Construction flaws were found in Burnside Primary six years before part of its roof was blown off by Storm Otto.
The Carnoustie school was one of several in Angus built under a public private partnership.
It was found to have similar structure issues to an Edinburgh school where a wall collapsed.
While last month’s incident is said not to be linked to the issue remedied in 2017 it was described as “catastrophic” by a leading architect who said cost pressures in PPP can lead to “shoddy workmanship”.
Professor Alan Dunlop gave evidence during an inquiry into Edinburgh PPP schools prompted by the wall collapse at Oxgangs Primary School in 2016.
Similar construction issues identified
We showed him photographs of the damage to Burnside Primary and a structural investigation report from 2016 conducted in response to the Edinburgh inquiry.
While Burnside Primary was built by a different company – Robertson Group – to the Edinburgh schools, similar construction issues were identified.
Remedial work involved the installation of inadequate or missing head restraints which connect outer brickwork to the main structure.
An investigation is being conducted into the storm damage of February 17.
Prof Dunlop reckons failure of battens or purlins that should connect the roof finish to the main roof structure could be the cause.
‘PPP not to blame for construction defects’
The Scottish Government said the Edinburgh inquiry made it clear PPP was not to blame for construction defects in the city schools.
But Prof Dunlop said: “Private Public Partnership contracts are geared to maximise profits for funding consortia, while self-certification allows contractors to quality assure their own work.
“Lead contractors demand low fee bids from design teams and drive down the price of tenders from sub-contractors, which degrades design quality, and can lead to shoddy workmanship.”
PPP in Scotland has since been replaced by the non-profit distribution (NPD) model.
But Prof Dunlop said high levels of private finance investment are still involved.
Our children deserve the very best schools and we, as parents, should have absolute confidence that their welfare and safety is not being compromised.”
Professor Alan Dunlop
And he said local and national government still “allow financial consortia to dictate quality and to extract huge profits”.
He said: “As a society we must accept that there are certain building projects that require high levels of public investment, where only sound design and build quality can deliver, and where investors’ profit should not take precedence.
“Our children deserve the very best schools and we as parents should have absolute confidence that their welfare and safety is not being compromised.”
Burnside Primary School reopened to pupils just a week after the storm.
But part of its interior and exterior remains cordoned off.
Burnside Primary investigation continues
Angus Council said it awaits results of a structural engineer’s investigation commissioned by Robertson Group.
It pointed out the previous investigation works related to wall ties securing external masonry leaf of external walls.
A spokesperson said: “There is no link identified between this previous investigation and the roof failure.”
A Robertson spokesperson reiterated that the two investigations were not related.
The spokesperson said: “The health, safety and wellbeing of the users at Burnside Primary School is our priority.
“We are working closely with the SPV Elgin Education (Forfar and Carnoustie) Ltd and Angus Council.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The safety of people in public buildings is an absolute priority.
“The independent inquiry into the construction of Edinburgh schools by John Cole made clear the financing method was not responsible for defective construction.
“We wrote to all local authorities at the time of the report urging them to consider its recommendations, underlining the importance of adhering to building regulations, technical standards and the inspection processes.”
Conversation