Expert says Fælledby demolition points to failures at every stage

There must have been failures at every stage of the construction of two Fælledby buildings due to be demolished, according to Jørgen Munch-Andersen, a senior adviser at Aalborg University’s Department of the Built Environment. DR reported his assessment.

The buildings in Fælledby, a development in Amager Fælled, have been found to contain so many defects that they must be demolished. As a result, tenants and buyers of 172 apartments have lost their future homes.

“I have never seen anything like it,” Munch-Andersen said after reviewing a report detailing the problems. He said he had never seen buildings with so many defects that demolition was the only option, rather than repairs costing considerably less.

“It is completely exceptional that such a drastic measure has been taken,” he said.

The report describes, among other things, load-bearing floor beams that have been pierced and modular units that were installed at an angle. Munch-Andersen said these amounted to serious construction defects.

He said the decision to demolish the buildings suggested that those involved had spent considerable time looking for ways to save them before concluding that this would be too complicated. He added that it made sense to investigate thoroughly because demolition was a very costly measure.

Questions over supervision

Munch-Andersen said he could think of only one explanation for how the situation had become so serious: something must have gone wrong both in the design and in the construction, with too little inspection during the process.

He pointed to both the companies that carried out the work, first Scandi Byg, which went bankrupt during the project, and later Nordic Tree Industries. He also said Fælledby, as the developer, must have failed in its ongoing supervision.

“The developer often has its own adviser to inspect the construction as it progresses. There cannot have been much of that here, because otherwise they would probably have discovered the problems along the way,” he said.

Fælledby board chairman Henrik Steenstrup rejected the claim that the project had not been adequately supervised. He said Fælledby had carried out the inspections required of it as developer, and more.

“As soon as we discovered that there were defects, we intervened and launched a thorough investigation, which revealed, among other things, some very serious defects hidden inside the structures,” Steenstrup wrote in an email to DR.

He said Fælledby accepted full responsibility for its residents and would demolish the buildings because the number of defects and the extent of the damage could not be accepted.

Steenstrup also said the total contractor for the two buildings had not been involved in any of Fælledby’s other projects. Those projects would continue as planned, but Fælledby had introduced stricter supervision to ensure they met its quality requirements.

In a response provided to DR, Nordic Wood Industries said it had only been informed of Fælledby’s advisers’ final assessment the previous afternoon and had not yet been able to examine the matter in depth.

The company said it had helped obtain documentation from the former Scandi Byg during the investigation. It said the former Scandi Byg had used an external structural engineer to approve the construction system and structural calculations. Nordic Wood Industries and the current Scandi Byg said they would investigate the matter fully.

About Fælledby

Fælledby has been a controversial project for years. The citizen group Amager Fælleds Venner has opposed it because it wants to preserve the area as nature.

Construction was paused in 2021 and 2022 while the possible impact on the protected great crested newt was examined.

Fælledby is expected to be completed in 2032. The development is planned to include 20 apartment buildings with more than 2,000 homes, a school for 1,500 pupils and two childcare institutions.