Public works crisis halts school
Spiralling energy and transport costs force building companies to halt loss-making jobs
CHILDREN at a Jávea primary school are now having to dodge a building site every day after the construction company improving the facilities there downed tools due to 'inflation'.
Binaria Construcciones admitted that the sudden spike in cost of parts and materials, largely provoked by the international transport and fuel crisis, means if they continue at the original budget they will make a loss on the works.
The firm has asked Jávea mayor José Chulvi to grant them a three-month break to see whether Spain's government takes legal measures to halt spiralling prices or amend public works contract legislation.
Having started in mid-September with a 10-month deadline and a budget of just under €1.1 million, Binaria Construcciones was charged with building a new canteen, gym and playground apparatus, as well as extending and renovating the kitchen, toilets and the waterworks at the Trenc d'Alba primary school.
But prices have soared in that time, meaning the original estimate will not be enough to cover the works – a situation that was 'unforeseeable at the time of tendering the contract'.
Binaria assures that this is proving to be the case all over the country, with multiple public works projects suddenly stalled, or not even starting due to there being no bidders for the jobs.
The latter has happened twice with another Jávea primary school, the Mediterrània.
At present, Spanish contract law expressly forbids amendments to public works plans that increase the original estimate by more than 20%.
This was originally put in place in a bid to prevent corruption – construction companies conspiring with authorities to inflate their quotes and share the surplus for their own personal gain – but has proven to pose a hurdle in times of express inflation.
Sr Chulvi, who is also a provincial deputy, has tabled a motion for a legal reform that allows budgeted prices to be reviewed in 'exceptional circumstances', and for an instant-update system to be brought in for the central databases to stipulate minimum and maximum prices for works.
Along with local education authority head Montse Villaverde, he thanked the school community for its 'patience and understanding'.
They have assured parents and teachers they will keep pupils safe by cordoning off the building sites and setting aside alternative playground and PE areas.