ID of Student: G00331497

Article/Reading School Structural Defects: The Rapid Build Scheme

1. CONCISE SUMMARY OF TOPIC

The Celtic Tiger era brought to Ireland an increase in population growth.

Economic prosperity brought with it, job opportunities and security for couples
wishing to start a family of their own. With the ever-increasing population so
too did the need for facilities to educate the young generation. Hence in the
year of 2007 to 2013 the government established a rabid build scheme for new
schools.
It was created to greatly speed up the delivery of new schools. This was during
a time when rapid population growth was putting the education system under
severe strains. Up until this point most schools were built in a traditional
fashion. The entire process of building from design to completion could easily
take from between three to five years. Unfortunately, this was not satisfactory
enough to deliver schools for a rapidly increasing young population. A company
named Western Building systems was contracted to build many schools in
Ireland.
The first phase of Ardgillan Community College which was constructed during
2009 involved a building period of only 26 weeks. Building schools at this speed
should surely raise some concerns. On the 19th of October 2018 an engineer
working for the Department of Education knocked through the plasterwork of a
classroom in Ardgillan Community College. He discovered a high-level threat.
He found ties that should fix the exterior and interior walls that were either
completely missing or below standard. The wooden panels that form part of
the walls were not bolted to steel girders. An investigation carried out by
officials found that there was an 80 per cent chance of an external wall falling
out during storm-force winds. Not only that but a 20 per cent chance of an

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inner leaf wall collapsing. As a result, the school was closed with immediate
effect.
The 42 schools built by Western Building Systems faced structural assessment
investigations to identify if they were safe for the students and staff. The
Department of Education has engaged with legal proceedings against Western
Building Services. If the company has not built other schools up to standard the
State would “pursue the company in the courts for that as well” (O'Halloran,
2018). Later the Department of Education confirmed that 22/42 schools
constructed by Western Building Systems will now need external safety
measures erected before they could reopen the schools. Considerable sums of
money have already been spent on temporary repairs. It’s very early to be
estimating the cost of repair to schools. The work required to make the 42
schools with structural concerns safe would bring about huge expenses. Joan
Burton, Labour party TD has said that she expects the full cost to be anywhere
between €50 and €120 million. The investigations are currently ongoing.

2. CRITICAL REFLECTION

In my opinion the concerns over the structural defects of schools built by

Western Building Systems brings forward a bigger picture in Irish education. It
made me question whether the school defects are a result of a negligent State
practice. Also, it asks serious questions about the regulations within the
construction industry. As a teacher involved with Construction Studies, we
know that the process of building is not simple. It is fundamentally complex
and poses an abundant amount of problems daily. With public service buildings
the projects are usually influenced by several factors. Those being cost, time
frames and labour etc. Also, materials, technologies, regulations and weather
can affect the contractor tasked with delivering the project. There are so many
things that could go wrong. According to (Åsgård, 2018), “several studies on the
construction sector show a strong production culture in the industry, illustrated
by great work pressures and short deadlines, often giving production priority
over safety”
One question which springs to mind is why it took so long to identify. Like I said
earlier Ardgillan Community College which was constructed during 2009
involved a building timeframe of just 26 weeks. Building regulations pre-2014
ironically depended on opinions of compliance to certify a building. This is a
loose form of regulation that indicated a culture of bad practice during an era

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of economic boom.
Even though many buildings during that time conformed with the regulations,
it became evidently clear through the crash that these guidelines were not
solid enough. During the year of 2014 new guidelines were announced with a
harsher certification process. For schools, independent certifiers were
compulsory. Also, the contractors were made to comply with an inspection
regime and then provide a certification for all characteristics of the building.
Western Building Services commented that “Our Department of Education
projects, both before and since the amendments to building regulations in
2014, were subjected to inspections during construction. Every time each was
certified as meeting compliance standards.” (O'Brien, 2018)
What strikes me is the governments agenda with regards to this. Reading up on
this issue from what I can interpret, it seems that the Fine Gael Party is using
this as ammunition to further assert dominance in the Dail. They seem to be
using this controversy as fuel. The changes in the way schools were built were
introduced under Fianna Fail regime. Fianna Fail argues that it sees
shortcomings of oversight and communication since fire safety worries were
first identified in these schools several years ago. Both are playing the blame
game when the problem at hand needs to be resolved. This issue has the
potential to put thousands of students out of school. The integrity of the
Department of Education needs to be questioned.
What this issue also highlights are the lack of restraint the government had
during the boom years. The drive to provide educational facilities far
outweighed the necessity for health and safety of our pupils.
How can we expect a safe, positive working environment where students and
staff fear that their workplace isn’t safe? Every student, staff and guest working
in a school deserves to feel secure in the environment in which they inhabit.
Looking at this current issue in education we can only await the results of the
surveyed schools. It will be interesting to see what stance the government take
ass well Western Building Systems depending on the outcome. It is important
for teachers to keep in touch with current issues in education. Keeping in touch
with our industries environment can provide us with important information as
well as spark debates and action.

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 3. LIST OF REFERENCES

References
Åsgård, T. (2018). ealth, safety and environment in the teaching of project management. The
case of bachelor education in construction engineering in Norway. Bergen: estern
Norway University of Applied Sciences.

O'Brien, C. (2018, October 24). The legacy of the ‘rapid build’ Celtic Tiger schools.
Retrieved from The Irish Times: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/the-
legacy-of-the-rapid-build-celtic-tiger-schools-1.3673948

O'Halloran, M. (2018, October 23). All 40 schools built by Western Building Systems to be
inspected. Retrieved from The Irish Times:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/all-40-schools-built-by-western-
building-systems-to-be-inspected-1.3673403

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