Cabinet
9 January 2012
Agenda Item No______7_______
COUNCIL OFFICES BUILDING
Summary:
The Council Offices are within the 20-25 year age when much of the
original plant and equipment infrastructure will be beyond or close to
design life-expectancy and the building structure elements will also
require renewal. Various Capital projects were identified some years
ago for the Council Offices totalling £275,000, but spend was deferred
pending a full structural report.
Consultants were engaged to completely review building and advise
on defects and priorities to establish if the deferred capital items
remained the most urgent issues to be addressed.
Conclusions:
Recommendations:
The consultants have provided a schedule of both current defects
(failed items) and those close to life expired where failure might be
reasonably expected in the short to medium term. Amongst the
current defects are some with potential significant impact on health
and safety (legislation) and/or operation of services from the premises.
It was also identified that part of the front section of the Annexe
building was effectively life expired.
1. That immediate action is taken to remedy those issues
identified as of major concern as listed in paragraph 5 of this
report and that £200,000 from the consolidated capital fund for
administration buildings is made available to address these
specific items.
2. That a regular programme of improvement works as
recommended by the consultants is scheduled for the next five
years as part of the capital funding for Council officers to
secure the functionality and value of the asset.
Cabinet member(s):
Contact Officer, telephone number,
and e-mail:
1.
All
Tony Turner, Property Manager
(01263) 516196 tony.turner@north-norfolk.gov.uk
Background
As a result of recommendations made to Council some years ago regarding
improvements to the Council main administration offices a number of capital projects
were proposed and amounts allotted although the individual projects were not instigated
pending uncertainty relating to unification. It was agreed in October Cabinet to roll these
into a single Capital fund for Administration buildings of £275,000
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9 January 2012
As the original recommendations were made some years ago, it is appropriate to
establish whether these recommendations were still relevant or whether funds should be
reallocated to more urgent projects within the Council offices.
Structural, mechanical and electrical engineers were asked to carry out an in-depth
condition survey of the premises and produce a prioritised and costed planned
maintenance programme for the premises
2.
Consultants Reports
The consultants were given a wide-ranging brief including confirming that the expected
life-scan of the buildings; alternative uses and therefore sale potential; sustainability and
energy reduction review; existing space utilisation and commenting on areas underutilised or requiring change; disability access issues as well as the core issues of
identifying building and mechanical electrical defects.
3.
Consultant’s Conclusions
- The Council’s main building is structurally sound.
- The Annexe has a part which is effectively life expired and is not economically viable to
repair for the medium or long-term.
- There are some defects which should be immediately addressed for both health and
safety/legislation grounds and practical continued occupation of the building.
- There are some medium-term measures which should be considered and planned for in
order to ensure continued practical occupation of the buildings and prevent sudden failure
of some systems.
- The main building will remain fit-for-purpose as office accommodation even if many of the
structural issues identified are not addressed.
- The main building was specifically designed as Council offices with public access and
information point via a large central reception and a Council Chamber and public meeting
rooms as well as staff working areas. This requirement of the original design does
potentially restrict alternative uses of the building compared to if the building had been a
more utilitarian design and of standard construction. The Consultants have considered
the alternative uses for the building other than as office accommodation, although the
construction costs necessary for the conversions could make this uneconomic.
- The use of space within the buildings is not consistent. Some areas appearing to be little
used although furnished with a large number of workstations and the use of “hot-desking”
or shared facilities appears little used.
- There are Equality and Diversity issues with regards to access applicable to both the main
building and the Annexe. The Annexe is not be accessible and the main building has a
single access point for the upper floor for which there is no contingency in the event of a
breakdown or emergency.
- In terms of carbon-reduction or energy saving considerations, many of the options
considered whilst possible, do not provide a realistic economically viable pay-back period.
The exceptions to this are a Building Management System (BMS) to control heating,
cooling, ventilation and lighting; possible wind turbine to supplement energy consumption
and solar shading with or without a combination of window louvers to provide night time
ventilation
4.
Council Office Asset Value and Options
The alternative uses of the building have been considered and evaluated and
considered to be uneconomic as a conversion by any potential developer. The option of
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9 January 2012
sale and lease-back or disposal of the site for other uses to fund a new smaller building
has also been considered and again found to be uneconomic beyond the short-term.
There are no directly comparable figures and the estimates provided are only theoretical
based on general historical office accommodation, land sales data etc. However, the
data has not been tested and in the prevailing economic situation it is understood there
is little activity in the speculative property market and it may not be possible to either find
interested parties in either purchase; purchase and lease-back; purchase for
redevelopment or an alternative site. The key figures are:
ƒ
Estimated market value of existing site including buildings as investment value
(office use) £1,750,000
ƒ
Gross Internal Area of main building (ex basement archive/plant room) 3,127m2 plus
258m2 Annexe
ƒ
Estimated rental cost to Council to lease back £60m2 (£6 per ft2) main building and
£50m2 (£5 per ft2) annexe; annual rent payable £200,000. In addition to which
service charges would apply including remedial work as identified by consultants.
ƒ
Estimated value of development land in Cromer (per acre) £250,000.
ƒ
Area of existing site being 0.9 acre
ƒ
Estimated cost of demolition of existing Council buildings including asbestos
removal and waste management £130,000
ƒ
Estimated cost of land acquisition out-of-town or similar and site ½ acre £100,000
ƒ
Estimated construction cost offices/public buildings £2,000 m2
ƒ
Estimated required size of replacement building including Council chamber, public
rooms, reception etc GIA 2,500m2
As stated these figures are best estimates from data over the last few years and do not
necessarily reflect current market conditions. The figures also do not take into account
planning restrictions, availability, communication and utility supply costs, staff and
management time in such a major disruptive project, all of which could significantly
increase the costs. The current site has a number of restrictions on use plus the gipsy
and traveler site might need to be relocated to maximize site value, this also has not
been included.
Overall the conclusion is that the expenditure in a new building is not viable and that sale
and lease-back is uneconomic in the medium to long term.
5.
Immediate Health & Safety Issues (Risk Implications)
The consultants report details current defects in the building and its infrastructure i.e.
those items no longer functioning as well as issues which could be reasonably expected
to become issues in the future.
Their report on issues provides the basis for a programme for building and
plant/equipment renewal and they have provided costs for replacement/repairs.
However, their proposed prioritisation does not necessarily reflect the Council’s own
specific needs and their costs are to replace/repair to best available standard, which
again may not be always required. Therefore a 10 year Pre-Planned Maintenance
programme is being devised as an on-going Capital project.
There are some items identified as failed, which do require immediate attention for
health and safety/legislation compliance and these are:
ƒ
Emergency Lighting – sporadic throughout the building. A full redesign and
replacement is recommended. Budget cost £93,000 including Annexe
ƒ
Fire Alarm system does not cover the whole building and is obsolete. Replacement
recommended. Budget cost £50,500 including Annexe.
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9 January 2012
ƒ
Fire exits in some instances end in flower beds, others have poor handrails, or trip
hazards. All need review and improvement. Budget cost £20,000
ƒ
The heating system pumps are in poor condition with signs of corrosion.
Replacements required before failure of heating. Budget cost £13,000
ƒ
Office flooring flood-wiring cable boxes are faulty in some cases and the panels
protrude above the floor creating trip hazards. Budget cost £20,000
ƒ
The roof terraces have cracked paving allowing water to penetrate and require resealing to prevent water damage to internal areas. Budget cost £1,500
ƒ
All smoke seals and intumescent strips to be checked and replaced where
necessary. Budget cost £1,000
A total of £199,000 although it is anticipated that some savings off this figure can be
achieved.
6.
Remedial Works Identified by Consultants
In addition to those items listed above which must be considered to be of immediate
concern, the consultants listed and rated a large number of items within both the main
building and the Annexe and in summary their recommendations for remedial works is:
Main Building
Annexe
Immediate to within the next 5 years
£ 759,000
£ 74,100
Within 5 to 10 years
£ 284,900
£ 18,500
Within 10 to 20 years
£ 222,150
£ 15,000
Longer (i.e. anticipated but not expected to have
to be incurred for at least 25 years).
£ 324,500
£
Overall Total (from 2011 to 2036)
£1,590,550
£108,350
750
This is currently being fully analysed item by item as a number of these may not be
necessary or alternative measures found to maintain whilst reducing expenditure. Also
their suggestions as to when these works need to be prioritised may need amending.
Therefore a full 10 year plan is being developed for consideration.
5.
Sustainability
As commented in final point paragraph 3 above, the consultants identified areas for
improvement and for consideration the majority of which are already included within the
Carbon Management Plan.
6.
Overall Implications for the Building (including Equalities)
Whilst the consultants have concentrated their report on the structural, mechanical and
electrical aspects of the Council offices, they have also made references to other
aspects of the building that should be considered for improvement or change to
maximise opportunities and occupation e.g. disabled access, re-design of main reception
etc. These will be incorporated within the 10 year plan and whilst these issues are not
within the conventional building standard condition ratings, there is a need to consider all
changes within the building to ensure that opportunities for incorporating building
maintenance items are included in other changes reducing disruption and potential
duplication of cost.
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7.
9 January 2012
Conclusion/Recommendations
The main building is fit-for-purpose and structurally sound, but as would be expected for
a building 20+years old does now require regeneration and improvement to maintain the
usability of the building and prevent further degeneration to a state where there are
major defects in the premises affecting delivery of Council services, contravention of
health and safety and other legislation and also expensive to remedy.
It is therefore recommended that the most immediate health and safety issues are
addressed utilising part of the Capital Funds held for the building with work being
undertaken over the next 18 month period.
However, in addition to these specifically identified issues, a regular programme of
improvement works is scheduled for the next five years and beyond based on the
consultant’s recommendations and priorities but also adapted to the Council’s own more
specific needs where appropriate. In this way sudden breakdowns or failures can be
avoided, best value achieved by not requiring emergency repairs and disruption
mitigated by planning the work with those affected. It is recommended that this
programme is part of on-going capital funding for the Council offices whereby the
investment of capital provides safe, secure and functional Council building for the future
and protects the asset value.