Stormont roof repair finally under way, after scaffolding racks up six-figure bill being up for a year and a half
Repairs to Stormont’s leaky roof have finally begun, 18 months after scaffolding connected to the job was built – racking up a £407,000 bill to keep it in place.
Earlier this week the News Letter revealed, the scaffolding has been in place since summer 2024, but a deal to get workmen on site was only being hammered out last month.
The Assembly Commission, which which runs the buildings, staff and services at Stormont, now tells the News Letter repair crews have at last picked up tools – though they don’t yet know how much the bill to fix the roof will come to.
Said a spokeswoman: “A contract for the first phase of repairs to the roof of parliament buildings has been awarded and work on the project started this week.
“The Assembly Commission is pleased that the first phase of the works has now commenced. Final repair costs will not be known until further investigatory works have been carried out, a scope for the second phase of the works has been agreed and tenders for the remaining works have been received.”
The £407,000 figure comprises £245,000 spent on the scaffolding itself plus £162,000 on professional fees, the spokeswoman added.
According to discussions in the Assembly, the scaffolding was initially built to investigate the state of the roof, which has been leaking rain into the building.
Noise from the construction process in 2024 caused problems for politicians and disrupted official business, however, so it was decided to leave the scaffolding up instead of dismantling and rebuilding it.