WET News

Wet NeWs WATER AND EFFLUENT TREATMENT NEWS News+ The advent of totex invest- ment decisions was intended to deliver a culture-shift in procurement, as capital and operational investment, but will more innovative technologies receive more airtime? p7 Onsite: Onsite River drainage Construction of the Mersey Gateway Bridge required three towers to be anchored to the river bed. That meant draining sites in the river, p17-19 Insight: Tanks & storage Storm tanks can deal with excess water during storms but their odour pollution is a problem. Is impingement cleaning the answer? • • A new KPMG survey highlights that poor contractor performance is the biggest reason for project failure. Also, the construction skills shortage is a global problem. construction community is facing the same skills crisis that the UK construction industry is trying to combat. It found that nearly half of the respondents are experiencing the shortages in skilled labour, with 69% requiring external assistance to support existing workforce to enable delivery of projects. The survey also found that: • There is a thirst for greater collaboration with contractors with the majority (82%) of respondents expecting to see this in the next five years • Seven out of ten respondents admitted that they did not meet project timetable or budget due to not accurately planning for delays or cost overruns • Despite confidence in project management controls, only half of the organisations had project management information systems that raise the quality of decision-making P oor performance by contractors has been blamed for more than half of construction project owners have experienced underperforming projects in the last year despite improvements in project planning and controls, a new survey by KPMG has revealed. More than two thirds of respondents identified poor contractor performance as the biggest reason for project underperformance. The survey, KPMG's 2015 Global Construction Project Owner's Survey: Climbing the Curve, highlights that 61% of larger organisations experienced project failure while executives from the energy and natural resources and public sectors experienced even higher levels of project failure at 71% and 90% respectively. The research went onto uncover that the global Underperforming projects down to contractors report, must invest in relationships with contractors to raise mutual trust and discuss problems or shortcomings. No Wessex Water waste by 2020 in each phase of the project life cycle emphasising the considerable room for improvement. And not just improvement of the quality of controls, but also the need to develop the skills of those managing the projects and using the various tools Richard Threlfall, KPMG UK head of Infrastructure, Building & Construction, said: "This survey highlights the prevailing issues affecting the sector both in the UK and globally. We will only see a turnaround of poor performing contracts once we start seeing contractors and project owners adopt technology such as building information modelling (BIM) to enable more efficient planning, mandated apprenticeships to ensure skilled labour are bought up through the ranks, and more accurate planning of projects." Project owners, said the MAY 2015 Volume 21 • Issue 05 IPS Flow Systems Tel: 0191 521 3111 www.ipsflowsystems.com Pressfit Fittings in Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel and Copper-Bronze now available from IPS. New products, same first class service. Contact us for further details. Supply chain must educate about BIM T he adoption of building information modelling is being driven by capital delivery rather than asset management, according to Jon De Souza, chair of BIM4Water and business improvement manager. Speaking at Utility Week Live, De Souza said this was "disappointing" as it should be the other way round. Delegates to the seminar heard that BIM was being used for above ground assets, and less so on networks. He told delegates that four or five water companies are looking to pilot BIM on projects over the next five years. However, some companies are waiting "to see what others do and then hope to catch up", adding that it was the supply chain's role to educate the water utilities. De Souza told delegates that a lack of understanding about BIM in the industry is a key challenge going forward. There is also the perception that business information modelling is a technology and not a process. n Utility Week Live report, p11-12 Reality check 744% of respondents struggle to attract qualified labour, and 45% lack planners and project managers 74% complete a formal project delivery and contract strategy analysis, prior to approval Just 25% of projects came within 10% of their original deadlines in the past three years 72% hold full competitive tenders when awarding contracts 30% of respondents say their organisation uses the design bid-build approach and 32% favour engineer-procure- construct (EPC) W essex Water has announced its intention not to send waste to landfill by 2020. The company already diverts 97% of its waste from landfill, including all of its office waste, but wants to make this 100% across the whole business over the next five years. James Peacock, waste management adviser at Wessex Water, said: "As a utility company, we must ensure we're doing our best for the environment and with landfill tax now at £80 a tonne, it now makes economic sense to aim for these high recycling rates. "It takes a bit more work and thinking about upfront, but results in us saving money and reducing our impact on the environment." The company's approach is being embraced throughout its business, including during major construction schemes. A new underground reservoir at Summerslade Down, near Warminster in Wiltshire, was constructed using materials recycled on site, which would normally be sent to a recycling facility. "The start of an AMP is the 'tumbleweed' time of the business cycle..." Keith Hayward, Hydro International, p7 "...it does require an open-minded and innovative approach to attracting talent" Stuart Minchin, Matchtech, p8

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