黑洞社区

M&E contractor Haden Young is suing Laing O鈥橰ourke for 拢3.5m in a row over the construction of the 拢113m Coventry City football stadium.

The construction on the Ricoh stadium was delayed by problems including a site fire and bad weather. This meant that Haden Young had to accelerate work to ensure that it would open in time for the 2005 football season.

In its High Court writ, Haden Young says that although its initial tender named a price of 拢11.3m, this was never turned into a contract.

Haden Young claims that Laing O鈥橰ourke instructed it to start work in anticipation of its being awarded a subcontract, but that this never happened.

The company says the extra cost incurred by its work brought the total cost of the job to 拢14.6m. Its claim of 拢3.5m represents the shortfall in what it was paid, together with damages caused by Laing O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 refusal to pay. It is also claiming interest on this amount.

Haden Young鈥檚 work included the installation of ventilation, fire alarm, security, lighting and heating systems.

The stadium reached practical completion on 19 August 2005, a month later than planned.

These delays meant that Haden Young was still working on the scheme up until June 2006.

In its writ, the M&E specialist said: 鈥淭asks were stopped and started depending on the overall demands of the project, and the progress of other trades. Each time this occurred time was lost.

鈥淎s a result of delays to the M&E works, acceleration measures were put into effect that required an increased labour force and progress on multiple faces at the same time.鈥�

Laing O鈥橰ourke and Haden Young declined to comment.