Scottish School Scandal Shows Need for Professional Contractors
Poor workmanship and what has been described as malpractice has hit 30 Scottish schools over the last five years, according to a BBC investigation.
The schools were all built or refurbished as part of the same public private partnership scheme and suffered the same problems – with wall and header ties, used to hold exterior and interior walls together and attach them to the rest of the building.
17 schools had to close when a wall collapsed at Oxgangs Primary in Edinburgh, affecting some 7,600 pupils. Structural defects have since been found in 30 schools with a total repair bill of over £870,000.
A leading architect told the BBC: “In my view, this is malpractice.
“The way some of these things are done is very worrying indeed,” said Prof Alan Dunlop, Master Architect and lecturer with Robert Gordon University.
“I’m also concerned and shocked that this is something that happened in 2010 and we do not know anything at all about it.”
The scandal has underlined the need for education authorities to use professional, vetted contractors for new builds, refurbishments and any other work carried out on school premises.
This includes the installation of safety solutions such as door finger guards and window restrictors.
It’s for this reason that when purchasing Fingershield, Rearshield or any of our range of door safety solutions we can provide expert installation via our in-house team or agents.
With over a million Fingershield door safety guards installed worldwide the product is proven – but, like everything else and as highlighted above, correct and proper installation is a must.
It’s just one of the added value ‘extras’ Cardea Solutions provides, along with our 10 Year Warranty, free door safety inspections and, of course, our long history in safety and security.
We even provide self assessment guides for door safety but we’ve found that many of our customers prefer us to carry out the assessment, as we have the knowledge of what may be required to provide total safety for pupils during their time at school.
The same goes for installation – why risk employing a third party to do it, which may save a small amount of money but runs the risk of putting pupils in danger, when we can provide quality workmanship?
