{"id":318977,"date":"2025-12-16T12:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T12:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/318977\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T12:00:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T12:00:08","slug":"contractor-isg-sues-architects-for-8m-over-project-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/318977\/","title":{"rendered":"Contractor ISG sues architects for \u00a38m over project delays"},"content":{"rendered":"

The contractor claims that W Griffiths Architects failed to properly carry out its obligations as an architectural consultant on a delayed residential project in High Street, Watford, AJ sister title Construction News<\/a> reported yesterday (15 December).<\/p>\n

Work started in 2014 on the scheme for housing association Home Group, which involved the construction of 56 homes above shops, but then ran into significant issues in 2018 and 2019 after concerns were identified over work carried out by subcontractor Grays Dry Lining.<\/p>\n

A remediation plan was put in place, but the\u00a0subcontractor went into administration in 2021\u00a0before it could carry out the work.<\/p>\n

ISG alleges that two years of the three-and-a-half year delay to work was caused by W Griffiths breaching its subconsultancy agreement and\/or negligence, mostly in relation to fire safety issues.<\/p>\n

An adjudicator found in February 2022 that W Griffiths breached its subconsultancy agreement on issues including failing to provide a fire strategy and the specification of the plasterboard and drylining, according to a claim lodged by ISG prior to its administration and seen by Construction News.<\/p>\n

According to ISG, the adjudicator also found W Griffiths failed to provide adequate detailing for drylining and fireboard, and failed to specify fire barriers were in correct locations or that fire escapes met minimum width requirements.<\/p>\n

W Griffiths disputes that the adjudication outcome was as the contractor described.<\/p>\n

Issues also arose due to Knauf UK plasterboard being installed instead of the British Gypsum products required by the Home Group, according to the claim.<\/p>\n

ISG also claimed that when asked for data to support the adequacy of the plasterboard installed so it could persuade the client that full replacement was not needed but that the architects refused to supply it.<\/p>\n

The contractor said W Griffiths should have proactively identified design problems on the project and co-ordinated solutions to them.<\/p>\n

ISG started the legal action against W Griffiths in 2022 and outlined its case in 2023. It has been continued since the contractor\u2019s administration in September 2024,<\/a> at which point the contractor had an estimated pipeline of \u00a34.3 billion.<\/p>\n

W Griffiths rejects the accusations, denying it was responsible for any of the delays and has issued a counter-claim for \u00a3202,345, plus VAT, for extra hours worked on the project that it said were the fault of ISG.<\/p>\n

Its first defence, lodged in August 2024, W Griffiths said Grays Dry Lining\u2019s \u2018shockingly poor workmanship\u2019 had \u2018entirely failed\u2019 to follow the architect\u2019s \u2018clear design intent and the manufacturer\u2019s instructions and British Standards\u2019.<\/p>\n

It said that ISG failed to properly manage the project as it was meant to. \u2018Most heinous is ISG\u2019s failure to inspect the works when in progress, as it was obliged to do, and its failure to identify on that basis [Grays Dry Lining\u2019s] systemic failures at an early stage.\u2019<\/p>\n

ISG also took \u2018an unreasonably protracted period of time\u2019 to agree the scope of the remedial works, it added.<\/p>\n

The company said it spent time dealing with unnecessary requests from ISG management it had already answered, a situation made worse by \u2018the constant churn of management-level employees\u2019 at the contractor.<\/p>\n

The case was a \u2018cynical attempt\u2019 by ISG to recoup its losses made on the project, the architects said.<\/p>\n

W Griffiths added that mechanical and electrical subconsultants and subcontractors were also responsible for delays on the project.<\/p>\n

The architects\u2019 defence said it was \u2018absurd\u2019 to suggest there was a requirement to have a single document called a \u2018fire strategy\u2019 that would have been able to identify all the issues arising during construction.<\/p>\n

Referring to the process in which ISG was due to be bought out by a new owner at the time, the defence asserted that the sale \u2018is testament to the chaos and lost market confidence in which ISG has been running for some time\u2019.<\/p>\n

The process fell through weeks later and the contractor went into administration.<\/p>\n

Administrators for the company have continued the legal action, with their lawyers submitting a document in August that repeatedly said W Griffiths failed to fulfil its responsibilities on the project.<\/p>\n

These include scrutinising the client\u2019s and contractor\u2019s proposals to check for conflicts and failing to provide a comprehensive set of details for the drylining package before it went out to tender.<\/p>\n

ISG\u2019s representatives said they remained unclear on how the structural timber frame would have been fire-protected and compliant with Building Regulation Part B3.<\/p>\n

Part B3 requires loadbearing elements of building structures to be capable of withstanding the effects of fire for an \u2018appropriate period\u2019 without loss of stability.<\/p>\n

ISG\u2019s response cites RIBA\u2019s Plan of Work 2020 as evidence that a fire safety strategy is an integral part of the design and must be integrated into design and asset management stages.<\/p>\n

\u2018These requirements are not new although they have been given greater salience by the Grenfell tragedy and the Grenfell report,\u2019 ISG added.<\/p>\n

The case is one of a number of legal disputes relating to ISG that remain ongoing.<\/p>\n

W Griffiths told the AJ that it could not comment on ongoing litigation in detail but added: \u2018We firmly believe that ISG\u2019s claim against us is entirely misconceived and we are confident that it will ultimately be dismissed.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The contractor claims that W Griffiths Architects failed to properly carry out its obligations as an architectural consultant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-318977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}