ASSIGNMENT BRIEF
INTRODUCTION
Please read this assignment brief carefully, to enable you to do the task. The task for this assignment is to prepare a professional project manager / quantity surveyor report, approximately 3,000 words in length and referenced appropriately. You should write this report relating to the contractual solutions that may be available to the project team in the event of a substantial delay caused by an unexpected issue on site. as described in the scenario below.
This is an individual assignment, which carries 50% of the unit marks.
You also need to include the coursework self-assessment sheet and submit everything in one document in PDF format.
Scenario
The client, an educational body, intends to demolish an existing old building within a university campus and replace it with a new building with the same footprint but with one additional storey. There are existing electrical and other services within the building, which will have to be incorporated into the new building but need to be temporarily maintained or relocated as these feed other buildings on the campus.
You are a firm of construction consultants covering various disciplines, including project management (PM) and quantity surveying (QS). The client has engaged your team to carry out the PM and QS roles on this project. Your client raised the following considerations:
- Demolition of the old building will require the existing staff and equipment to be moved out before work can commence, either through a separate contract or by inclusion in the main contractor’s scope. You should assess the contractual options available to the client and explain how you could facilitate either approach.
- Some services feeding some other buildings are housed within the old building. The client requires advice with regard to how the services can be temporarily or permanently reinstated before they are disconnected, in order to effect switchovers. The client is concerned at the disruption this may have on the operation of the existing campus. They have asked how this work could be either incorporated into the contract or as separately procured work carried out outside the main contract, in order to minimise any ‘down-time’.
- The client is concerned about the possibility of a fire occurring on the building site, spreading to the adjacent buildings and impacting on the existing users, who will be in occupation during construction of the new building.
- The client has asked for your guidance regarding how the tender invitation (and therefore the contract documentation) will provide for separation of the site from the operational campus. The client is specifically concerned about how the site can be made safe while students and staff are using the remainder of the campus and how this will be captured in the project documentation.
- When the existing building was constructed, asbestos was still permitted in construction work, the client has asked for advice on how to go about meeting its statutory duty with regard to the potential existence of asbestos and provisions for removal if any is found.
- The client normally uses JCT 2016 SBC/Q as its preferred standard form of contract. However, they have asked you for a summary of the benefits of using NEC4 instead, and a summary of main issues to be considered in making this choice.
Task
For this report, you need to:
- Analyse and evaluate the implications of the issues described in the scenario above.
- Propose potential options for incorporation in the tender and / or contract documentation, suggesting the most appropriate solutions in the circumstances and justifying your recommendation.
Hints
You need to identify parameters that help you to advise the client on the appropriate solution.
You need to differentiate:
- Works in the main contract
- Works outside the main contract – enabling or facilitating works, etc
- Items included in the tender thence the contract, ie scope / spec / prelims issues etc
- Items include in the contract
- Choices to select in the contract, eg staged completion
