Judge orders firm to pay €21,000 in damages to PM's Office

An interior furnishings company has been ordered to pay €21,000 in damages to the Office of the Prime Minister after a court established they had done a poor job when they installed a timber suspended ceiling.

In 1997, the company, Fithome Ltd, installed the ceiling at a cost of €36,347 (at the time there was a Labour Administration) but (following a change of government) the OPM insisted that it was not installed according to tender specifications because a sub-frame had not been fitted, making it dangerous.

A court-appointed architect, who had examined the works, said that remedial work would cost €6,990. However, a government architect put the cost at €43,864, pointing out that the court architect had not taken into consideration the fact that rooms would have to be cleared and staff relocated in order to do the work.

Mr Justice Gino Camilleri ruled that there were no grounds to annul the contract awarded to Fithome Ltd but he ordered the company to pay €21,000 damages to the OPM.

The judge commented that the sum of €6,990 mentioned in connection with remedial work was too low, especially as prices had gone up since the tender was awarded in the late 1990s.