SOUND INSULATION PROJECT SCHIPHOL PHASE 2 (GIS II)

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KLM and Schiphol Airport had a conflict with the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management about the costs of the Sound Insulation Project Schiphol GIS II and GIS III. Boot Advocaten has provided legal assistance to KLM and Schiphol Airport in this matter. The GIS project includes the insulation of approximately 14,000 homes around Schiphol in order to reduce noise nuisance. Rijkswaterstaat passes on the costs of this project to the airlines. The Airport Schiphol NV handles the administrative settlement of the charges imposed on them. The project was hit by major delays and massive cost overruns.

 

So until then there were only approx. 7,700 homes were insulated and the costs of GIS II rose from 180 million euros to 396 million euros in the period 1995-2003.

 

The most important achievements in this case are that Boot Advocaten, in collaboration with technical experts, has produced a report in three months' time, revealing the causes of the cost increases. Based on the report by Boot Advocaten, former State Secretary Melanie Schultz has ordered the Netherlands Court of Audit to conduct an investigation. Boot Advocaten subsequently assisted Schiphol Airport in drawing up comments on the draft memorandum of findings and the draft final report GIS II of the Court of Audit. One of the conclusions of Boot's report was that the government acted contrary to European procurement rules and entered into new contracts with contractors and consultants, which caused a large part of the cost increase.

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