TDS DISCUSS HOW IT’S FRONT-END APPROACH IS A GAME CHANGER FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY, FOLLOWING CONTRACT WIN WITH HKIAA

After securing a $5m project deal directly with the Hong Kong International Airport Authority (HKIAA), we are now able to demonstrate the value of collaboration and digital modelling at the front end of the design process. Explaining further how, if adopted, this approach could benefit the Construction Industry as a whole.

Part of our brief was to challenge the design from a manufacturing perspective, working collaboratively alongside the Tier 1 consulting team including Aecom and Aedas. Importantly, this has enabled them to scrutinise the design through a steel fabricators eyes, which has meant they have been able to develop the model with the best manufacturing and installation solution in mind.

Having a fully connected, geometry checked, LOD400 model completed will enable the Airport Authority to have complete confidence that the costs provided by its steelwork contractors (when appointed) will be accurate and to a fixed scope with no risk of design creep or additional variations to the contract.

For the same reasons this synchronously provides confidence from a project management point of view, as issues picked up at the back end of a project tend to result in delays to the installation programme, but if they are addressed at the front end, before the construction programme is compiled, then the Airport Authority have further confidence that their anticipated timeline will experience minimal delays, which is of huge significance on infrastructure projects.



Due to the quality assurance processes in place throughout our delivery, including federated model checks and co-ordination, the risk of errors has also been drastically reduced. Our group CEO, Daniel Leech commented:

“We are hoping that other clients, main contractors and Tier 1 consultants can start to see the value in early engagement and collaboration. The main hurdle as we see it sits with procurement. At the moment the risk is sold down the supply chain and it is the responsibility of the manufacturing businesses to complete the design and detailing process as well as the manufacture and installation of the steelwork. It is impossible to give an accurate fixed cost for something when the scope is variable. This is leaving the steelwork contractors massively exposed commercially. It is fair to say that drawings have become a necessary evil for manufacturing businesses and this mentality has to stop.”

Through early engagement, we have now demonstrated that we can develop the design to a manufacture level of detail (DFMA). Enabling the steelwork contractor to provide costs and estimates to finite information, minimising the risk of contractual conflict, reducing the strain on the project programme and nullifying the chances of design creep.

Our Operations Manager, Simon Chatwin was the project lead for HKIAA and commented “For too long Value Engineering has mainly resulted in a ‘making it cheaper’. Value engineering should be about having a co-ordinated approach which ensures that all contractors and disciplines have a shared vision, effort and responsibility to collaborate and ensure the client gets the best possible solution. This then creates true value for the end user / client”.

www.tdsmidlands.co.uk 

 

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