However, Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) says the project remains on track despite the cancellation of the tender and the design changes were only to the foundations, not the overall inpatient building.
A document sent to contractors by HNZ on Monday, and obtained by the Otago Daily Times, said due to "substantive changes in design of the substructure work" a request for tender had been cancelled.
Health Minister Simeon Brown issued the tender request for substructure works on the foundation of the main structure in May; it including the installation of the lower slab, concreting and plinths for base isolators.
Mr Brown said yesterday contractual decisions were a matter for Crown manager Evan Davies, who was appointed in June.
"I am advised that the project remains on track with the timeline previously outlined," Mr Brown said.
On-site activity had "ramped up" — work to cap the 324 foundation piles had begun and substructure work was expected to start early next year, to be completed by July 2026.
Mr Brown had previously said base isolators, used to minimise earthquake damage, would be installed in July and steel structure construction would begin by August 2026.
Dunedin MP Rachel Brooking feared the cancellation would mean further delays to the project and residents were "over it".
"The government needs to get on with it and build the hospital Dunedin was promised," she said.
A Health NZ spokesperson said the design changes related to "technical details" of the substructure.
It did not relate to any design change to the facility’s health services and the building’s form had not changed, they said.
HNZ did not answer the ODT’s questions on why the changes were not envisioned when the tender was released or who would complete the substructure work.
The inpatient building was "on track" and pile capping work would be complete by the end of the year, the spokesperson said.
They thanked the companies which had submitted a tender for the substructure works.
Representatives from potential contracting firms, including Naylor Love, Breen Construction, Ceres — which holds the contract for some of the building’s substructure — and Leighs Construction, were spotted at a tender debrief at the inpatient building site in May.
Firm representatives were either unable to be reached or declined to comment yesterday.
The cancellation of the tender comes after a whirlwind of change this year in who leads the project.
In June, two former hospital build bosses rejoined the project — Mr Davies, who resigned as chairman of the build’s governance board in 2023, returned as Crown manager and it is understood former programme director Tony Lloyd, who was let go from the role last November, is back working on the project.
In July, the ODT reported HNZ and Australian construction giant CPB had signed a "letter of intent", meaning the firm should be awarded the contract to deliver the building.
A letter of intent can also mean a firm can work on a project prior to the contract being signed — it was highly likely Ceres would finish its part of the contract then hand over to CPB for completion of the main build.
At the time, sources said they did not anticipate a third main contractor to lead any part of the substructure’s build.
