Laugaland project costs soar 100 million kroner over budget

Construction and maintenance work at Laugaland in Holtum, where Laugaland School operates, is now expected to cost around 240 million Icelandic krónur, 100 million more than originally budgeted, mbl.is reports.

The initial estimate was 140 million krónur. Rangárþing ytra municipality’s council has approved an additional appropriation for its share of the cost, which will be financed through borrowing.

Húsakynni, a building association owned by Rangárþing ytra and Ásahreppur, is overseeing the work. Its board requested the additional 100 million krónur because of the cost overrun.

The project was approved in the spring, partly to improve facilities at Laugaland School, and a dedicated project manager was appointed. At a Húsakynni board meeting on 1 July, the project was reportedly still expected to remain within budget. By the next meeting, on 20 August, projected costs had risen to around 240 million krónur.

Representatives of the D-list criticised the project’s preparation, budgeting, design, communication between managers and project management. They said the board had received no warnings that costs were developing in this direction.

The representatives said the handling of the project should have been better from the outset and called for a review of what went wrong. They also noted that the overrun would increase the municipality’s debt.