The R2,85bn tender for building the World Cup soccer stadium at Green Point, the biggest project yet undertaken by the City of Cape Town, was awarded yesterday to a joint venture of Murray & Roberts and WBHO Construction.

Construction teams are expected to be on site next week in a bid to meet the October 2010 deadline set by Fifa for completion of the 68000-seater stadium. Hans Smit, executive director of integrated human settlement services and also bid adjudicating committees chairman, said the completion date of the project was not negotiable.

No sooner had the tender been approved than questions were asked about escalation costs involved in the final price of the stadium. Fifa’s local organising committee had recommended to the treasury an escalation of 10% but Dave Hugo, technical director of the city’s 2010 project team, said the council had urged the treasury to underwrite escalation above 10%. Hugo said the treasury set up a task team to advise how escalation for all host cities should be managed.

If escalation came to 18%, this would mean the city would have to find an extra R35m.

Hugo said another concern was the low level of contingency provision “at about 5%”. The treasury had been approached to provide host cities with relief if the provision was exceeded. Strict design, site and cost management measures would be taken.

This would be effected by employing a specialist development manager and introducing an incentive scheme for the city’s professional team and contractor “subject to the works being completed within budget, within programme and to specification”