Wates has been given the job of repairing Parliament’s crumbling Victora Tower after the competitive tender process for the job failed for a second time.
Construction News revealed in April 2024 that the tender for the then £95m-value job had to be re-run after errors were made in documents used in the first round.
On Friday, Parliamentary authorities revealed that no suitable bids were received for the project under the relaunched competitive tendering process.
They have now handed the job directly to Wates for £110.6m – £15.6m higher than the price published in the tender notice.
In their contract award notice, the authorities said: “The receipt of no suitable tenders in response to the previous open procedure was unforeseeable by the contracting authority.”
For reasons of “extreme urgency” the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied with, they added.
They justified their decision to follow the negotiated procedure without prior publication directly with Wates because the initial conditions of the contract “are not substantially altered”.
The scheme involves temporary works and extensive conservation and repair of the 99m tower, which sits above Sovereign’s Gate at the south-west corner of the parliamentary estate.
Temporary works will include site set-up, hoardings, piling, crash deck scaffolding removal, erecting full-height scaffolding. Steel support structures and stone cleaning will also be carried out.
Subsequent conservation works will include stone repairs, gilding, roof refurbishments, metalwork restoration, fire stopping, waterproofing, and reinstatement of balconies, guttering and rainwater systems.
The contract also covers window refurbishment, mechanical and electrical alterations, pigeon netting, and repairs to the flagpole.
Wates will deliver the scheme under an NEC4 ECC Option B contract with amendments and secondary clauses.
The 160-year-old Victoria Tower’s stonework is deteriorating, with parliamentary authorities concerned about the risks of falling masonry on those working in and visiting the Palace of Westminster.
They warned in 2022 that exposure to cold weather and storm conditions were weakening the 99 metre-tall tower before launching early engagement on the procurement in 2022.
The first tender for the project was launched in May 2023. A contract was originally meant to be awarded by the end of 2023 with work completed by 2030.
However, bidders for the job were instructed almost a year later that the process would have to restart after concerns were raised over wording contained in documents related to the procurement process.
CN later revealed that the two procurement processes had cost the taxpayer at least £1.9m.
Last year, the then public accounts committee chair Meg Hillier MP described the process as a “comedy of errors”.
“It beggars belief that we keep having cost overruns and delays. Every delay is just adding more costs.”
The job sits outside the wider parliamentary Restoration and Renewal programme, which has itself been hit by repeated delays.