The UK’s biggest contractor is engaged in a drawn-out £34.4m legal case over defects at a London student accommodation site it completed in 2009.
Balfour Beatty has denied allegations it was responsible for “significant defects” on the six-storey Hive building in Bethnal Green, according to court documents seen by Construction News.
The claimant, which owns the building, Hive Bethnal Green Ltd (HBGL), blamed Balfour Beatty for fire safety issues and internal water ingress, which it said caused it to “suffer loss and damage”.
HBGL decanted the site’s residents before the 2023/24 academic year, and expects it to stay empty until at least April 2026.
It estimated that the disruption and remediation will cost it £34.4m – almost three times the £12m it initially sought in 2021.
HBGL added that “the likely cost… may prove significantly more than this”, as the full scope of remediation works “remains uncertain”.
But Balfour Beatty said many of HBGL’s claims were “vague [and] unparticularised”. The contractor also said that it used materials that met safety standards at the time.
Balfour Beatty subsidiary Mansell Construction (now Balfour Beatty Regional Construction) was contracted by developer JG Colt to design and construct the 22-metre tall site for £15.2m in 2008, completing work in 2009.
But the claimant said it started to find faults in the Hive following completion. In particular, it flagged fire safety defects on the facade and substantial water ingress.
HBGL accused Balfour Beatty of “fail[ing] to exercise reasonable skill and care in its design of the works”, in breach of its JCT design-and-build contract.
The contractor is also accused of breaching the Defective Premises Act 1972, and causing “numerous defects” on the high-rise site.
HBGL said that it found facade defects in 20 different places on the site. Balfour Beatty used Eternit and Standard Trespa rainscreen cladding panels – HBGL claimed that the latter would not have been allowed by a “reasonably competent designer”.
The claimant said that the Trespa panels did not comply with the Building Regulations of the time.
HBGL also said some cavity barriers were missing and that others were installed “inadequately”. The “ineffective” cavity barriers could “provid[e] an unhindered route for fire and smoke spread”, it said.
It also said that Balfour Beatty was responsible for the design and installation of a faulty ventilation system and fo