The Aldermanbury Square project in London could finish two months late due to continued uncertainty surrounding its cladding supply line.

Contractor Bovis Lend Lease has yet to reach an agreement with the new owner of Schmidlin, the scheme's cladding provider.

The project is relying on a bespoke solution from Swiss supplier Schmidlin, which was bought last week by TSK Troester Group in an emergency deal clinched less than a month after Schmidlin declared itself bankrupt.

Bovis is understood to have secured enough cladding to finish only twelve floors of the 18-storey building (pictured right). The remaining six floors' worth of cladding will have to be renegotiated with TSK Troester. An Aldermanbury Square project source said: "Bovis is securing the cladding deliveries coming into the UK, almost truck by truck. There is enough of the fabricated material to take the building up to level 12. To get the rest Schmidlin's UK arm and Bovis need to renegotiate the deal with the new owner."

He added: "Now we think the project may be around two months late." The scheme was due to finish in the autumn, on 16 October.

A Bovis spokesman said: "We have yet to formally meet with the new owners but we have an ongoing dialogue with Schmidlin UK and all the signs are quite positive." But he admitted: "We are looking at whether the best approach is to continue with Schmidlin UK or talk direct to the new owner." Under the project's contract Bovis carries the risk for programme delays.

Source

QS News