Building repair works in city centre

The Highland Council has served a Dangerous Buildings Notice on the building owners, Duncan Chisholm & Sons Ltd on Castle Street in Inverness and work is due to start this week to make the building safe. To avoid risk to the public, the works are being carried out by the Council now with costs being recovered from the owners. 

Issuing of the Notice follows recent inspections of the building which clearly showed that additional work is required to remove the risk to the public from falling masonry due to the decaying roof impacting on the external walls.  

The Building (Scotland) Act 2003, as amended requires the local authority to undertake the responsibility, on behalf of the owner, for a building where the owner refuses or is unable to undertake the works specified in a Dangerous Building Notice.   

Having considered the risk to persons in and around the building a decision has been made for the Council to instruct a contractor to carry out the minimum works required to make the building safe.  

Work is due to start this week.  Part of this work will involve constructing a working scaffold to the front elevation of the building occupying part of the pedestrian footpath whilst structural work overhead is carried out.  On completion of the structural work the scaffold will be removed restoring full pedestrian access along Castle St; however, it is estimated the scaffold will be in place for approximately 12 weeks.  A pedestrian walkway will be formed within the scaffold at ground level to ensure the minimum disruption to pedestrians whilst work is being carried out overhead.  

Temporary disruption to vehicular traffic on Castle Street will occur whilst the scaffold is being constructed; this should take 3 or 4 days, thereafter both carriageways will be open to traffic. 

The work is being carried out under the supervision of a structural engineer, building standards, planning officers and the Council’s conservation officer.  Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has also been consulted. 

The Council will initiate recovery of its costs from the building owners on completion of the works by means of a Charging Order.