A major school build and museum refurbishment in Scotland, both being carried out by Kier, have been delayed.
The new Tain Community Campus, a relocation of four schools onto one site at Craighill in Tain, has now been pushed back by six months.
Kier has been working on the £45m Passivhaus design-and-build job since 2021, and work was meant to finish next month.
Highland Council flagged issues relating to quality on the Passivhaus build in a statement on the delay.
A spokesperson said: “The new Tain Campus project has encountered a delay in meeting the December 2024 project handover date.
“The principal contractor for the project has been working closely with its subcontractors to mitigate this impact and has now produced a revised programme indicating a building handover date of June 2025, which results in an operational date of August 2025.”
They added: “The council’s project team is continuing to monitor progress with a particular focus on quality as this is the first Passivhaus project that this council has undertaken.”
The original target completion date for the school was August 2024, meaning it will open one school-year behind schedule if completion is achieved in line with the latest date.
Separately, the firm’s work on a renovation and extension of the Paisley Museum has been pushed back by three months after the discovery of “unforeseen site conditions” including asbestos, rotted roof joists and dry rot.
The £23m project is delivering a 20 per cent increase in the usable area of the museum. Its latest completion date was set to be spring 2025.
It was previously due to be complete by November 2022 but had been pushed back due to building issues.
A report from Renfrewshire Council last week said Kier had given it a revised completion date of July 2025.
It added: “As is expected in a heritage building such as the museum, years of neglect and lack of maintenance has resulted in the uncovering of many unforeseen site conditions […] that have hampered and delayed progress on site and for which Kier has been entitled to additional time to remedy and complete the project.
“This is further compounded by other contractor issues and delays to progress on site.”
Culture charity OneRen, which is leading the project from the client-side, is said to be working with consultancy Currie & Brown and Kier to try to bring the date forward. Fit-out and object installation will follow completion of the main works.
Kier was awarded the main works contract in March 2021, at the same time as Morrison landed the refurbishment of nearby Paisley Town Hall, originally expected to be delivered by Kier.
Interserve carried out preparatory work for the museum job prior to Kier’s appointment. The town hall refurbishment and museum project are part of a wider £100m investment in Paisley town centre by Renfrewshire Council.
Kier has been approached for comment.
