The Karlovy Vary Region has withdrawn from the contract for the repairs of the SUPŠ, the contractor has terminated it

Karlovy Vary – The councilors of the Karlovy Vary Region decided to withdraw from the contract for the reconstruction of the Secondary School of Art and Industry in Ceramic and Glass (SUPŠ) in Karlovy Vary for more than 1.2 billion crowns. They reacted to Wednesday's decision by the other party, PKS Construction, to withdraw from the contract due to the worse static condition of the building. The region informed about this in a press release today. Construction is currently halted, and the region continues to analyze the situation in cooperation with lawyers.

According to the region, the previous progress of the construction showed that the contractor likely underestimated the complexity of this reconstruction and their ability to manage its technical, organizational, and contractual contexts as required. The region further stated that its decision was prompted by several months of disagreement with the company regarding project changes, their valuation, and deadlines. "It is unacceptable for me that the construction company behaves this way and blames the client," said Governor Petr Kubis (ANO). According to him, the company was informed about the possibility of the region's withdrawal from the contract, but they delivered their withdrawal to the region at a time when a control day was taking place at the construction site.

The region will continue to look for solutions that protect the interests of the region, the project, and its financing. This is supported by a subsidy from the Fair Transformation program. Within 30 days, the region must take over the unfinished work and document it. At the same time, it will prepare updated documentation and plan the continuation of the project. Prior to the withdrawal from the contract and its termination by the other party, the region was preparing an amendment to the contract for work. "This is the culmination of a long-term situation where the contracting parties have struggled to reach an agreement on both the technical solutions of changes caused by the course of this extraordinarily complicated reconstruction and their valuation and impacts on the implementation of the construction," stated construction manager Jan Linhart.

The contractor stated on Wednesday that a much worse static condition was found at the construction site than was anticipated by the contractual project documentation. "Therefore, the work was already halted by the structural engineer in November. We subsequently requested new project documentation from the investor so that we could proceed with the construction. Even though we tried to reach an agreement with the region, neither the new project nor the building's static condition has been resolved to this day," said Jaroslav Kladiva, director of PKS Construction.

The project documentation was not prepared by PKS Construction but by the general designer hired by the Karlovy Vary Region. According to the company, both parties were negotiating further steps. "At the same time, according to the agreement from March of this year, a new project was to be delivered by June 15 and later by July 31, which did not happen. The region also expressed the opinion that PKS Construction should prepare the necessary documents themselves. However, the company could not agree to this," the company stated in its Wednesday statement.

The construction of the new SUPŠ complex and the reconstruction of its original building began on October 12 last year. The first phase of construction is expected to be completed in 2027, with the second phase, including the construction of a new building, ending in 2028. The design for the modern complex was created by the architectural office Petr Hájek – Architects, which also designed the embedded hall in the Imperial Baths in Karlovy Vary. SUPŠ was to be the second most expensive investment of the Karlovy Vary Region after the Imperial Baths. The original historical building of the secondary school is currently not in use due to the emergency state of the concrete parts of the building. The school teaches in adjacent buildings. The current capacity of the ceramic school is about 350 students. After completion and reconstruction, the school was to have a capacity of up to 650 students.