Case Study Q&A

Question 1

How did you identify the Clients key priorities?

Answer 1

• Held a meeting with the Client to discuss their goals and objectives
• Made a list of these items and asked the Client to put them into order from highest to lowest priority.

Question 2

Tell me the contractual timescales you complied with?

Answer 2

• Payment dates
• Report timescales
• Project meetings and issuing on minuets

Question 3

You mention raised access flooring, can you tell me what this is?

Answer 3

• A raised access floor, is a raised floor build above the concrete slab to create a void. This void can be used to run services such as data, water, heating, electricals.

Question 4

You mention Risk Registers, what are these for and how are the risks measured?

Answer 4

• The Risk register is there to produce a vital list of possible risks they may present themselves throughout the project.
• These risks are scored from possibly 0-10 on the likelihood and impact on the risk.

Question 5

Why did your Client want to proceed under the D&B Contract and what advise did you give them?

Answer 5

My Client is a residential managing agent, with no experience in Building Contracts and the like. Therefore, I agreed the best procurement route was the Design & Build Contract. This allowed my Client to push all design responsibilities and risk onto the Contractor.

Question 6

What is Building Control?

And are there any legislations around it?

Answer 6

• ensuring building work complies with minimum standards for Health and Safety of persons in and around buildings.
• The Building Act 1984

Question 7

What formed the Contract Documents?

Answer 7

• Employers Requirements
• Preliminaries
• Design Information
• JCT Design and Build 2016 Contract form
• Contractors proposals
• Collateral warranties

Question 8

You mention lettable cost per m2. What’s included or excluded within this rate?

Answer 8

• Lettable cost is the amount charged to the tenant. This will be the useable space.
• Excluded in the costs would be things like, toilets, lifts, circulation areas.
• This would usually be picked up within a service charge to each tenant.

Question 9

What is the difference between:
- CAT A+
- CAT A
- CAT B

Answer 9

CAT A+ - This included tea points to the office space.

CAT A - This was stripped back to shell, to allow tenants to provide their own fit-out and branding.

CAT B - On the first floor, was a completed, ready to use space. Including, internal partitions, decorations, flooring, ceiling finishes etc.

Question 10

What are the Building Regulations?

Can you name any?

Answer 10

• The regulations are in place to ensure all works being carried out are verified and comply with the regulations to ensure safe building practices.

Part A - Structure
Park B - Fire safety

Part P - Electrical

Question 11

Where have you demonstrated the data management competency within your case study?

Answer 11

• I demonstrated this competency by using different types of price information such as BCIS & SPONS
• I also used my organisations cloud base storage system to store project information
• I also used teams as a way of communication, recording meetings to store project information and data.

Question 12

How did you identify the stakeholders?

Answer 12

• Sat down with the Project team and identified who would be affected by the project.

Created a stakeholder register with contact details

Question 13

How did you ensure you maintained a good client relationship?

Answer 13

• Being a good listener
• Agreeing on strategy, goals and timelines
• Being open and honest
• Keeping in regular contact and communicating and addressing problems directly.

Question 14

My Achievements

You state the project was delivered within budget. How did you report this to the Client?

Answer 14

This was reported to the Client within my monthly Cost Report, demonstrated in the executive summary element.

Question 15

Did you advise anyone else of their duties under the contract?

Answer 15

• I advised the Client of their duties around payment dates within the Contract.

Question 16

What insurances should be in place on a Construction project?

What is Contractors all risk insurance?

Answer 16

• Employers liability
• Public liability
• All risk insurance:-
• Loss or damage to building works
• Movement of plant
• Plant hire
• Tools

Question 17

What is a CSA and when in the project timeline is likely to be used?

Answer 17

• Contract Sum Analysis
• Used on traditional procurement routes, this is an analysis of the Contractors Contract sum. This can also be used as the format for a valuation going forward.

Question 18

How did utilising a PCSA ensure Cost Certainty?

Answer 18

Following the tender process, the PCSA allowed me to fix a Contract Sum with the preferred contractor, enter into the PCSA with the contractor and complete the design works as part of the list of deliverables, without engaging the Client into a full contract at this early stage.

Question 19

CASE STUDY: What was included on the letter of intent? Does it stand up contractually

Answer 19

• No, the Letter of Intent is not a form of contract.
• Included was the date of works, a total sum, a list of deliverables and a cost for the deliverables.
• Used to start works early, engage a contractor early, surveys, design works and the like.

Question 20

CASE STUDY: Was a PTE undertaken prior to the contractor submitting their tenders over budget?

Answer 20

No, a PTE was not carried out. We were not appointed to carry out a PTE.

• However, we did carry out our own inhouse high level cost per m2 for office fit-outs. And we were confident the project could be achieved around the budget allowance.

Question 21

CASE STUDY: MEP was quite a large cost, what were the key drivers in it? What would you typically expect MEP to be in % terms of a project budget?

Answer 21

• Can vary on every project
• MEP would typically make up 25% of the overall costs.

Question 22

CASE STUDY: Would you usually expect provisional sums in a design and build project?

Answer 22

its not uncommon to have provisional sums within a D&B. These are allowances where the contractor may need further information to be able to provide a fix cost.

Question 23

CASE STUDY: You mention internal cost data and benchmarking, what would you consider whilst using this information?

Answer 23

I would consider that the benchmarking costs are I am using are relevant and in proportion to the project I am costing.

Question 24

CASE STUDY: Were there any damages in place if the completion date were missed? How were these calculated?

Answer 24

Yes, a weekly sum was included of around circa £5k per week.

• This was a calculation of the clients actual loss, such as rent, service costs, maintenence etc.