US group beats UK rivals to win Parliament restoration job
AMERICAN infrastructure and engineering group CH2M has officially been awarded a contract to manage the refurbishment of the Houses of Parliament, beating domestic rivals to the multibillion-pound deal.
A second contract for architectural and design services was handed to international consultancy BDP for the programme, which is running late. Deloitte has estimated that the renovation programme would take six years and cost £3.5bn if the Grade I-listed Palace of Westminster was closed and MPS relocated while the work was carried out. A rolling programme in which MPS remained in the building with sections of Westminster being shut down, would cost £5.7bn and take 32 years.
CH2M is understood to have edged out Uk-based rival Mace at the last moment with the lowest price.
The huge outlay required to refurbish Westminster has proved controversial at a time when the Government is looking to make huge public spending savings. However, CH2M winning the contract will also raise eyebrows, with the privately held business already facing criticism over the HS2 contract. Allegations of a “revolving door” for staff between HS2 and CH2M meant the company voluntarily withdrew from the rail link contract as rival Mace threatened a legal challenge.
Parliament has yet to make a decision on how exactly to carry out the work – whether in a single hit or rolling programme – but the Parliament Restoration and Renewal Programme, which is overseeing the project, said the average annual fee for the architectural work was between £10.4m and £21.3m. For the project management, this fee was between £4m and £8.6m a year.
Industry sources suggest this could go much higher, with the lack of clarity on exactly what work will be entailed meaning that costs are certain to rise.