An Assessment of Turn-Key Contracts for the Realisation of Capital Works Projects
Tony Gibb BSc DCT (Leeds) CEng, FICE, FIStructurE, FASCE, FRSA. FR Preambles The traditional approach to capital works building projects in Anglo-Saxon countries, including the Commonwealth Caribbean, is for the owner to have separate contracts for architects, structural & civil engineering consultants, electrical & mechanical engineering consultants, quantity surveyors (except in North America) and construction contractors. Occasionally the design team (architects, structural & civil engineering consultants, electrical & mechanical engineering consultants, quantity surveyors)... [Read More...]
Principles and Choices – Part 1
Kenn A. Coates B of Arch., MRIAC, OAA,CAPHC.CaGBC “We shape buildings, therefore they shape us.” – Winston Churchill Let us just take a minute to contemplate and preface our thinking about the built environment. Given my profession as an Architect and having regard for the milieu of today’s architectural realm, I frequently question our purpose for what we do at any scale of endeavour and what we undertake professionally… and I look back over time to find relevance and perspective on which we have based our principles and choices. As I write, I hope that my thoughts will spark some... [Read More...]
Overcoming Challenges in the Construction Sector
Victor Hart Introduction Construction projects, by nature, pose challenges at all stages of the project cycle, from design to construction. Unlike a factory-produced product that is exact, repetitive and quality assured because it is made in a controlled environment, each construction project is different due to the client’s brief, design choices, specifications, site and weather conditions and changes in the availability and quality of market resources. These variables result in a sector that is full of surprises and periodically experiences turbulence. I understood this challenge from Day... [Read More...]
What every Project Manager knows that you do not know: Time and Cost Overrun or Effective Planning and Scheduling?
By Ivan Hinkson FCIOB, FRICS, PMP, CCC A Caribbean Construction Project Management Group – CCPMG White Paper – Time and cost overrun is a major construction project management challenge, which has competency questions for the credibility and accountability of project managers and project sponsors in the current global environment. The challenge is that can planning and scheduling be used to leverage project management and effectively monitor, evaluate and control the concerns and issues of time and cost overrun? Available construction project management case studies, lessons learned, close-out... [Read More...]
Transportation: Tunnelling as an Option
CCD Files As more vehicles continue to be imported by Caribbean member states and the road network becomes more complex, governments will be forced to take a more strategic look at their transportation network. Recent studies conducted throughout Europe and other parts of Asia suggest that underground road construction will be inevitable as cities become more crowded. According to one report, it is anticipated that 10% of the trunk road network in the in the UK will be tunneled by 2050. The report also highlights the cost of tunnel maintenance: about 8-10 times that of an equivalent surface... [Read More...]
The Independence and Impartiality of an Arbitrator
Ian Rollit Bsc., FRICS, FCIOB, MCIArb Arbitrator, Ajudicator, Mediator & Chartered Project Management Surveyor Introduction An arbitration agreement is a contractual clause evidencing agreement or a separate agreement to refer future disputes to arbitration. Arbitration clauses in contracts are phrased in a variety of ways so that the tribunal may have jurisdiction over: “all claims”; “all disputes”; “all differences”. The contractual nature of arbitration requires the consent of both parties to have the dispute settled by arbitration. The arbitration tribunal’s jurisdiction... [Read More...]
Innovative Solutions Required to Combat Worries Over Economic Recovery
Kavena Ransoobhag MSc. Economics Introduction Global economic recovery is mounting an unbalanced recovery with growth being slow in advanced economies and much stronger in emerging market economies. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that the global economy will expand by 4.8 percent in 2010 amongst feelings of over zealousness in the number by some. Is Trinidad & Tobago to be included in the list of emerging market economies that are expected to experience rebounded economic growth in 2010? The following section focuses on a brief economic review of the local economy. The Domestic... [Read More...]
China Revisited
Jefferson Sooknarine MSc. (Stanford-Sloan Fellow) In addition to visiting several Asian countries, I have made three visits to China over the past fifteen years, the last being in 1999. Since my retirement, my wife Nyla and I have been trotting the globe; With China being a recent destination. When compared to 1999, what I saw in China in 2009, as far as active construction is concerned, was a real shock to me. What I witnessed in Guangzhou, Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Yiwu and Haining, can well be described as amazing, miraculous and breathtaking. It is impossible to truly appreciate without seeing... [Read More...]
Helping Hand Initiative delivers to St. Lucia
CASTRIES, St. Lucia As part of ongoing efforts to assist those persons who have been affected by Hurricane Tomas in neighboring Caribbean Islands, the Helping Hand Initiative launched by Prime Minister Persad–Bissessar is working. Two flights to the Hewanorra International Airport in Vieux Fort, St. Lucia left Trinidad and Tobago bearing key supplies. Items were donated from a variety of sources NGO’s, corporate citizens and even some government agencies, the breakdown is as follows: - Blue Waters donated 13 skids weighing some 27,730 lbs of Water and this shipment was sent to the National... [Read More...]
Feature interview: Winston Dookeran
Feature interview: Winston Dookeran All things being equal, it could easily be that one of the most popular words in 2009 has been “recession”. Indeed, President of the United States of America (US) Barack Obama said “recession”6 times in his February 24th address to Congress. Whilst the rest of the world battles with varying degrees of reactive and preventative measures in an effort to deal with this phenomenon, the Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago has only now admitted Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) being in a recession. His admission is based on the conventional definition... [Read More...]
