Pre-Construction Phase

During this phase, acting as liaison between owners and consultants, SIP establishes a comprehensive and lucid brief for the project. We also attend to contractual arrangements between the owner and all professional consultants, ensuring the responsibilities of the various parties are clearly defined. Of prime importance, is the careful screening of consultants prior to appointment - to establish that they have the experience, capacity and resources to attain the fast track objectives. SIP believes owners should constantly be kept up to date with comprehensive information on design, time and cost implications.

Communication Co-ordination

To achieve proper communication co-ordination, the preparation of a documentation programme by the project manager is a priority. The documentation programme is based on the construction programme, setting out the time objectives for the various consultants to achieve relative to the intended construction process. The documentation programme forms the cornerstone in the maintenance of discipline amongst the consultants and the owner.

With SIP, there is constant interaction with the owner through regular management meetings where major policy decisions, evolving design and financial matters are managed.

Consultant's meetings, incorporating planning and design co-ordination, ensure that consultants are fully briefed as to clients' decisions and intentions. These meetings afford consultants the opportunity to discuss problems and alternatives, whilst the interaction on a personal level is also inspirational for the meeting of deadlines. The primary objective during this stage is the synchronisation of decisions and design priorities with construction priorities.

SIP sees the function of a project manager as catalyst and co-ordinator in establishing co-operation between the owner and the design team as well as between all design team members, facilitating timeous decisions with regard to various alternatives as presented. The project manager will keep the owner constantly involved.

Financial Control

SIP works in close co-operation with the quantity surveyor, assisting in guiding the owner through the mine-field of decision-making with up to date cost and time implications on the evolving project. This, together with regular budget meetings and updated cost reports, means that the owner will have all the necessary information to make timeous decisions.

Contractor Appointments

In the early stages of tender documentation, SIP, through liaison with all consultants, invests a great deal of time and effort in order to reach consensus on methods and conditions of tender and the incorporation of special requirements particular to the project. This interaction creates familiarity and an understanding of tender and contract documentation, eliminating misunderstanding and giving the professional team the ability to deal with contract problems as an integrated unit.

Prequalification of tenderers is carried out prior to the tender stage to establish the contractor's suitability. This process allows the project manager to assess a contractor's managerial skills, financial strength and performance records and, more importantly, the specific team and methodology intended for the project.