IN collaboration

In any project, keeping a close tab on costs is essential, and it's particularly important when the project involves public money and a budget that must be cabinet approved.

PHC Limited was contracted to undertake the quantity surveying on the Supreme Court project. Project cost director Rob Spence says the company was involved right from the concept stage, carrying out the initial estimates, preparing the cost plans and assisting in letting the main contract.

"Because this was a construction management contract, we were also instrumental in letting the subcontracts. We prepared the monthly financial reports and are currently negotiating the final account."

Spence says that at the time of letting the main contract the design was not fully complete and as it developed there were a number of cost challenges.

"The condition of the historic building was also far worse than expected, and a great deal of time and money was required to bring it up to standard. Another challenge was the specialised craftsmanship required to restore the building as close as possible to its original state. Many of these traditional skills are no longer practised and were difficult to estimate and procure."

Spence says unique, one-off installations on the new building, such as the acoustic panelling and the bronze screen, were only conceptually designed at tender time and had to be developed, costed and procured from scratch.

"Our solution was to break up the work into rational trade packages as the design for each component of the building was finalised and the true nature of the work was revealed. It was sometimes necessary to offer separate tenders for each building due to the vastly disparate nature of the structures."

For more information, contact PHC Limited, PO Box 40273, Glenfield, Auckland, phone (09) 419 1290. Email: rspence@phc.co.nz. Website: www.phc.co.nz.

Story by: Trendsideas