Pressed to give a model of how the huge project could be well run, he told BBC radio: “The very easy example is another royal palace which is Buckingham Palace.
“Everyone’s forgotten Buckingham Palace has been completely revamped over the last 10 years.
The Houses of Parliament
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“No-one’s noticed because it’s been done in a phased way with an excellent client in the form of her late Majesty the Queen, and a small team managing a lot of different contractors.
“The Royal Family continued in occupation there, and that has not been a problem.
“Of course, it’s a different situation, but that just gives you an example of what a well-run project actually looks like.”
The Palace of Westminster restoration and renewal works are set to cost up to almost £40 billion, and could take up to 61 years to complete, depending partly on whether MPs and Lords move out or not.
Building work on the East Wing and Quadrangle of Buckingham Palace during a ten-year refurbishment
PA
Queen Elizabeth II
PA Archive
The Queen remained in residence during the work which replaced ageing cables, lead pipes, wiring and boilers, many for the first time in 60 years, amid concerns about potential fire and water damage.
The two projects are on different scales.
The Westminster costed proposals emerged earlier this month in a 128-page document, which highlighted plans to make the building “significantly more accessible” for visitors and users, reduce annual energy consumption by more than 40 per cent and create a permanent education centre.
The report also noted there had been 36 fire, 12 asbestos and 19 stonemasonry incidents in Parliament since 2016, with maintenance and repairs costing around £1.5 million per week.
It is thought work such as mechanical, power, water, heating and fire safety upgrades, as well as asbestos removal and stonework repairs, will make up around 85 per cent of the total restoration and renewal cost.
Parts of the Palace of Westminster are almost 1,000 years old, with Westminster Hall built during the reign of William II.
Much of the building was destroyed by fire in 1834, and the rebuild which followed saw the clock tower, housing Big Ben, completed.
The Commons chamber was destroyed again during the Second World War.
Workers remove scaffolding from the restored west dial of Big Ben on the Elizabeth Tower at Westminster
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Parliament’s restoration and renewal client board, made up of MPs, peers and lay members, has put forward two options.
A “full decant” would see both the Commons and Lords leave the Palace of Westminster for much of the project, costing up to £15.6 billion and taking between 19 and 24 years to complete.
Another proposal, to work on the palace in stages, would take 38 to 61 years and cost up to £39.2 billion.
Mr Norman, who is a member of the client board, has called for a “focus” on essential works with cost ceilings and for the project to be “de-scoped” to remove plans not related to Parliament’s “core functions”.
A UK Parliament spokesperson said: “The plans focus on priorities such as the replacement and upgrade of systems including power, water, and the 1950s heating, critical improvements to fire safety, the controlled management of asbestos, and repairing damaged stonework.
“The restoration proposals are expected to be scrutinised, considered and debated by all members of both Houses to decide a way forward.”
