Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

During Phase 1 we learned of two rules of supervision (Civs; you may or may not have been party to this information, if not, it’s your lucky day).

I forget the order, but they are:

1. “It doesn’t matter what you say, people will do whatever the f**k they want.” Phil Moffitt, 2016
2. “Good to trust, better to check.” Fisho Fisher, 2016

Recently I was reminded of these valuable lessons.

Me: “Lads, I’ve got some tarpaulins for the dampers, can you take them up and see if you can fit them please? The eastbound damper will probably need tying down? Do you have any rope?”

Nacho the Labourer: “Yes, I think we have rope.”

Me: “OK good, do you have enough? Let me know if you need more and I’ll find some”.

Later I asked Nacho if he had completed the task. He said “Yes. And I am confident I got the right place”. Can’t argue.

I will start with a confession: Not one for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other real interaction with Social Media, this is pretty much the first ‘proper’ blog of my life. (Although I suspect most are not interested in that fact and want to read on!)

Down-to-business, and following on from a string of “I do this on site” type blogs, I invite fellow bloggers, backseat readers and academic staff alike to read my submission.

Following in the footsteps’ of James Grant, I have found myself (not literally) employed as a Services Engineer on a hospital redevelopment project nearing its end. The Project is summarised as:

PROJECT

St George Hospital Redevelopment. (Stage 2 of 5.)

CLIENT

New South Wales Government, represented by Health Infrastructure.

MAIN CONTRACTOR

Multiplex, part of Brookfield Asset Management (Portfolio worth $260bn).

LOCATION

16 km directly south of Sydney’s Central Business District. (Think Opera House and the Harbour Bridge area of Sydney.)

DELIVERABLES

An 8-floor Acute Services Building; an extended car park (from 7 to 8 levels); an MRI unit; and, the refurbishment of the hospital’s existing Tower Ward Block.

PROJECT VALUE

$170m, of which $80m is assigned for Services.

CONTRACT TYPE

Known as a “GC 21”. Works are conducted under a Design & Build arrangement and the contract is comparable to that of the NEC 3.

CONTRACT RISK 

A “fit-for-purpose” clause leaves much open for debate between Stakeholders. Despite User Group Workshops, differing perceptions of what this clause entails leads to time-consuming meetings and potentially costly outcomes.

RESPONSIBILITIES

According to the Project Management Plan’s description of my role, I am responsible for the management of all aspects of electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, fire, security and lift services design, coordination, and installation, completion, commissioning and training for the project. This includes quality control, negotiation with subcontractors and obtaining approval as well as liaison with the Client, Architect, Consultant, Subcontractors, Construction Team and the User.

REALITY CHECK

Although my job description is quite clear, the initial reality of my responsibility has been different. Understandably stuck somewhere between a Graduate Engineer and Site Engineer in the minds’ of others, I have had to reinforce why I am on site, what I am trying to achieve, and how I should achieve it. Effective communication is proving critical; time is at a premium from those that I am seeking help from.

Beyond the observations listed above, I am intrigued at just how complex applying Design Philosophy in Construction can be. Focusing on St George Hospital as an example, from its inception of an 8-bed ward cottage hospital, constructed in 1894, it now has approximately 550 beds, 2500 staff, serving 250,000 district residents. More than 45,000 admissions and 723,000 outpatients are administered each year. The last iteration to the hospital’s expansion, a previous redevelopment project, was conducted in 1980 costing Aus. $200,000,000, designed to last 50 years. The problem is the fundamentally the same – population modelling. To compound matters, construction constraints on the site are increasing – building more on a live hospital site, with less space, more traffic and, increasing competitiveness for resources. The space available to off-load resources for the entire site is constrained to 825m², approximately 1/7th of a football pitch.

Future proofing designs is a difficult art. In my opinion, it is the resilience to change. To achieve this, one must look beyond life-cycle costing and focus more on whole-life value; a philosophy difficult to sell in business cases which focus on value-for-money for a specific budget year.

Away from trying to understand more about Construction, and despite bags of encouragement from my new work colleagues, who have rather ingeniously given me an Australia nickname – Fisho – I still drink Yorkshire Tea, not oodles of coffee. (Although, if I had my time again, I would open a coffee shop in Sydney. #moneyprinting)

Until next time,

Fisho