Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

EDC SolarWall®

I have volunteered to be the coordinator for security issues on site to ensure that all relevant info is checked and logged through the security office. This seemed simple enough until it turned out that some employees are not US citizens and apparently this creates a tidal wave of bureaucracy….something I can relate to. I think it might be more appropriate for me to form a support group instead, offering the benefit of my own experience.

The required structural changes for the SolarWall® had to come out at a zero cost (the Client can’t go back to the government cap in hand for more money without creating a fuss). The way around this is to parcel the project into ‘options’ whereby the bulk of the work can be achieved in the face of varying requirements, meaning that one or more of the options can be tweaked to make sure the project comes in at the allocated budget. This must be one of those fudges that people have found to try and make the most out of the system. The Client has requested that the proposed supports for the wall are to be covered in the same material as the existing building. As a result the last wall now has less coverage to pay for the modification.  Changing stuff is all well and good – but it needs to be done the right way under the contract. This means either an ‘Equitable Adjustment’ or a ‘Request for Proposal’. RFP is pending.

Now that I am getting into the Resident Management System (RMS) I identified a few housekeeping issues that needed to be rectified (proof of insurance and bonds, cost variations between schedules and turn around times for submittals. I envisage more will follow as I continue to get to grips with the system. It was interesting to see how the contractor shuffles the funds to fit his changing schedule.

DDSP Buildings 732 / 760

Reviewed the PMP again as they still have not made amendments that were submitted. It is USACE policy that every project will have a PMP. The result is that project engineers appear to see this as an additional hurdle to jump through and pay lip service to it. What is the point in not identifying risks as part of the PMP? By not identifying the risks they avoid having to do more work on the PMP but completely negate the whole purpose of it. The PMBP manual has arrived and a copy should be with PEW soon. I will likely be asked to review other PMPs in the near future.

Ashley Reservist Center

I am revising my report for consumption by the contractor in relation to defects on site. I was asked to remove some of the solutions to the problems as we don’t want to do the contractor’s work for them. This was immediately after mentioning that we’re meant to be in a partnering relationship with them…..

It now also turns out the contractor has taken cores through foundation slabs to fit conduits that they had forgotten place previously. They have cut through rebar and we now need to remedy. If anyone has any top tips or resources on this it would be much appreciated.

Training

I had the pleasure of sitting in on the USACE anti terrorism training. This was a recording of the presentation that was given last year by a very nervous lady. The take home quote was ‘Don’t do any work for anybody in exchange for cash or other payments…[mumble – pause]…unless it’s your actual job.’

Trench safety presentations were completed in less than 20 minutes……take note John!

Hablando Español

There are issues with a contractor’s subbie not paying his workers the correct amount. Part of what we do is police these sort of issues and once identified we have to investigate. Frustratingly for the girl who has to process this, the majority of the workforce was Hispanic and do not speak any English. Having received feedback (in Spanish) I called some of the workers to clarify and translate a bunch of questionnaires for processing. This is likely to be a recurring topic.

Other News

Ulli has had yet another episode in the MVA (DVLA) almost resulting in flaming torches and pitch-forks.

Had a great Memorial weekend where I learned to ride a 2-wheeled skateboard contraption, discovered that we do actually have some neighbours who aren’t miserable old farts, and it all ended in the shooting (and subsequent death) of a rooster.