|
Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors Awards Building Efficiency Awarded to Prowse Quantity Surveyors RMIT Advance Manufacturing Precinct Location: The George Thompson Building, 58 Cardigan Street, Carlton After five years of industry consultations, RMIT established the need of establishing an Advance Manufacturing Precinct to deliver practical industry skills training for the design, development, production, marketing and management processes of the advance manufacturing sectors. The George Thompson Building on 58 Cardigan Street, Carlton was the chosen site. Refurbishment of this 1968 school of foundry technology into, into a new precinct that delivers cross-disciplinary training to meet whole of industry needs by incorporating teaching in engineering and advanced manufacturing technologies, applied design, development, production, marketing and management. Originally designed for a four star solution, strategic cost engineering and cost planning resulted in sufficient funds to upgrade the facility into a five star solution. Quantity Surveyors Role & Responsibilities The role of Prowse Quantity Surveyors was to ensure that the project was delivered with the best architectural design solution and building efficiency outcomes within the funding restrains of the project. The process included full cost planning from concept design through the tender documentation to work with the design team and client. Various design solutions and feasibilities were undertaken so that informed financial decisions could be made on the affordability, functionality and aesthetics of the project. An environmentally efficient solution was high on the agenda for this project, and allocating sufficient funds to undertake these works was critical to its inclusion. Constant dialogue between Prowse Quantity Surveyors and consultants enabled the successful recycling of materials, an efficient layout, reduced PVC and new raw materials. Prowse Quantity Surveyors also assisted with the tendering process by producing a schedule of quantities for this project, assisting in the selection of appropriate builders for the works, and reviewing the tenders received. With construction works due for completion at the end of 2010, Prowse Quantity Surveyors has an ongoing post contract role of monitoring planned & actual financial progress, assessment of progress claims and variations from the builder, review alternative design solutions to latent conditions to achieve economical outcomes, as well as reporting of any financial risks that may impede on the successful financial conclusion of the project. Unique Contributions Prowse Quantity Surveyors assistance in this project is summarised as follows: Cost Planning Services · Continued monitoring and preparation of cost plan to establish total project cost. · Feasibility studies of various design alternatives including the impact of alternative materials, alternative structural solutions, · Assessment of green star requirements and its financial impact on the project. To determine the best value of money conclusion available. · Ensure the protection of funds for green star funding throughout the project. · Assisted in the review and co-ordination of documents during the cost planning process to identify ambiguities, inconsistencies, and missing information to ensure that quality of documentation for tender was the highest it could be, allowing the best opportunity for tender prices to come in within cost planned expectations. · Review of the tender received and allocation of additional funds and contingencies to enable the successful completion of the project, as well as increased funding allocations to enable the upgrade of the four star green star outcome to a five star green star outcome. Post Contract Services · Assessment of the five star upgrade costs to ensure that a reasonable price has been quoted for the works. · Working with the design team in regards to latent conditions to review alternative proposal from the builder that were practical and cost effective, reused as much of the existing structure, thereby improving building efficiency. · Review of contractual obligations and enforcing those obligations at time of progress claims and variations. Evidence of Efficiencies Successful cost planning comes from a co-ordinated team effort where the tendered result determines how successful the documentation process was. For the RMIT Advance manufacturing precinct, five out of five prices were received with the pre-tender estimate concluding between the second and third lowest price. This is the perfect position to be from a cost planning perspective. Having a successful result, allowed increased building efficiency. The lowest conforming price allowed sufficient funds to enable an increase of rating from four to five stars for under 1.5% of the total project budget. This upgrade was reviewed by the design team, priced by the builder, and accepted by the client group. These works are now in progress. The successful tender result also allows all the sustainable design decisions made by the team to be incorporated into the project, including reuse of the majority of the building fabric and external structure. This enables a significant recycling of materials and a substantial reduction in the use of raw materials. The facility was completed in late 2010.
|
