Watchman wrote:What I keep pondering on when went wrong with all these buildings, its clear is how much is taken on trust when dealing with contracts and how much that assumed trust is abused;
We have a type of cladding that has been tested and deemed not suitable for use, so we assume the construction industry is made aware of this and is trusted not to use it.
So when a potential purchaser i.e. local authority has architects and quantity surveys draws up their speciation to invite tenders one would assume it would not expect to receive any with this material quoted, and one would also expect said architects and quantity surveyors to spot if it did.
So what has happened?
Did the original quotes lie about the cladding they were using
Have the architects etc. been negligent
Has there been any back handers
What has been the role in the planning committee in cutting costs and expecting the work to be done on the cheap
How was a safety certificate granted
At the end of the day, unfortunately, I'm not sure we will ever get a proper outcome from all this
One of the earliest interviews that opened the discussion on building standards asked a few pertinent questions.
Were substandard workmanship and materials involved?
Did the council inspectors sign this off?
There were few answers, except that few councils now retain a full building standards team.
There may be one or two officers, but the legwork is frequently outsourced to commercial surveyors.
Given the plethora of companies, subcontracting, multiple ownerships, in the building industry.
There's a suspicion that suppliers can easily end up "marking their own homework".
I've absolutely no evidence of this, but have seen the effect of outsourcing and subcontracting in other industries.
Accountability and quality frequently suffer, problems fall down the gaps between departmental specialities.
It's difficult to pin down the faulty component in large systems, and expensive and nigh on impossible to invoke compensation for substandard work.
That is the mess that any investigation will need to cut through.
The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead. Aristotle