pbctoday writes:
Fans of the BBC soap Eastenders can expect to see a revamped Albert Square on their screens in the coming months, after filming on the new set began in January. If construction had gone to plan, however, viewers should have had their first glimpse long ago. Originally due to be completed by 2018, the new Albert Square has been beset with problems from the start.
Now, four years later, and almost £30 million over budget, the set has come under fire from the National Audit Office for not delivering value for money, with the watchdog stating that the BBC could have addressed some of the issues it faced earlier on in the process. MPs on the House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee have also levelled criticism at the broadcaster, saying that it made “fundamental planning mistakes”.
Plans for construction – known as the E20 project – were originally developed in 2013 to replace the existing set and make it bigger. It had been a long time coming – the original set was constructed in 1984 and was only ever intended to be used for two years.
In its report on the E20 project, the Public Accounts Select Committee highlighted inflation, the tender process, and unforeseen, adverse site conditions as three of the main reasons for the delays and overspending.
From a legal point of view, what can be done to avoid problems on construction projects like those encountered by the BBC?…
Legal lessons
There are undoubtedly a lot of valuable legal lessons employers and contractors can learn from what has unfolded since the project kicked off in 2013.
There will nearly always be unpredictable elements that arise on a large-scale, complex construction project, whether that be encountering unforeseen, adverse site conditions or a global pandemic. However, there is one thing that is firmly within your control – building some protection against these scenarios into the project contract documents.
