MD2092 City Hall - Refurbishment and upgrade of lifts

The City Hall is an iconic building which has significant public footfall Monday to Friday and large numbers of people attending formal events and meetings seven days a week, with up to eighteen thousand visitors per month.

The availability of staff and public lifts is business critical and lift failure impacts on the smooth functioning of City Hall. Between September 2015 and September 2016 there were 59 reported lift breakdowns. The current closed protocol (servicing and parts supplied only by the manufacturer) means extended downtime due to the long wait for parts.

There has been an increase in revenue budget spend to meet the cost of the ongoing repairs and for remedial works identified in routine statutory inspections.

The building was designed for 426 occupants – The Mayor, Assembly Members and staff. The GLA has successfully made increasing effective use of the building which has realised significant cost savings. However, this has seen an increase in occupancy levels to over 800 people (an increase of almost 50%). As a consequence the condition of the lifts has deteriorated. Traditionally life expectancy of electric lifts is from 20-25 years but due to the current usage the life expectancy for City Hall lifts is 15-20 years.

An independent report by J. Bashfords & Associates LLP carried out in Sept 2015 recommended a complete refurbishment of the six passenger lifts and one goods passenger lift, due to the high level of wear and degradation.

The refurbishment of the lifts will considerably improve access to and functionality of City Hall over the long term by reducing downtime and reducing reliance on a single supplier for servicing and repairs. The project will result in reliable and efficient lifts which will improve the smooth functioning of City Hall and reduce or eliminate potential issues with accessibility and emergency evacuation.

Refurbishing the lifts will enable an open protocol (servicing and parts provided by a variety of suppliers) reactive and planned maintenance regime to be put in place.

The GLA is a public authority which must comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty set out in section 149 (1) Equality Act 2010. This provides that, in the exercise of their functions, public authorities must have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010;
• Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and
• Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

The obligation in section 149(1) is placed upon the Mayor, as decision maker. Due regard must be had at the time a particular decision is being considered. The duty is non-delegable and must be exercised with an open mind.

Lift failure has the potential to impact upon City Hall business as follows:

• For staff with mobility impairments to the point where temporary relocation may become necessary;
• Loss of access to public meetings and functions for visitors with mobility impairments; and
• Loss of availability of fire-fighting lifts would cause major problems in emergency evacuation situations.

Accordingly, the lift refurbishment process will be sequential, one lift at a time, which means that while any one lift is being refurbished five passenger lifts will be available for use. This will ensure that there will be lifts available for the use of disabled persons and any other persons with accessibility issues throughout the replacement programme. In addition, one of the two fire evacuation lifts will always be in service. As one of these does not serve the 1st floor, as a contingency, there will be an evacuation chair for use during the refurbishment of the lift that serves that floor. In light of the above, it is not envisaged that the decision will have any adverse impact on any protected group.

Loss of access to public areas of the building has the potential to cause dissatisfaction to room hirers, visitors and members of staff, with the risk of loss of revenue for room hire and damage to the GLA’s reputation.

There is the option to continue to carry out reactive repairs as of now. However, this is resource intensive, expensive and presents Health and Safety risks which the GLA, as duty holder, has an obligation to mitigate. The availability of access is business critical and business will be disrupted as a consequence. Additional repairs and maintenance budget allocation would be required to meet the cost of the ongoing repairs.

There is an opportunity to install equipment which is regenerative, so that energy where generated can be saved to align with the Mayors policy for making London a low carbon beacon. The cost to install is £8,000 per lift and typical savings would be in the region of 5% of current energy consumption.

Lead Assembly Members have been consulted on this proposal and support the recommendation being made.

The paper is seeking approval to spend up to £1.25m for major refurbishment works to the seven lifts at City Hall and the installation of energy saving equipment. The project is expected to take two years to complete, commencing April 2017 and ending January 2019. The expenditure will be funded from the 2017/18 and 2018/19 capital budgets.

Under section 30(1) GLA Act 1999 (as amended) the Authority has the power to do anything which it considers will further any one or more of its principal purposes as set out in section 30(2). Under section 34 of the Act, the Authority, acting by the Mayor, may do anything which is calculated to facilitate or is conducive or incidental to the exercises of any functions. As staff and visitors need access to all floors within City Hall and this is fundamental to the operation of the administration and exercise of all the Authority’s functions, the refurbishment of the lifts falls within the scope of these powers.

The GLA occupied City Hall in 2002 on a 25 year full repairing lease (regular landlord inspections ensures compliance with repairing obligations).The lease term is from 2001 to 2026, with a break clause in year 2021. On surrender of the lease the GLA will be responsible for dilapidation costs. Under the terms of the lease, the Landlord’s consent to the works will be required.

This is a Mayoral decision and the power to approve this expenditure lies with the Mayor (see paragraph 5.14 of the Mayoral Scheme of Delegation).

The Public Sector Equality Duty has been considered in section 3 above. There will be no adverse impact on any protected group, as alternative lifts will be available for both disabled staff and visitors, during the refurbishment.

A programme of works will be drawn up over an 18-24 month period to ensure that there is a public lift and staff lifts available at all times to minimise disruption.