£21m legal battle over flawed concrete at Salford flats job

18/12/23

The developer behind a major luxury flats scheme in Salford is claiming damages of £21m from engineering consultant Arcadis after a 10-storey concrete core had to be demolished during the construction programme.

Property Alliance Group, the developer behind the now completed Manchester Uptown scheme beside the river Irwell, is seeking compensation after the concrete core and podium had to be demolished at the largest of the three planned buildings because of concerns about the amount of rebar in the base.

Details of the case emerged at High Court hearing where Arcadis Consulting UK sought further disclosure of relevant documents from the developer.

This revealed that in June 2020, Arcadis identified a problem with its design of the podium slab.

At that time the slab had not been poured for the other two blocks A and B allowing the design was corrected. But the slab had already been poured for block C.

This required the remedial works to block C and design changes to blocks A and B.

It is agreed by both the developer and consultant that defects caused some delay to the project, but the extent of the delay is disputed.

Apart from damages for delay, Property Alliance Group's Irwell Riverside Developments Ltd also claims the cost of remedial works, £3.67m for loss of sales, £1.8m for loss of a different development opportunity, and £4.9m for extended finance charges.

Arcadis is contesting the extent of the claim.

Judge Neil Moody KC allowed Arcadis' request for further searches for documents.

Source; Construction Enquirer