A government minister is being sued for nearly $3 million by a company that claims it is owed money linked to upgrades at Dockyard’s cruise ship berths.

Lawyers for SunRise Construction Ltd filed a writ of summons at the Supreme Court against the public works minister as a representative for the ministry.

The civil case was brought in connection with repair work the firm was contracted to carry out at Dockyard six years ago, under the previous One Bermuda Alliance government.

The document said the firm wanted $2,995,015.50, plus interest and costs, from the Minister of Public Works.

The sum was said to be owed from a $30 million project that the company claimed was delivered below its revised budget.

The writ, published on the Offshore Alert website, said that SunRise Construction was contracted on February 14, 2013, to “make modifications to the cruise ship docking facility at the Royal Naval Dockyard”.

The work was said to include the building of new mooring and berthing dolphins — isolated structures not connected to the shore — safety equipment and gantries at Heritage Wharf, as well as the replacement of fenders at King’s Wharf.

A target price was said to have been set at $22,369,961.93 although the writ said Richard Crossley, the project manager, could approve work that would increase the cost.

The document said: “There were numerous compensation events that arose, which totalled $10,081.40.” It added: “The plaintiff will aver that the compensation events increased the target price to $32,561,440.07.

The writ said that the handover of Heritage Wharf was scheduled for May 13, 2013, with the improvements to King’s Wharf expected to be completed by the same date.

Safety improvements to Heritage Wharf were to be finished by July 1 of that year.

According to the writ, it was “not possible” for SunRise Construction and Mr Crossley to confirm in advance a change to the target price, in line with the contract terms, due to the short turnaround time.

It said the firm was told to carry out the work and anything that added to the cost of the project would be assessed following its completion.

The writ, signed by Wakefield Quin, attorneys for SunRise Construction, explained that the company would state that most of the issues were approved under a separate clause in the agreement but the project manager left his position with the Bermuda Government before matters were finalised.

It claimed the terms of the contract meant the building firm would receive “pain or gain”, by bearing a percentage of the difference between the target and the final cost.

The writ, dated February 4, said: “The plaintiff will aver that the revised final target price was $32,561,440.07 and the final cost of the price submitted was $30,015,654.88 resulting in a savings of $2,545,785.19.

“The said figures were approved by the project manager in accordance with the contract.”

It was claimed the contract entitled SunRise Construction to a 50 per cent share of the difference, which worked out at $1,272,892.60.

The writ added: “Further, the plaintiff submitted a final payment application as part of the cost of works submitted in the amount of $1,722,122.90, which were approved by the project manager but remains unpaid.

“Despite requests to be paid, the defendant, in breach of contract, has refused to pay the plaintiff, thereby causing the plaintiff loss and damage.”

The minister was told he had 14 days to respond after the writ was served.

Heritage Wharf was built to accommodate a new, larger generation of cruise ships and opened in 2009.

Overspends on the $60 million facility, which was originally estimated at $39 million, sparked criticism of a former PLP government and serious damage was noticed in September 2010, in the wake of Hurricane Igor.

An investigation by US-based Bourne Consulting Engineering later found extensive deterioration of the dock’s thruster walls.

And, in an apparent change from the initial plans, piles were found to be filled mostly with sand instead of the concrete originally specified.

The former One Bermuda Alliance administration, which took power in 2012, outlined its plans to modify the wharf.

Its public works ministry said in 2013 that a deal valued at $22,369,961.93 was awarded to SunRise Construction, which was partnered under a contract with Crisson Construction Limited and Onsite Engineering.

Work was scheduled for completion before the debut arrival of the Norwegian Breakaway with up to 4,000 passengers on May 15 of that year.

Trevor Moniz, then public works minister, praised work crews and engineers for their hard work.

It later emerged that the Breakaway had to use pre-existing moorings during her three-day stay and contingency plans were drawn up in case the liner slipped her moorings.

Mr Moniz said yesterday: “It became urgent to get this thing fixed before the cruise season started, so we ended up setting up this emergency thing to get it rebuilt, basically from scratch and that ended up taking enormous amounts of money.”

The OBA MP explained: “What normally happens at the end of jobs is there’s a holdback period, so you normally have an amount that’s held back for a period of time to make sure everything’s OK; sometimes it’s as much as 5 or 10 per cent.

“I don’t know whether we were holding the money to see whether the work was good. I’m not aware of any outstanding money or any arguments about outstanding money with SunRise Construction.

“These sorts of disputes in big construction jobs are not unusual but normally you don’t need to go to court.

“You can settle them by negotiation, remediation or arbitration, so it’s a bit of a surprise that that’s the way it’s going.”

He added: “Overall, we thought the project came off very well.”

SunRise Construction declined to comment.

Public works minister Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch said last night: “This matter is currently before the courts and it would be inappropriate to give a comment.”

• Update: This story has been amended to make clear that Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch is not being sued in a personal capacity