Construction faults have been found at 19 more public buildings across Edinburgh in the wake of a wall collapse at Oxgangs Primary School in the city.

A report from watchdogs at the Accounts Commission confirms the scale of problems unearthed by investigatiors since the school wall failure.

Nine tonnes of masonry came crashing down in 2016 at Oxgangs due to missing wall header ties.

Seventeen schools were closed following the incident.

Now it has emerged that further problems have been found at schools, libraries, community centres and care homes across the city.

The Accounts Commission report states: “At the end of January 2018, of the 154 properties where assessments had been completed, 19 properties had been identified as having issues similar to those identified at Oxgangs School.

“Remedial work to address the defects identified on these buildings (which include schools, libraries, community centres and care homes) is ongoing.”

The Commission is now calling on all councils to improve their checks on construction work.

It said: “The report emphasises the importance of all councils undertaking regular, comprehensive structural risk assessments and inspections on public buildings to ensure the safety of service users.

“Where a council employs a company to provide construction services, it’s vital that it puts in place appropriate checks and controls.”

Graham Sharp, Chair, Accounts Commission said: “While reduced resources mean councils must make difficult decisions about service provision, they should have an appropriate level of expertise to deliver and safely maintain buildings.

“People must have confidence in the safety and integrity of public buildings.”</s>Nineteen council buildings across Edinburgh have defects similar to one which caused a wall to collapse at a primary school in the capital, a new report has revealed.

Checks were carried out following the incident at Oxgangs Primary School in January 2016, which sparked the temporary closure of 17 schools across the capital.

By the end of January, 154 properties had been checked, with 19 having been found as "having issues similar to those identified at Oxgangs School", a new report from the public spending watchdog has revealed.

Libraries, care homes and community centres are among the properties affected.

The Accounts Commission said the discovery of the faults "signifies the importance of all councils in Scotland undertaking regular, comprehensive structural risk assessments and inspections on public buildings to ensure the safety of service users".

The spending watchdog looked at the circumstances surrounding the wall collapse at Oxgangs Primary - where approximately nine tons of masonry fell on an area where children could easily have been standing or passing through.

A previous report by Professor John Cole found it was down to timing and luck that no deaths or injuries occurred.

Investigations found ties needed to connect the walls to steel beams had not been used in some cases, leaving them unstable in heavy winds.

The school was one of 17 built as part of a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme by Edinburgh Schools Partnership.

Checks were carried out on other City of Edinburgh Council buildings - with the Accounts Commission stating 154 properties had been assessed by the end of January 2018.

The report said "19 properties had been identified as having issues similar to those identified at Oxgangs School".

It added: "Remedial work to address the defects identified on these buildings (which include schools, libraries, community centres and care homes) is ongoing."

The buildings included ones funded using traditional methods, as well as through PPP and the more recent non-profit distributing (NPD) model.

The report stressed the "need for councils to ensure that standards of quality and service" in building standards are maintained, despite the pressure on local authority budgets.

Edinburgh City Council's finance and resources committee recently found £153m is needed over the next five years to tackle the "history of under investment" in the authority's estate - with this money being made available for work starting in 2018-19.

The Accounts Commission said the incident at Oxgangs Primary School "revealed serious faults in the procurement, design and construction of the PPP schools covered by this contract" - adding that these could have had "life-threatening consequences".

The report continued: "Defects have been identified in other schools and buildings within the council estate as a result of the work undertaken in response to the Oxgangs incident.

"These defects are being addressed by the council.

"This incident highlights the importance of regular, comprehensive structural risk assessments and inspections to be undertaken on public buildings to ensure defects are identified and remedied."

Graham Sharp, chairman of the Accounts Commission, said: "The City of Edinburgh Council responded quickly and comprehensively to the wall collapse at Oxgangs Primary School.

"However, all councils in Scotland must ensure public buildings in their care are regularly checked and appropriately maintained.

"While reduced resources mean councils must make difficult decisions about service provision, they should have an appropriate level of expertise to deliver and safely maintain buildings.

"People must have confidence in the safety and integrity of public buildings."

A spokeswoman for Edinburgh City Council said: "We welcome the Accounts Commission's report, which addresses the lessons to be learned by all local authorities following the collapse of a wall at Oxgangs Primary.

"The safety of the public is of utmost importance to the City of Edinburgh Council and we fully acknowledge the need for regular, comprehensive structural assessments of public buildings and are in the process of delivering a series of actions identified by Professor John Cole in an independent report into the closure of Edinburgh schools in 2016."

Download: The STV News app is Scotland's favourite and is available for iPhone from the App store and for Android from Google Play. Download it today and continue to enjoy STV News wherever you are.</s>A new report says 19 council buildings in Edinburgh have defects similar to those found at Oxgangs Primary School.

The Accounts Commission said all councils in Scotland should ensure all buildings in their care are regularly checked and properly maintained.

Part of an external wall at Oxgangs Primary collapsed during a storm in January 2016.

Edinburgh City Council said it "fully acknowledged" the need for "regular, comprehensive structural assessments".

Nine tonnes of masonry fell from Oxgangs Primary during the storm and 17 schools across Edinburgh were forced to close amid concerns over building standards with 7,600 pupils affected.

A previous independent report by architect Prof John Cole found it was just "a matter of timing and luck" that no children were killed or injured at Oxgangs.

The school was one of 17 built as part of a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme by Edinburgh Schools Partnership.

A new report by the public spending watchdog said that by the end of January this year, 154 properties had been checked in the city, with 19 found to have "issues similar to those identified at Oxgangs School".

The Accounts Commission said the discovery of the faults "signifies the importance of all councils in Scotland undertaking regular, comprehensive structural risk assessments and inspections on public buildings to ensure the safety of service users".

Following the collapse at Oxgangs Primary, it was found that ties needed to connect the walls to steel beams had not been used in some cases, leaving them unstable in heavy winds.

The report said remedial work to address the defects identified in the council buildings was ongoing, and that the buildings affected included ones funded using traditional methods, as well as through PPP and the more recent non-profit distributing model.

It stressed the "need for councils to ensure that standards of quality and service" in building standards are maintained, despite the pressure on local authority budgets.

Edinburgh City Council's finance and resources committee recently found that £153m was needed over the next five years to tackle the "history of under investment" in the authority's estate - with this money being made available for work starting in 2018-19.

The Accounts Commission said the incident at Oxgangs Primary School "revealed serious faults in the procurement, design and construction of the PPP schools covered by this contract" - adding that these could have had "life-threatening consequences".

The report continued: "Defects have been identified in other schools and buildings within the council estate as a result of the work undertaken in response to the Oxgangs incident. These defects are being addressed by the council.

"This incident highlights the importance of regular, comprehensive structural risk assessments and inspections to be undertaken on public buildings to ensure defects are identified and remedied."

Graham Sharp, chairman of the Accounts Commission, said: "The City of Edinburgh Council responded quickly and comprehensively to the wall collapse at Oxgangs Primary School. However, all councils in Scotland must ensure public buildings in their care are regularly checked and appropriately maintained.

"While reduced resources mean councils must make difficult decisions about service provision, they should have an appropriate level of expertise to deliver and safely maintain buildings.

"People must have confidence in the safety and integrity of public buildings."

A spokeswoman for the City of Edinburgh Council said: "We welcome the Accounts Commission's report, which addresses the lessons to be learned by all local authorities following the collapse of a wall at Oxgangs Primary.

"The safety of the public is of utmost importance to the City of Edinburgh Council and we fully acknowledge the need for regular, comprehensive structural assessments of public buildings and are in the process of delivering a series of actions identified by Professor John Cole in an independent report into the closure of Edinburgh schools in 2016."</s>Every Scottish council has been ordered to regularly inspect public buildings in the wake of a school wall collapse.

The Accounts Commission released their report yesterday on the “serious faults” which led to the problem at Edinburgh’s Oxgangs Primary School.

They said the failings could have had “life-threatening consequences”.

An earlier independent report published last February found it was only due to “luck and timing” that Oxgangs pupils weren’t killed when the nine-ton gable wall came down.

Sixteen other schools in the city were closed after they were found to have faults.

All 17 were built between 2002 and 2005 under a public-private partnership.

The closures came two years after Keane Wallis-Bennett, 12, died when a wall at the city’s Liberton High School came down.

Graham Sharp, chairman of the Accounts Commission – the public spending watchdog for local government – said: “People must have confidence in the safety and integrity of public buildings.”</s>A stark warning over the safety of public buildings across Scotland has been sounded by spending watchdogs with a call for all areas to learn the lessons of the Edinburgh schools scandal.

Libraries, care homes, schools and community centres were among 19 other properties in the Scottish capital that had similar failings to the defects that caused a wall to collapse at Oxgangs Primary in Edinburgh two years ago, a report by the Accounts Commission today states.

The council has already revealed other buildings were affected, including Towerbank, Cramond and Currie primary schools, as well as Valley Park Community Centre in Gracemount,

About nine tons of masonry fell on an area at Oxgangs Primary where children could easily have been standing or passing through. A previous report by Professor John Cole found it was only down to timing and luck that no deaths or injuries occurred and raised concerns about other public buildings across the country – a worry echoed in today’s report.

Accounts Commission chair Graham Sharp said: “All councils in Scotland must ensure public buildings in their care are regularly checked and appropriately maintained.

“While reduced resources mean councils must make difficult decisions about service provision, they should have an appropriate level of expertise to deliver and safely maintain buildings. People must have confidence in the safety and integrity of public buildings.”

The council’s finance and resources committee recently found £153 million was needed over the next five years to tackle the “history of under investment” in the authority’s estate, with work to get underway this year. By the end of January, a total of 154 properties had been checked by council officers, with 19 having been found as “having issues similar to those identified at Oxgangs School”, today’s report finds.

The school was one of 17 built as part of a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme by Edinburgh Schools Partnership.

But the faults were uncovered in buildings funded using traditional methods, as well as through PPP and the more recent non-profit distributing (NPD) model.

The report stressed the “need for councils to ensure that standards of quality and service” in building standards were maintained.

A council spokeswoman said: “The safety of the public is of utmost importance to the City of Edinburgh Council and we fully acknowledge the need for regular, comprehensive structural assessments of public buildings and are in the process of delivering a series of actions identified by Professor John Cole in an independent report into the closure of Edinburgh schools in 2016.”
A report into the partial collapse of an Edinburgh school reveals similar construction errors in nineteen other public buildings in the city.