黑洞社区

Contractor VolkerFitzpatrick and developer Goodman are facing a legal claim of up to 拢141m over problems with the construction of the largest wine warehouse in Europe, it has emerged.

VolkerFitzpatrick and landlord and developer Goodman are being sued by Accolade Wines, the tenant of the Accolade Park wine warehouse in Bristol, because of 鈥渄efects and damage鈥� to the building.

Accolade claims 鈥渄efective piles鈥� that 鈥減rovide insufficient support for the floor slabs鈥� have led to 鈥渄ifferential settlement鈥� across the floor of the 拢41m warehouse and 鈥渃racking of the slab鈥�.

Accolade also claims that due to 鈥渨orkmanship defects鈥� the slabs cannot achieve the performance requirements of the warehouse, and that while some of the cracking is because of the defects in the piling, some is also due to 鈥渋nadequacies in the slab itself鈥�.

As 黑洞社区 revealed in August, 拢467m-turnover VolkerFitzpatrick is already suing piling specialist Keller over problems with the warehouse, claiming that piling defects caused cracks in the slabs.

The contractor is suing Keller for an amount to be determined when the extent of any of its own liability to Accolade is established.

Keller denies its work was faulty and is defending the claim.

The court papers of Accolade鈥檚 claim against VolkerFitzpatrick and Goodman have only now been made available.

The papers, filed at the Technology and Construction Court and seen by 黑洞社区, show that the full claim is for up to 拢141m, including 拢33m for the cost of remedial works and up to 拢104m in costs for Accolade to relocate while the remedial works are carried out.

It adds that if it was not possible to find a suitable site to relocate to, the firm would need new 鈥渂espoke premises鈥� to be built at a cost of up to 拢107m.

It claims this would be 鈥渁 sensible course鈥� as 鈥渢here is not likely to be a single suitable like-for-like alternative set of premises available at the relevant time鈥� and that 鈥渕ulti-site occupancy鈥� would be 鈥渦nsatisfactory鈥� and 鈥渓ikely to cause further extra loss which is difficult to quantify鈥�.

The papers also claim the issues at the development are not limited to the warehouse.

Accolade claims that crushed concrete fill imported onto the site has reacted with sulphates in the ground and expanded causing the ground to 鈥渉eave鈥�, 鈥渞educing the structural strength of the concrete鈥� and in some places leading to cracks in the concrete slabs of the loading bays outside the warehouse.

Accolade also claims that the cost of remedial works will be exacerbated 鈥渂y the presence of asbestos, which has been discovered in the [crushed concrete] fill鈥�, making it more expensive to remove.

In its defence, VolkerFitzpatrick denied the claims made against its work, but admitted to defects in the piling, which it claims were caused by Keller and are covered by its claim against the subcontractor.

It did not admit to the existence of asbestos in the concrete fill, but said even if there was asbestos this would not 鈥渟ignificantly increase the costs of remedial works鈥�.

It added: 鈥淭he scope of remedial works proposed by Accolade, and their related costs, have fluctuated significantly since VolkerFitzpatrick were first contacted about the problems at Accolade Park.

鈥淚t is evident that the true scope of any necessary remedial work and its cost will not be clear until the ongoing investigations and tests are completed and assessed.鈥�

In its defence, Goodman, which is separately suing VolkerFitzpatrick, claims that any defects were 鈥渃aused by the defective construction and/or design of the premises by VolkerFitzpatrick.鈥�

A spokesperson for Accolade Wines added that it was only taking legal action because 鈥渓ong running discussions鈥� on resolving the problems had 鈥渇ailed鈥�.

VolkerFitzpatrick, Goodman, and Keller declined to comment.