Author Archives: Shanelle Suresh

Project Role Players

Project Role Players

So, Project Role Players… this one got me thinking, a lot… jeepers 🙂 Leads 2 Business works with various of these role players on a daily basis as our Private Projects department goes hand in hand with these project role players. So, I will be giving you a run down of our Private Projects Department and where these project role players, in my understanding, generally fit in.

There are various stages that the projects follow and there are different professionals involved in each stage:

• Conceptual
• Procedural
• Design
• Tender
• Awarded
• Underway

Let’s have a look at each stage and who does what, when and where.

 

Conceptual:

This is the beginning phase of the project: the “Idea” 😉 This is the very early stage whereby an idea could become reality. The following could take place here:

• Client / Private Developer come into play. They are responsible for the costs of the project and receive benefits of / from completed projects. Their aim is to generate a profit. Without a client, there would be no project.
• Open Developer are generally for public organisations and would be aimed at social and welfare reasons.
• Feasibility Study would be done
• Securing of funding.
• Depending on the client and the project, some of the professionals could be appointed at this stage already.

 

Procedural:

This stage involves various approvals and authorisations such as:

• Licensing,
• Whether Geotechnical Studies have been completed,
• Whether an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been completed (EIA is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, taking into account inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human-health impacts, both beneficial and adverse).
• Property Rezoning, which a Town Planner would be responsible for. Is any rezoning required? Town planners are responsible for obtaining the town planning approvals and rezoning the land according to your development if required.
• Specialist consultants (eg Heritage consultant, Traffic Impact Assessment Consultant, etc could also be appointed in this stage).
• The professional team could already be appointed

 

Design:

This stage involves detailed design of the development. Majority of the professionals could have been appointed by this stage. For a building project, a Quantity Surveyor and an Architect would be appointed. For a roads or infrastructure project a Civil Engineer would be appointed. Lastly, a project for a bridge, a Structural Engineer would be appointed. A quantity surveyor would be appointed to draw up the bill of quantities and determine what is required to complete the construction of the development. An architect would be responsible for the actual design and work hand in hand, as well as the civil or structural engineer, with the quantity surveyor in order for the QS to compile the BoQ . We like to call the bill of quantities “the shopping list”. The following professionals could be appointed at this stage:

• Civil Engineer – An engineer who designs roads, bridges, dams and similar structures.
• Structural Engineer – This is a speciality within civil engineering. They create drawings and specifications, perform calculations, review the work of other engineers, write reports and evaluations, and observe construction sites.
• Project Manager – The person in charge of planning and execution of a specific project / development.
• Electrical Engineer – Someone who designs and develops new electrical equipment, solves problems and tests equipment.
• Mechanical Engineering – This is the branch of engineering that involves the design, production and operation of machinery, and could also involve the air conditioning of a building.
• Health and Safety Consultant – The person responsible for the health and safety of the workers on site during construction.
• Fire Engineer – The application of science and engineering principles to protect people and their environments from the harmful and destructive effects of fire and smoke.
• Estate Agent – A person who sells and / or rents out buildings and is responsible for securing tenants.
• Interior Designer – Mostly has to do with enhancing the interior of buildings, sometimes including the exterior as well. They work hand in hand with the architect and may even be the architect in some cases.
• Landscape Architect – Person responsible for the design of outdoor areas, landmarks and structures.

Once the quantity surveyor has drawn up and completed the BoQ, it heads to the client for approval to start getting ready for the tender process.

 

Tender:

This stage pretty much speaks for itself. This is when the tender is released, whether it is an open or an invited tender. If it is an open tender, it will be publicly advertised and if invited, specific contractors are requested by the client to submit their prices. In this stage, the contractor would send out requests for quotes to sub-contractors to obtain prices and then submit their best prices to the client.

 

Awarded:

In the stage, the client chooses the most successful proposal and the main contract is awarded for construction and they are referred to as the main contractor. He would appoint the sub-contractors as and when required. In this stage the main contractor would start getting ready to move onto site and start setting up for construction.

 

Underway:

Construction has started, contractors and subbies would be on site together with the project manager, quantity surveyor, architect, various engineers, estate agent, interior designer as well as the landscape architect.

So… this is my understanding of where project role players fit into the various project phases and hopefully I have cleared up a few things for you too…and as Doris McCarthy says: “You are actually constructing what your head understood about what your eyes saw” and that is how I feel about this topic… so get involved and get cracking Project Role Players 😉

 

References:

https://www.cbd.int/impact/whatis.shtml
https://www.sokanu.com/careers/electrical-engineer/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_engineering
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_protection_engineering
seaoc.org/what-structural-engineer

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SASSDS Life Cycle Costing App

SASSDA (Southern African Stainless Steel Development Association ) has a Life Cycle Costing App which can be downloaded free from the Google Playstore or the Apple App Store.

This useful app can be used by engineers, architects, quantity surveyors, end-users, specifiers and even members of the public, to determine the costs of using stainless steel in projects compared to alternatives based on realistic estimates of the total costs of products or structures across their full-service lives. The app requires minimal entry of key top-line data, before calculating a breakdown of the relevant costs and presenting the results in a convenient email format.

According to their website, http://sassda.co.za:

Stainless steels have traditionally been specified in applications where the primary requirement is corrosion resistance. However, since their invention over 100 years ago, stainless steels (of which there are more than 200 different types) have also been recognised for other attributes such as durability, versatility, quality, sustainability, hygiene, aesthetic appeal and, with the advent of Life Cycle Costing (LCC), economy!

LCC is a technique developed for identifying and quantifying all costs, initial and ongoing, associated with a project or installation over a given period. It uses the standard accounting principle of discounted cash flow, so that total costs incurred during a life cycle period are reduced to present day values. This allows a realistic comparison to be made of the available options. As far as material selection is concerned, LCC enables potential long-term benefits to be assessed against short-term expediency. Materials costs are assessed with their related implications, such as initial outlay, maintenance and its frequency, downtime effects and production losses, repair and replacement costs, and other operationally related costs such as manpower and energy consumption.

The total LCC can be broken down into components:

LCC      =          Acquisition Cost
+          Fabrication and Installation Cost
+          Maintenance Costs (periodic)
+          Replacement Costs (periodic)
+          Cost of Lost Production (periodic)
–           Residual (Scrap) Value.

Each of these terms must be known if a realistic result is to be calculated. The environment and scope of usage are, therefore, crucial in determining the LCC benefits when choosing materials.

A full Life Cycle Cost analysis thus enables the materials specifier to consider the implications of future cost in terms of both actual monetary value and inconvenience of future maintenance and replacements.

Stainless steels are 100% recyclable without any loss in quality no matter how many times the process is repeated. When products reach the end of their useful lives, over 80% of the stainless steel is collected and recycled. Stainless steels are durable and have low maintenance costs due to their corrosion resistance. There is no coating or painting requirement and normal maintenance would simply be occasional cleaning.
Stainless steel may not always be the cheapest candidate material for an application when considering upfront costs. However, its durability and ease of maintenance compensate for the sometimes higher initial purchasing costs and it is often the least expensive choice in a Life Cycle Cost comparison.

With the development of its own Life Cycle Costing programme in the 1990s, the Southern African Stainless Steel Development Association (SASSDA) was able to determine the costs of using stainless steel in projects compared to alternatives based on realistic estimates of the total costs of products or structures across their full-service lives.

Full details and links to download the App can be obtained on the SASSDA website at http://sassda.co.za/life-cycle-costing-campaign and for a full explanation of how Life Cycle Costing works, you can also view their latest SASSDA YouTube channel video.

Information sourced from http://sassda.co.za

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