Following the collapse of an external wall at Oxgangs Primary School in Edinburgh in January 2016 North Lanarkshire Council undertook extensive visual inspections of the new school estate and these did not show any reasons for concern.
Since then the Report of the Independent Inquiry into the Construction of Edinburgh Schools has been published. Amongst the findings it was suggested that visual inspections should also be supported with intrusive surveys to provide assurance on wall construction. We have therefore decided as a precautionary measure to undertake exploratory inspections of school walls.
Structural Engineers will be undertaking an initial walk round of schools to familiar themselves and this will be followed by an inspection of the external walls in selected areas to determine cavity widths and wall tie embedment to provide assurance to the Council. The inspection will require temporary removal of one or two bricks in various areas, photographing inside the cavity for record purposes and then reinstatement of the brick. There will also be an inspection in certain areas to view wall supports.
We would emphasise these surveys are precauti0nary and we have no reason to suspect that there is anything untoward with the construction of our schools and I’m sure you’ll support the action being taken to ensure the continued safety of pupils and staff.
We would also add that whilst the surveys will be undertaken during the school day the engineers and the contractors will keep all noise and disruption to an absolute minimum and all areas selected for survey will be fenced off to prevent unauthorised access.
It is anticipated that the surveys will commence in June 2017.
