Mowlem thrown off Bath Spa

Contractor Mowlem has sensationally been thrown off the Bath Spa project by Bath and North East Somerset Council.

The two have been locked in a bitter dispute over the £40m scheme, which is five years late after a series of technical problems. Now the council has instructed the contractor to leave the site and appointed a new project manager - Capita Symonds.

The council said the “final straw” came this week after Mowlem refused to replace the floor in the steam room.

It said: “The contract administrator (Grimshaws) instructed the builder to replace the floor in the steam room. It had been taken up to discover the reasons for the leaks. Mowlem has refused to confirm that it will comply with this instruction (known as an architect’s Instruction or AI) issued on 24 March 2005 and this is reminiscent of the prolonged legal battle over the peeling paint. The architect states the problem is poor workmanship, the builder says it is poor design. Stalemate. Again.”

"The council believes that this catalogue of errors, omissions and events represents a breach of the contract by Mowlem."

Councillor Nicole O'Flaherty, whose council responsibility includes the spa, said: "This certainly wasn't an easy decision. The time had clearly come when the council needed to intervene and take positive action.

"I see this as the end of a nightmare and the start of a new beginning. The past two years have been a very difficult chapter."

Capita Symonds is now due to carry out an audit on the physical state of the building.

The original project was due to cost £13m, but that has rocketed to £40m.

Both sides had seemed to be moving towards a resolution over the latest stand off over leaking floors. Mowlem had offered a deal of £26m to finish the project by the end of the year.

But resentment was never far away from the scheme, especially when construction minister Nigel Griffiths delivered a one-sided verdict on the affair heavily criticising the council’s role. The council said in today’s statement that the minister’s intervention had caused huge frustration at the council.

It said: “The Minister was backing Mowlem and bashing the Council. He only gave Mowlem’s view and did not seek the views of either the Council, Grimshaw or other partners. The status of the Minister’s visit and intervention is being pursued”

Mowlem is yet to respond in full but said the council could be facing a substantial claim.

It said: "Our preliminary legal advice is that the council's action itself constitutes a repudiation of the contract. We will decide shortly whether we will accept the council's repudiation."