Perspective
IN THIS
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW, NDY EXPERTS OFFER
THEIR INSIGHTFUL
PERSPECTIVES
ON KEY ISSUES AND DEVELOPMENTS THEY
CONSIDER IMPORTANT TO THE ONGOING
DEVELOPMENT
AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE CONSTRUCTION
INDUSTRY.
Towards Greener
Engineering
The construction industry
has an overriding social responsibility
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
that result from the construction and
occupation of the built environment.
Governments in many developed nations
are providing encouragement, in the
form of grants and new legislation.
This approach has had a variable response,
ranging from examples of best practice
to buildings which barely meet local
legislation requirements.
An
unfortunate product of the heightened
interest
in
greener
engineering is the ‘Green Overcoat’ approach, which seeks to justify an inappropriate
building design by overlaying a superficially green environmental strategy. Examples
of this approach include buildings with excessive glazed areas, inappropriate
ventilation solutions, or high-energy lighting solutions, seeking to lay claim
to green credentials. These types of buildings actually retard overall progress
towards the greening of the built environment, as they set a design fashion apparently
legitimising approaches which fall well short of being truly sustainable.
Another
obstacle to proper consideration of greener design solutions is the lack of consideration
of life cycle cost in the design process.
Adopting a truly green approach requires
commitment to the long-term sustainability of a project, which can only be achieved
with end-to-end engineering thinking – from the very first building concept for
the site, through the detailed design, construction, commissioning and long-term
management of the facility.
Novation
One of the most challenging issues confronting
building services consultants at the present time is novation.
On some projects
NDY is engaged by the developer or building owner to produce the initial design
and documentation, which is then used to call for building tenders.
The building
contracts generally require the builder to assume all risk for completion of
the design and for construction. A component of this risk transfer from owner
to builder is the novation of the design consultant, who is thereafter responsible
to the builder for completion of the design and construction phase overview.
Whilst there can be a high degree of alignment between the interests of owner
and builder, there can equally be issues which create a conflict of interest
for the consultant who can be placed in the invidious position of attempting
to serve two masters with significantly varying agendas.
NDY recognises that
the management of risk is essential and assigning of design and construction
risk from owner to builder is a well-established practice. There are, however,
a number of aspects of practice that are worthy of examination and refinement.
These include:
- The timing for calling tenders and novation of the design team.
This should not be too early to allow more detailed documentation to be prepared.
The design team should be capable of addressing buildability issues and, if specialist
input is required, a builder’s representative can be selected to join the
project team to advise on buildability issues during
the design phase.
- Contract
documentation should insist on
the builder and sub-contractors
making an appropriate contingency allowance for
issues and costs that arise in
completing the design and documentation.
In a highly competitive market
builders often seek to have
design consultants bear the
cost of issues that arise in the
general course of design
finalisation or changes
to requirements. This can lead
to poor value for the client.
A better way is for consultants
to conclude design issues with clients
and use the time vested with builders
under the novation
agreement to seek innovative ways to add further value that will
benefit the project.
Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance (QA) can and should
be a highly
effective business tool, but this can only happen when it is
treated as an integral part of the
operation, rather than a chore. Effective
QA requires an end-to-end
approach ensuring continuity of attention to detail throughout
the design and construction
process. This requires:
- technical rigour in the design
process, underpinned by shared
corporate experience applied through
internal knowledgesharing networks
and peer review of projects;
- diligent review of information
produced by project partners,
including other consultants and
contractors,
to provide our clients with confidence
in the process;
- active engagement with contracting
teams through the construction
period to ensure that we work
together effectively to achieve
the best result for our clients;
- integrated thinking on commissioning,
from the design of systems that
are commissionable, through the
construction process and on to
final commissioning and handover;
and
- effective communication with
clients and other stakeholders to seek performance
feedback, and then acting on it.
Continuous and active involvement
is the key. |
