Inside sources at the T5 project at Heathrow have revealed that the build may be £100 million over budget.

The construction industry source stated that the number of electrician hours had escalated by almost 50 per cent, and the allocated six million mechanical and electrical man hours rose to almost 9 million.

According to the source, each electrician is costing the company around £30 to £35 per hour and almost 3 million extra man hours are required to get the job done.

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Only 250 pipe fitters, electricians and plumbers were anticipated to be working on Terminal 5 by October 2007; however, 1,300 still remain on site.

The reports have been denied by BAA who insists the project remains on time and within budget.

The £4.5 billion construction project has been fraught with controversy and catastrophe. The site has already claimed the lives of two workers, and much of the work has suffered from large delays when 50 Crown House electricians walked off the site in February 2005, followed by a steelworker strike in October 2005, and in November of the same year, 900 civil engineering workers staged a three day strike over pay.

Building for Terminal started in 2002, and had been hailed as an exemplar project by industry figures. The new terminal will cater for 30 million passengers a year and ease congestion on Heathrow’s existing runways. The doors are planned to open on March 27 2008.

(DW/JM)