JS Case Study Flashcards
Why did you not do a two stage design and build and within the first stage undertake the enabling works?
Risk Management - Easier to manage risks when separate from the main works , reducing impact on the overall project
Procurement - Client’s preferred contractor was a specialised enabling works contractor, allowing for a greater focus on the difficult construction required
Why was the decision taken to split the enabling works from the main works? What advantages and disadvantages did this bring to the project?
Allow for infrastructure of main works
Start on site whilst main works finalised
Disadvantage - two contractors, two contracts, risks and liabilities
For the enabling works, what was the basis of your advice to negotiate the project costs rather than tender.
An initial meeting was set up that I was party to but was lead by my partner, who asked to reduce their risk allowance, however, they said they only would if they put a cap of depth of responsibility. This lead to issues around contractual provisions
Why would competitive tender take longer than negotiated?
Longer tender process - 4 weeks compared to 6-8 weeks.
More tenders to analyse
Direct communication with the contractors rather than on an e portal
How did you quantify the cut and fill
I took the area of the site, which was measured off the drawings and multiplied it by the difference between the existing ground levels and proposed ground levels. I separated out each area where the levels allowed me, rather than doing a generic cost /. m2. The rates were benchmarked against other projects which had a cut and fill element
What did you include in your tender documents for this project?
ER’s – design, spec, preliminaries, contract particulars, amendments
Surveys
PCI
ITT
In key issue one you mentioned considering recommending a list of contractors to tender on the enabling package. What process would you follow to ensure that the contractors you are recommending are competent for the job?
PQQ – ask them experience, policies, case studies, insurances, turnover to get to a short list
You mentioned that the client wanted to transfer all the ground risk to the contractor. What are some of the problems associated with doing this?
Provisional sums – cost uncertainty
Risk allowances – end up paying more
Could have instructed some ground investigations and surveys prior
How did you quantify the risk for the budget considering it was stage 2?
It was a properly thought out exercise, using risk workshops to identify risks and EMV to calculate these risks
What are the risks when pricing substructure?
Unexpected ground conditions, contamination, water table, surrounding trees effecting foundations, ground obstructions, excavation, antiquities
how do you ensure all of your VE proposals lead to savings for the client?
They don’t- VE can also work to improve building function/reduce programme which can be costly
Given that you would be splitting responsibility for the works across 2 main contractors, how did you deal with risk and liability and ensure the clients interests were protected.
There were collateral warranties put into place by the Client for each other contractors to ensure there was a level of liability passed between the two parties
Also the contractual agreements within the contract clearly stated responsibilities and liabilities
Why would competitive tender take longer than negotiated?
Longer tender process - 4 weeks compared to 6-8 weeks.
More tenders to analyse
Direct communication with the contractors rather than on an e portal
On second key issue, is there a reason that your VE options were focused on the main works only and did not seem to cover the possibility of value engineering the enabling works?
I took the area of the site, which was measured off the drawings and mutlipied it by the difference between the existing ground levels and proposed ground levels. I seperated out each area where the levels allowed me, rather than doing a generic cost /. m2. The rates were benchmarked against other projects which had a cut and fill element
You mentioned that you were involved in producing estimates and feasibility studies throughout this project? What was the process you followed, and how did they change as the design got more developed?
Feasibility studies – based on a model / m2 rates from benchmark information from similar projects.
Cost estimates – elemental breakdown measures individual works items
Did you include inflation allowances in your cost plans? Where did you get the information from?
I excluded inflation in my order of cost estimates, but once I had a programme, I was able to use the BCIS to obtain inflation indicies
What did you include in your tender documents for this project?
ER’s – design, spec, preliminaries, contract particulars, amendments
Surveys
PCI
ITT
In key issue one you mentioned considering recommending a list of contractors to tender on the enabling package. What process would you follow to ensure that the contractors you are recommending are competent for the job?
PQQ – ask them experience, policies, case studies, insurances, turnover to get to a short list
You explain how you ended up recommending to negotiate with a contractor that the client has use previously on a similar project. But how there was a risk of not getting competitive pricing? What was one thing you could have done to overcome this issue?
Open book tendering, schedule of rates
You mentioned that the client wanted to transfer all the ground risk to the contractor. What are some of the problems associated with doing this?
Provisional sums – cost uncertainty
Risk allowances – end up paying more
Could have instructed some ground investigations and surveys prior
What were some risks around Utilites
Getting power into the site and existing diversions
What Utilites were going in?
Gas, Water, Telecoms, Electricty
What are the risks when pricing substructure?
Unexpected ground conditions, contamination, water table, surrounding trees effecting foundations, ground obstructions, excavation, antiquities
What was the £/m2?
£2250/m2
What other procurement options were considered?
Traditional wasn’t an option, CM or MC was considered due to the programme benefits, however, the client wanted some cost certainty at contract
Since you already know Option 1 is not the client preferred option, this should not form part of the option for consideration. Technically, you are only down to Option 2 – the only option. Why this is a key issue?
I wanted to highlight to my client that this was an option, even though they had preferred the negotiation, I advised my client that a competitive tender could be possible and listed the pros and cons of each.
While option 2 is to go directly to a single contractor for a negotiation, did you consider more than one client preferred contractors (with similar experiences) for price competitiveness in the negotiation process. If not – why
Yes, I also spoke to a separate enabling works contractor who I visited site with. Once they had looked around and looked through their design, their programme and indicative cost was way above what we had anticiapted. They were a very well recongised sub contractor in the industry and said this was the best case.
What were some of the packages?
Site Clearance and Cut and Fill
Utilites provided a mutli service
Secuirty and Site Fencing
Access and Egress
Road surfacing and paths
Groundworks
Why did you select design and build?
Time - Allow for potential overlap of the construction and finalising the design
Responsibility - Client wanted the contractor to take on more responsibility
Cost - Lump sum fixed cost was required.
What were some amendments?
Payment Dates - 14 - 21
Variations - Stated variation had to be in writing for it to be applicable
ERs take precedent
Loss of profit amended out
What are some of the risks of cut and fill
Ground contamination and not being able to use - allowed for an extra 10% uplift
When cut and filling, what do you need to consider within your costs?
Ground contamination - allow for additional % uplift.
Transport costs assosicated with this.
What are the time differences between neg and competitive tendering?
8 weeks for negotiation
12 weeks for a competitive
You mention that the contractor carries all risk, how did you ensure this was the case? Was it all the ground risk? Up to a certain level?
The risk allocation was clearly defined within the contract conditions, specifiying that the contractor is responsible for all risks.
There was also a ground condition warranty, which warranted that the contractor had fully investigated and understood the ground conditions and accepted all risk
What were some cost exclusions you had in your cost plan
Protection and works to neighbouring forest area
Land Acuqisition costs
Planning and permitting fees
Diverting of exisiting services if required
Site Remediation including ground water and soil
What were some assumptions within your cost plan?
What were some of the risks you highlighed to your client for a negotiated tender
Cost competition
Selecting contractor on past relationship doesn’t mean they are suited for this project.
When was the PC date for the enabling works due?
22nd November 2024
When was the SOS date for the main works
End of September 2024
You mention inflation increases and challenges, what were these?
Inflation was 4%
Industury was still seeing cost increases due to the Russia and Ukraine conflict
