Kier is being sued over his work on an allegedly flawed £36m police station, 15 years after it was completed.
Administrators of a private finance initiative (PFI) company are seeking £3.5m from the contractor for the costs of the alleged problems, which relate to areas such as the station’s heating system and cells of custody
Earlier this month, Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott announced that he had terminated a PFI contract for North Kent Police Station in Northfleet.
The station opened in 2008 after being delivered by Justice Support Services (North Kent), which was originally set up by subsidiary Kier Project Investment Ltd, HBOS and facilities management firm Reliance Security Group.
The station’s geothermal heating system failed in October 2021. A replacement was installed but took up significant parking space.
Kent Police started making deductions from their monthly PFI payments in March 2022, something they were entitled to do since the car park was lost.
Justice Support Services went into administration in December 2022, unable to continue as a going concern without the revenue, although administrators AlixPartners ensured maintenance services continued at the station according to the terms of the contract.
Kier sold its 42.5 percent stake in the company in 2013. HBOS and Reliance Security also sold their stakes. They had 42.5% and 15% of the shares, respectively. Prior to administration, the PFI company was owned by investment firms Aberdeen Infrastructure Finance and Equitix (Caterham) Acquisition.
AlixPartners said in a trustees’ report published in July that investigations had uncovered other “alleged defects”, including the ground source heating and cooling system, the roof, passive fire protection systems and cells of custody
Meanwhile, a statement of the administrators’ proposal published in February showed AlixPartners expected to win £3.5m from legal action against Kier Group and Kier Construction Ltd. The latter, formerly known as Kier Regional Ltd, was contracted to build the police station.
The case was still listed as “open” in court filing systems on August 30.
Asked by Construction news if the building was deemed safe to use despite the alleged defects, a spokesman for Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) said only: “The station remains fully operational and open to the public.”
In an earlier statement, the spokesman said: “The PCC and the force have been in negotiations with the administrators of the PFI company to try to resolve a number of issues. However, no agreement has been possible and, as a last resort , the PCC terminated the PFI contract, which took effect on August 31, 2023.”
The contract was to last until 2036.
A Kier spokesman said the company could not comment on ongoing legal action.
AlixPartners also said it was unable to comment.
