O’Rourke escapes fines over Coventry stadium

Laing O’Rourke will walk away scot-free when it hands over the £113m Ricoh Arena stadium project nearly three weeks late in August, as its contract with client Coventry City Council (CCC) contained no penalty clauses.

The admission was made by council leader Ken Taylor, who revealed that penalties were removed from the agreement at the start of the project as they would have added £2m to £3m to the cost of the scheme.

The 32,000-seater stadium was due to be handed over to Coventry City FC in July, but will not be ready for use until 20 August.

O’Rourke blamed the delays on adverse weather in August and a site fire. However, CJ revealed last year that delays had also been caused by unrest between subcontractors on the project.

During a recent debate by the council’s cabinet into the delayed project, Labour leader John Mutton voiced his “frustration” at the scheme.

Warned by Taylor not to “slag off” O’Rourke, Mutton said: “I believe it [the contract] still could have come in on time, with a combination of contracts, project management and contractors all working to the same end.”