Olympic stadium contract advertised

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) today advertised the contract for the Olympic stadium and set out a clear timetable for all the projects to which it will be accountable.

However, the ODA is refusing to release definite costs on any of the main venues. ODA chief executive David Higgins said they had a “very clear internal budget” for the venues, but added that “we don’t want that to be the defining issue at this stage”.

He said that the £280m figure for the stadium given to the International Olympic Committee was an outturn cost at 2004 prices.

Asked what would happen if all the bids came in above the current internal figure, Higgins replied: “We want to know what our scope will cost. If the bids all come in high, we will have to look at the scope. We are not ruling anything in or out.”

The ODA is seeking an integrated design and construction team for the 80,000-seat Olympic stadium, which will reduce to 25,000 seats after the games.

The ODA has set out what it envisages an integrated team should comprise. The list includes: main contracting; design and construction of temporary/demountable/re-locatable structures; team management; architectural design; landscape architecture; civil and structural engineering; mechanical and electrical engineering; and planning supervision.

The design and construction team will be appointed in January 2007. It will then have 18 months to plan and design the works before construction starts in mid-2008.

The specification for the stadium also includes warm-up track facilities, external works within the whole zone of the Olympic park, roads and paving, fencing, bridges, hard and soft landscaping and utilities up to the connection points provided by the site utility contractors.

Higgins said the ODA was looking for innovation and design flair, but that deliverability was also essential. When asked if specialist contractors would be included in the team, he said: “Deliverability is very important. Not to have specialist input at this stage would be unusual.”

Two of the main projects, the aquatic centre and the velopark have now been put further back in the programme. Higgins said there was no point in having venues ready two years early when no one could use them, as the public would have to be kept away with the area still being a construction site. Instead, all the venues will be ready one year ahead so full testing can take place.