Edinburgh school wall problems

[endecotp]

I'm sure many of you will have seen stories in the news about Edinburgh schools falling apart:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-36013755

Would anyone like to share their observations? In the original case it seems that the outer brick skin has fallen away as if whatever should have been tying it to the structure was not present. But the story also talks about an "absence of header ties in the steel structure" as a different problem.

In some of the photos it looks like someone is drilling through the mortar at frequent intervals and possibly inserting ties, though the caption says "inspection".

How incompetent would a builder have to be to get this wrong?

 

[noseall]

How incompetent would a builder have to be to get this wrong?

Indeed.
First look at design and whether those design principles were followed by the brickies etc.

I doubt whether this part of the build would have been under the scrutiny of the BCO, but there should have been regular checking by senior site staff.

 

[^woody^]

It's poor cavity tie placement and fixing generally, and in particular lack of ties/restraint at the top of the leaf which has allowed the leaf to be sucked outwards and fold.