Cape Town - The Western Cape High Court has dismissed an appeal against an arbitration award, brought by a firm of consulting structural engineers relating to the failure of the screed flooring at the V&A Waterfront’s Silo Hotel.
The firm, GR Sutherland and Associates, originally oversaw the modification and adaptation of an old grain silo into the hotel and has been in arbitration proceedings with V&A Waterfront Holdings to determine liability for remedial work on the silo building.
The work required the floor levels in the section of the structure that houses the hotel to be raised above the level of the solid floor slabs and was done using a special type of lightweight screed. However, the screed did not function satisfactorily, and the floors became uneven.
In the arbitration process, V&A’s claim is founded on an alleged breach by Sutherland of its contract, arguing that had Sutherland properly performed its obligations under the contract, the defective lightweight screed would not have been laid.
The hotel had to close its business for five months while the remedial work, at a cost of about R6 million, was carried out to provide a temporary solution.
In his ruling, Judge Ashley Binns-Ward said the causes of the problem were investigated by engineer and architect Professor Vernon Collis, who found that Sutherlands and two of the eight respondents in the case, WBHO and Greenlite Concrete, were each at fault for the unsatisfactory work.
Binns-Ward said: “The remedial work will, however, apparently provide only a temporary solution, and it is therefore currently envisaged that further work, expected to cost V&A approximately R30.6m in present value, will be required in the future to give a long-lasting result.”
Speaking after the judgment, V&A Waterfront spokesperson Donald Kau said it did not mean that the Silo Hotel would have to undergo further remedial work, and as such, there would be no need for another closure of the hotel.
“As regards the ruling, the V&A instituted arbitration proceedings against Sutherlands to determine liability. Sutherlands brought an application … to have the arbitration moved to the high court.
“The Cape High Court has now dismissed Sutherlands’ application, and the matter continues in arbitration,” Kau said.