Firesafetytestdispute
DEVELOPERS of the currently vacant Greystones Community National School building have said that their own test reviews contradict those of the Department of Education.
National school pupils remain in temporary accommodation at the rugby club. Greystones Community College had been supposed to share the school building this year, while it awaits construction of a new building. The secondary school is currently in temporary accommodation at the tennis club. Western Building Systems has vigorously rejected the findings of a test carried out by Department of Education representatives
The tests are designed to determine the building’s performance in the event of a fire. They are conducted remotely using a combination of materials that is supposed to replicate used in the building to which the test refers.
‘ The sample used in this instance to undertake the remote tests did not match that used in the Greystones School building,’ said a spokesman for WBS. ‘Consequently, the results were flawed and fell short of the standards required, and therefore are not relevant to the Greystones school.’
CEO Martin McCloskey said his view is now underpinned by three separate reviews conduct
ed by Western’s design experts.
‘ The findings of our design specialists who have reviewed the full test report provided by the Department are conclusive and unanimous – that the test conducted by the Department’s representatives was based on a sample inconsistent with that of Greystones School in terms of its composition and therefore produced flawed results,’ said Mr McCloskey.
‘We have sent copies of the three separate reviews to the Department’s representatives, KSN – but we have received no acknowledgement from them.’ He said that the Department’s test results were the sole reason for not allowing access to the school, and that a completion certificate was issued by Wicklow County Council on July 2.
‘ There should be no reason for this school to remain closed, and for pupils and staff to remain in temporary and unfit premises,’ said Mr McCloskey. ‘Western Building Systems insists this school is, and has, been ready for occupation since July 10, 2020.
The Department is playing games at the pupils and teachers’ expense in an attempt to further discredit Western Building Systems as they are attempting to do on other schools.’
The WBS CEO also revealed he had written to Education Minister Norma Foley to request a meeting on August 4, to which he had received an official acknowledgement, but since then there had been no further contact – even though the Department had said in a statement it had been engaging with Western in relation to the matter.
‘ The last meeting with the Department was on February 5 and since then our requests to meet in order to resolve the matters in question have been rejected. We remain open to meeting and resolving any issues through the normal dispute resolution process.’
A Department of Education and Skills spokesperson said in a statement that the Department ‘is taking appropriate steps to ensure that it is completely satisfied that the building is fit for handover prior to accepting it’.
‘It is a fact that there is currently an engagement under way between the Department and the contractor in this regard under the appropriate terms of the public works contract,’ read the statement.
‘A communication was received from Western Building Systems recently and is currently being reviewed. While this process is under way the Department will not be making any further comment.’