Council spends £40,000 on windows that don’t fit

Moray Council has spent £40,000 on new windows for properties in Buckie – only to find they don’t fit.

When contractors arrived to install them, they were surprised to find the windows were too big.

A staggering £40,412 was spent on the “ill-fitting” glass.

A bombshell new report has now lifted the lid on the blunder.

It comed as the windows had been sitting in council storage for several years until being uncovered in October.

The investigation has since recommended council staff be “reminded to check deliveries on receipt against the purchase order to verify accuracy.”

Who were the windows for?

A contract for 765 new windows for 101 properties in Moray was issued back in 2021

This included houses and flats in Dufftown, Rothes, Cullen, Raffan and Buckie.

A year later, 96 replacement windows were delivered to Moray Council’s building services, for 17 properties on Carnie Place in Buckie.

A group of 16 flats and a house on the estate were selected to have their windows replaced, but it quickly became apparent the windows did not fit.

When were the ill-fitting windows discovered?

During spring 2022, a contractor reported an issue when they arrived at Carnie Place to install new windows in the properties

This was reviewed by Moray Council’s building standards team, who found the windows to be significantly larger than the openings.

The windows were returned to a storage facility in Keith along with 51 others that were not installed because “tenants refused access to the properties.”

An “elected member” raised the alarm in October last year over the windows still sitting in storage and an investigation was ordered.

What did the investigation find?

The investigation concluded in March and a report has detailed several failings by those involved to double check the window sizes.

Back when the contract was tendered, manufacturers were informed of “approximate dimensions” of the windows by the council.

When the current windows were measured, the council were told the window openings were different sizes between the outside and the inside.

Moray Council’s then contracts manager said plaster board could be “chipped away” to fit the windows if there was a size problem.

The windows were then manufactured to the “approximate dimensions” of the original tender contract and were found to be between 2 and 10cm larger than the window opening.

As a result the windows could not be installed without “structural changes to the properties at significant cost” and disruption to the tenants.

The report also investigated how the wrong windows along with the other non-installed windows were then sat in storage for years.

An oversight with the council’s storage management system not taking note of materials “ordered for a specific contract” was reported as the issue.

The report adds the contracts manager responsible is “no longer employed by the council” but does not mention if this was a direct result of the window mishap.

Council reminded to ‘verify accuracy’ of deliveries

The report has listed a number of recommendations for councillors to decide on.

It states: “Officers should be reminded to check deliveries on receipt against the purchase order to verify accuracy and allow for any issues to be raised with the supplier/manufacturer.”

The report adds that the council should implement stock checking of contract materials to avoid any windows or other materials getting lost.

Councillors will the discuss the results of the investigation and the future of the windows on Thursday.