Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

PROJECT INFORMATION

SCOPE:  The construction of a New Children’s Hospital to deliver a replacement for the ageing Princess Margaret Hospital facility which is over 100 years old.  The new hospital will consist of 274 beds with gross floor area of approximately 78,775m².  This includes 75 precent single bed rooms and enhance floor area to cope with family services of the patients.

Of note the hospital will be the sole paediatric hospital for Western Australia.  This means it has a catchment 22 times larger than the UK.

PROJECT ORGANISATION

1.            Client: Government of  Western Australia, Department of Treasury and Finance – Strategic projects.

2.            Managing Contractor:  John Holland Group Pty Ltd

3.            Consultants:

a.            Architects – BCJH Alliance (made up of Jones Coulter Young, Cox Howlett and    Woodland Bailey, HKS, Billard Leece Partnership.)

b.            Civil and Structural Engineers –  Aurecon

c.             Services – Norman, Disney and Young.

STAKEHOLDERS (details to follow): 

1. Client
2. State’s representatives
3. Hospital Employees
4. Telethon Institute of Child Health Research and universities
5. Government Authorities
6. Suppliers/Subcontractors

JOHN HOLLAND GROUP NCH STRUCTURE

The wiring diagram for the JHG NCH project is attached.  In short my manger is Steven Chaseling, the construction director, who has worked with both Tony Cheales and Andy Wilson before.  When I move to site I will work to Risteard Carroll.  Though the details of my work have yet to be confirmed they see me in a supervisory role as a Project Engineer which will develop as the project moves forward.

PROJECT CONTRACT

Head Contract:  Managing Contractor

I have spent an hour with the commercial team and the senior contract administrator to understand this better. 

Though there is a non legally binding “one team approach to collaboration” legally JHG are the managing contractor for the project.  This has the advantage that John Holland is embedded with the designers and architects and the client and enabling work on site has commenced as detailed design is completed and procurement for later elements is completed.

However, a unique aspect of working to the Government of Western Australia is that Stage 1 (80% of the project) must be procured by fixed lump sums (ie no schedule of works etc) by 22 Oct 12.  When this is put in the context that the design is not complete, internal approval is required from project, JHG Region and Leighton Holding (JHG parent company) the deadline to design and complete tenders for work is June.  This is putting the whole team under a great deal of pressure as tenders are being produced from designs that have not been signed off by the State yet.

TIMELINE

Managing Contractor Commencement date                                        5^th July 2011

Concept Design Completed                                                                         Sep 2011

Schematic Design Completed                                                                     Jan 2012

Commence on Site                                                                                          Jan 2012

Detailed Design to be completed by                                                        Jun 2012

Project Complete                                                                                            Jun 2015

PROGRAMME

Detailed Programme to follow on.  There are numerous short, medium and long term programmes all in different formats and I have not decided which is the clearest.  JHG are producing a number of schematic construction sequence slides which are brilliant at painting a picture and understanding the sequence. What I do know is for the next 3 months I will be concerned with Piling and Excavating as the basement is dug and the piles are constructed – very similar to the Oxford site visit!

ENGINEERING ISSUES

This is hard to assess as I am receiving the induction propaganda view at the moment and I am not on site.  However I have observed the following:

1. The detailed design not being completed but procurement process started for work packages in order to meet Guarenteed Construction Sum 1 deadline will cause inevitable errors.
2. A really restricted site.  Numerous issues with loading and unloading stores, movement of the site office and welfare facilities, how to remove the excavated material and piling rig from the bottome of the excavation as the excavation is being filled with piles.
3. Like all good design exercises the  designers have started with the easy bit first.  As a result the construction is sequenced from North to South (Office blocks and general wards to complicated theatres, hydro pools etc).  This has been highlighted as an area of risk as the majority of the complicated work is scheduled for the end of the project.  Work is being done to expedite the design and to surge on the central and southern zones to flatten out this surge.
4. It has been explained to me (I need to confirm with research) that there is no Australian version of CDM.  There is a policy of “Safety in Design” but this is poorly understood by the design team and is causing buildability and H&S concerns.

FUTURE WORK

• Enhance information above
• Complete site induction and get on site -take lots of pictures
• Bed in with the site team and understand the project and its problems – be more technical in my approach
• Find out if there is a propping system for the “big hole” no one has mentioned this yet!!
• Write essay plan for AER 1 for PEW comment
• Consider Engineering problems – select topic for TMR 1

Period Covered: 12 -15 Mar 12

Summary:  Initial Induction, training and project awareness.

This week has been focused on introduction and inductions as I establish myself within John Holland and the project team.  I have been overwhelmed by the professionalism and drive of the company and the enthusiasm of the people who work here.

I have yet to get to site, as I have had to complete the safety training and site induction, and am currently situated in the project office. With the view that I will complete my site induction on Monday and then begin work on site as a supervising engineer from then on.

128 Hay Street – The Project Office or as we would know it Battlegroup Main, with Architects, Designers and JH under one roof.  Many of the Engineer Planners will move to site once construction is at full pace as Works Package Managers.  (The site is 10mins away).

This week I have achieved the following:

• Completed 1 day John Holland Induction day.
• Completed Project Office Induction and Administration
• Completed online Safety in Construction White Card training, similar to CSCS.
• Initial meeting with construction manager, development objective plan set.
• BIM Training

Observations

Project scope/structure and details to follow in a separate blog but I have made some initial thoughts and observations from my first 4 days working  as a civilian:

1. Safety.  This is the top priority for the company and the “No Harm” message is enforced by everything and everyone in the company.  The JGH see it as the life blood of its business and the key to future commercial success.  They believe is that if they can drive safety rates to lower than there competitors they will win more tenders than they can could cope with and as a result safety is well resourced and managed.
2. Sustainability.  From a project perspective sustainability and environmental management has significant importance but from a corporate strategy perspective the company is aligning itself with the Australian perspective and is expanding its fossil fuel infrastructure arm.  This attitude is directly opposed to the UK perspective of sustainable energy and development.
3. Doctrine.  John Holland has more manuals and procedure than the Army!!  These are rigorously used and standards and quality are maintained by company policy, procedures, manuals and plans.  I have spent a couple of days reviewing a number of these and it will be a continuous job to familiarise myself with as many as possible.  These give the company structure and I believe have been vital in allowing the company to expand rapidly over the last 5 years.  There was 16 people at the weekly John Holland Induction and most people working on the project are new to JH.  Oh Note the management plans etc map across well with the APMP philosophy which has been reassuring.
4. IT Systems.  Use of IT systems is overwhelming.  Lotus Notes is the predominant system to communicate and share information within the project and Aconex is used to communicate with all external stakeholders.  Along with all the doctrine I have been impressed by the value the company puts into document control.  The project is all making full use of BIM and believe the project is the flagship for its use in Australia.