Delays at ACC Pullman Hotel

Construction of The Pullman Hotel at the Liverpool Arena & Convention Centre is now set to complete in December 2015, four months later than originally planned, with an extension of time claim from contractor ISG under dispute with Liverpool City Council.

ISG is currently on site with the £40m extension to the Arena & Convention Centre. The 87,000 sq ft Exhibition Centre is due to complete this week, eight weeks later than the original contract completion date of May 2015.

The final component of the scheme is the 200-bedroom Pullman Hotel, which is connected to the arena and exhibition areas.

According to an update report for the project ahead of a Liverpool City Council cabinet meeting on 10 July, “contractor ISG Construction has advised informally that practical completion for the Hotel may not be achieved until 07 December 2015 as opposed to the contract completion date of 24 August 2015. ISG has advised this date and an expected cost increase for the Hotel works.

“This is a subject of a potential dispute for extension of time.”

An extension of time is a written notice from a contractor identifying an event that has caused delays in the project that were not its fault, allowing for the completion date to be changed within the construction contract.

The cabinet report also outlined that the delay would likely lead to an increase in project costs, due to paying for ISG’s additional time, and additional supervision costs from the council’s client team.

A statement from Liverpool City Council and ACC Liverpool said: “Exhibition Centre Liverpool will build on the incredible success of ACC Liverpool, supporting 1,300 jobs in the wider economy and expecting to attract 150,000 visitors and contribute £20m to the local economy in its first year of trading.

“It is already performing ahead of expectations, securing 25% more bookings than expected for the first seven months of operation, and expected to generate 50% more revenue than forecast in its first year.

“The four star hotel was always due to open after the completion of the exhibition centre and will be ready in time to take its first bookings in January. It will benefit from the continued growth in hotel occupancy rates in the city, particularly in the four star sector.”

ISG was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.