Builder blamed for car park scandal

Monday 15 January 2007

The official report into the serious building errors at Amsterdam's Bos en Lommer complex has blamed both the main contractor, Hillen en Roosen, and Amsterdam City Council for many of the shortcomings. Around 190 people were forced to leave their homes last July after cracks appeared in an underground car park.

Shops, a market, council offices and a library were also evacuated because of the risk of collapse. It later transpired that the roof of the car park had not been built, as it should have been, with reinforced concrete. Other serious construction errors were found in some of the appartment blocks.

The investigators, under the leadership of former minister Margreeth De Boer, said the city council had failed to properly supervise the prestigious project, designed to breath live back into a run-down part of town. ‘Unfortunately, this often appears to be the case with local authorities,’ the report said.

Hillen en Roosen was blamed for not having its own supervisor and for a sloppy approach to the job: there was no evidence that anyone was in overall charge of the project and large amounts of paperwork had disappeared, the report said.

It went on to recommend the appointment of a main supervisor to monitor all aspects of complex building projects in the future. Amsterdam City Council said it accepted the report’s conclusions and would pressure national government to back the recommendations.

© DutchNews.nl

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