The £71m cost of the refurbishment of Norfolk County Council's County Hall headquarters has been defended - with a warning that there could have deaths at the site had the work not gone ahead.
The escalating cost of the project had been criticised by opposition councillors, who raised the issue at a meeting of the authority's scrutiny committee.
However, Greg Peck, the cabinet member for commercial services and asset management, said the work was essential to avoid a "catastrophic failure" at the building, which could have proved deadly.
He said the roof of the council chamber itself would have fallen in without repairs, and blamed "horrific examples of poor workmanship" in the past and "historic underinvestment" for the poor state of the property.
Work on County Hall started in 2012, after its Conservative-controlled cabinet set aside £22m for structural repairs to the Martineau Lane building over 25 years.
That was triggered after masonry falling from the 1968-built council headquarters meant canopies were put up to protect staff.
At Thursday's scrutiny meeting, Mr Peck said it would have been "reckless" not to have done the work.
He said stalactites had formed in part of the building due to water leaking through the roof and that rotten timber was being held together by clamps dating back to the 1970s.
He said: "Being aware of the potential of a catastrophic failure of the building - even loss of life - it would have been reckless not to have immediately addressed this issue."
A Freedom of Information Act request last year revealed councillors were warned 10 years ago that revamping County Hall was "not financially viable".
NPS Group - a property consultancy which is part of the council-owned Norse Group - recommended the authority should build a new headquarters.
But the cabinet voted for the refurbishment instead.
Mr Peck said it was "easy" to use hindsight to say that his predecessors should have done something differently.
He said recent work had been vital, as it had been estimated the roof of the council chamber would have fallen in.
He said: "It would also have risked death or injury to members of the public."
Simon Hughes, the council's director of property, said lessons had been learned from the process and a forward maintenance plan was now in place.
Conservative councillor Lana Hempsall, vice-chair of the scrutiny committee said County Hall was now more accessible to disabled people.
She said: "We have an amazing building now. I'd liken it to a Rolls Royce."
Steve Morphew, Labour group leader and chair of the scrutiny committee, said: "It's pretty clear there's a load of lessons to be learned from the past and, in retrospect, probably some quite painful lessons. But it does sound as if they are being learned."
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