Huge bill for leaky schools
AMANDA FISHER
BEYOND THE LIMIT: Brooklyn principal Liz Rhodes says a ministry report took six months longer than hoped, and the 10-year limit had expired.
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Education
The Government is facing a $1.5 billion bill to fix leaky school buildings – and Education Minister Anne Tolley says the soaring cost is keeping her awake at night.
"I wake up in the middle of the night and think, 'God, what am I going to do, we can't pay for it,"' she said yesterday.
Estimates have put the bill at a minimum of $1.5b.
"We have just scratched the surface" of how many schools would be affected, she said. The Government had previously spent $40 million on repair work – with more scheduled this year – but 157 schools still need work. Of these, six are in Wellington.
"There just isn't the money to go out and borrow one-and-a-half-billion dollars and start repairing schools," Mrs Tolley said.
She planned to consult Finance Minister Bill English on getting more cash, but would also have to look at paring back existing education programmes.
The Education Ministry would have to pick up the tab if other liable parties, such as builders or architects, could not be pursued, or costs could not otherwise be driven down, she said.
She was "appalled" to find no work had been done by previous governments to gauge the problem. "[The previous government] buried their head in the sand, which is a pity because there was lots of money flying around."
Because nothing had been done sooner, some builders and architects could no longer be pursued through the Weathertight Homes Tribunal, as the 10-year liability period had passed. Meanwhile, buildings could have unnecessarily deteriorated.
The Government has just completed a survey of possible leaky schools in Auckland. A similar $22m nationwide survey of all schools built or renovated since 1994 is now under way.
There had already been $80m set aside in this year's Budget to repair leaky buildings at 12 schools, but others would have to wait much longer as there was no extra money, Mrs Tolley said. Several schools in Tauranga had had to be demolished, and Auckland's Macleans College needed 21 classrooms replaced.
Schools would have to meet stiff requirements to prove damage was a result of leaky building syndrome, and repair work would be prioritised by extent of damage.
Labour education spokesman Trevor Mallard was surprised at the estimated bill. "None of us had any idea it was on this scale, and if [Mrs Tolley] says she did, I don't believe her."
However, he said: "I'm not going to take responsibility for the National Party's decision to deregulate the building industry."
ROT SETS IN AT WELLINGTON CLASSROOMS
Brooklyn Primary School is facing another year without assemblies, after a library and classroom were found to be leaky at the beginning of last year, and that class now has to use the hall, principal Liz Rhodes says.
An Education Ministry report took about six months longer than hoped, so the building work fell just outside the 10-year limitation period, meaning the ministry would have to foot the entire bill.
Raumati Beach School's leaks were deemed to have been repaired several years ago, and were kicked off the ministry's list, but principal Mike Farrelly says the "Band-Aid" repairs did not last.
Water running down walls, water stains and smelly carpet had become regular fixtures, but it was a constant battle to get the ministry's insurance company to pay for the work – meaning thousands of dollars had had to come out of the school's property grant and from staff professional development money.
A major rebuild 14 years ago should have taken Eastern Hutt School into the 21st century. Instead, it is the bits built 94 years ago that keep the school going.
Five modern classrooms, the administration block, toilets and part of the hall and library are all leaking – and pupils are using spare rooms in buildings built during World War I.
"The whole lot of it's leaky building [but] all the old part of the school ... is solid as a brick," principal Dianne Patterson said.
Problems began to manifest themselves shortly after construction, while others developed over the years. "[We have had] really significant ongoing leaks, which we have spent large amounts of money trying to get fixed and haven't been able to."
She had hoped repairs would be done over summer, but work was now due to start next month.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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If they had built them in the traditional ways instead of trying to be upmarket they probaly would have lasted as long as the original parts of the schools. It probably would have been cheaper to build. The children go there to learn, not to look at fancy buildings. The $22 milion they wasted on the survey would have gone a long way to fixing some of the problems.
This is shocking. As with all the leaking building debacle, who are the builders and the suppliers and why are they not being held accountable?
The fact is that the govt has neither the guts or the will to make those responsible pay for this cockup
Message to past, present and future governments... You get what you pay for. Yep throw a couple of bleats at builders, Architects, etc. But as the 'developer', the MOE themselves should be in the hot-seat over leaky state owned educational facilities. The MOE sets the budget, they set the brief. And like most developers they turn the screws on everyone else involved very tightly to try and get more building than what they are prepared to pay for.
Regulations and status quo prevent highly experienced Designers with a small but good team even having a chance at designing well built schools, we have tried many times to tender for school work and it always goes to the big architectural firms with big marketing budgets and low paid graduates.
Design firms with technical knowledge and accountability like ours get passed over for the bells and whistles design every time....we design award wining homes and commercial buildings and rely on past projects for ongoing work, word of mouth...not flashy marketing and sales promises.
Im not surprised there is a leaky crisis, back in 1998 when untreated was introduced, i asked the question, but being a recent graduate then, who was going to listen....in 2000 i ventured out on my own and made sure i did it my way and we haven't had a leaker yet...
Check out www.insightnz.co.nz for great architecture.
What a disgrace for a Government Department of Education turning out buildings that fit into the "Leaky Buildings Syndrome" normally the domain of Monolithic Clad Residential Buildings! The Labour Government kept this lot under wraps despite record taxation revenue. They would sooner pump the money into the "Cullen Fund" than fix up leaky School Buildings. When an established Government Department is this slack where Building Construction is concerned is it any wonder the ordinary non Government folk have been caught out by the Leaky Buildings debacle. A Government department has been very slack despite the plethora of beauricrats on very good rates of pay. A disgrace indeed! Time Government Ministers, and Parliamentarians, looked at thier own patch first before blaggarding the Private Sector!
I wonder where Labour is going to find the 1.3 billion for tax cuts and the 1.5 billion for school repairs and the few hundred extra million for increased parental leave and then the extra funds for the increase in welfare dependency we will ultimately see as a result of their policies. Just pull out New Zealands Visa Gold card Phil and throw it on there for now aey and let someone else worry about it later. When its maxed out and our credit rating gets down graded Labour will just blame national as they will again be back in power just in time to pay for Labours overspending like 2008. NZ has no choice but to cut spending and partially sell off some assets our we will be the next Greece or Ireland.
What I think is apalling, when you look at the picture of this article is that they waste money building such a swanky and fashionable looking school building. Public schools are for education, not for impressing the neighbours. Money should be spent to better education, more teachers, better wages, not a fancy building. Fancy buildings are for private schools.
who was the minister of education when these facilities were built??? has some high offical at the ministry of education lost their job for this massvie mistake. or have they been given a cushy job in some other ministry so that in 10 years time we will have leaky hosipitals or leaky prisons, actually leaky prisons wouldn't be so bad...
Well, well what a surprise!!! Perhaps the Govt and Education Dept should stop spending big bucks on architects to come up with flash new designs and revert back to the good old designs that have lastest for years and years.
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The various ministers of building in both Labour and National have ALWAYS blamed the Developers, Cowboys etc with respect to the "Leaky Builkding Syndrome" but now we see that Government departments such as Education are also caught up in this New Zealand made Building Debacle.What incompetence we have within Government departments who have been involved directly in over seeing new Building Construction in Schools for 100 years or more. This conveys that the alleged incompetence goes beyond the inexperienced Ministers of Building conveniently blaming the private sector constructors. Get off the politics and on with redressing the ongoing self inflicted problems by New Zealanders upon New Zealanders.