During November and December 2023 Bury Council commissioned Pick Everard (RAAC specialist) to undertake a full building survey of the Market Hall, to determine the full extent of the issues.
Due to an unavoidable delay by the concrete specialists’ national backlog, completion of the survey took longer than originally anticipated.
The age and nature of the building also caused the survey process to be quite challenging, particularly in relation to the concrete testing.
The building survey covered:
- Roofs
- External elevations
- Internal areas – fabric
- Structural matters
- Mechanical, electrical and plumbing
Survey findings
The issues identified from the survey can be summarised as follows.
- Structurally, the major issue is the RAAC panels within the entire main roof construction and the external loading bay
- Use of RAAC in the roof structure has inevitably exposed the panels to water penetration
- The building has exceeded it’s design life
- The basement is generally in good condition but requires further upgrade
- The loading bay needs to have the RAAC panel roof removed and replaced (this work has since been completed)
- Concrete testing has determined the long-term viability of the frame to remain in place and support the new roofing/cladding panels strategy
- External fabric of the building is in an aged condition and requires widespread lifecycle replacement, including the roof and curtain walling glazing
- Internal fabric of the building is generally in a reasonable condition but elements have been recommended for renewal as part of a wider refurbishment project
Estimated costs
Priority repairs
The estimated costs for priority repairs are £6,031,301.
A breakdown of these costs is as follows.
- Roof - £2,311.382
- External elevations – £651.366
- Internal areas (fabric) - £187,840
- Structural - £90,000
- Mechanical – £582,900
- Electrical - £627,000
- Preliminaries (12%)- £534,059
- Overheads and profits (10%) – £498,455
- Contingency (10%) - £548,300
- Total - £6,031,301
Additional costs
The study does not identify the costs to Bury Council associated with project management or any required operational activity and associated fees.
- We estimate these extra costs to be in the region of £784,000 (a further 13% added to the £6m+ estimated costs)
- Inflation may also be a key consideration.