€35,000 BILL FOR WINDOW CLEAN AT COUNCIL HQ
IMAGINE paying €35,000 to get your windows cleaned. That’s the bill facing Wexford County Council for a window-cleaning contract which has been under way at the County Hall in Carricklawn for the past fortnight.
In fairness, the award-winning premises with 11,100 square metres in floor space has a wraparound outer facade made entirely from glass on top of massive floor to ceiling picture windows throughout the interior of the local authority headquarters which was opened in 2011 at a cost of €60 million.
It has been six years since the glass was cleaned - the first time was to get builder’s dust off the newly-fitted windows when construction work was finished and they haven’t been touched since then.
Many people assumed the windows were of the self-cleaning variety because of the impossible amount of glass involved, but not so, according to a Council spokesman.
The building enjoys a panoramic view over the Wexford landscape but it was being spoiled by a layer of grime which built up on the windows after exposure to the elements over such a lengthy period.
A firm of window-cleaners was hired following ‘a complex and comprehensive’ tendering process which involved a strong emphasis on health and safety given the height of the building and the number of confined spaces in which they are required to work.
The work began over a fortnight ago and is expected to take approximately another week with equipment such as cherry-pickers and harnesses being used by the window cleaners to scale the building and reach the upper-most windows.
‘We’re delighted with the results. It’s an improvement for the staff and the public,’ said the local authority spokesman.
Confirming that the window-cleaning contract is costing in excess of €30,000, the spokesman said it will be a number of years before it has to be done again. ‘We reckon it will have to be done every two to three years. It’s a very public building and it’s important that it would be properly maintained’, he said.