Construction World April 2016

CONSTRUCTION WORLD

APRIL

2016

mental protection, while being refreshed for

the 21

century.

“The name ‘Jeffares and Green’ has

served us well for nearly one hundred years,

and we will certainly continue to pay homage

to our distinct history.

“However, the time has come to look to

the future and to align our corporate identity

with our diverse, modern and highly-skilled

workforce,” says Paul Olivier, Jeffares &

Green’s managing director. “We sincerely

enjoyed the process of evaluating naming

JLS Jeffares founded a consul-

tancy in 1922, and was joined by

Hal Green in 1927. They became

partners in 1947 and the name

Jeffares & Green (J&G) became synonymous

with professional engineering that never

compromised on quality.

Throughout its existence, J&G has

progressed and evolved, keeping pace

with fluctuations in demand, the industry

and customer requirements. To maintain

momentum for continuous development, the

shareholders made a bold decision at the end

of 2015 to rename and rebrand the company

in order to better align the name and the

brand with its areas of operation – the African

continent. Management also wished to align

the brand with the firm’s strategy to remain a

proudly South African owned company.

According to J&G’s marketing and

communications manager, Charmagne Denny,

“The brand development process started with

the appointment of brand specialists. A stra-

tegic session was held and, after some collab-

oration, naming options were presented. After

much hard work, research and an inclusive

staff voting process, JG Afrika was chosen.”

This was a carefully selected name,

designed to represent the company’s identity

to the world, while maintaining its African

roots. “The inclusion of ‘JG’ symbolises the

company’s acknowledgement of and appreci-

ation for its history, while ‘Afrika’ denotes its

independence, its love for the continent, and

is a nod to the African way of spelling ‘Africa’,”

says Denny.

The new corporate identity, which will

be launched in April 2016, draws on designs of

the past and the company’s ethos of dedica-

tion, community benefit and environ-

Du Toit says that a combination of two factors contribute to ongoing

misunderstanding of contractors’ rights with regards to non-payment.

“The first factor is that contractors simply don’t always know what

their rights are and they have to deal with the issue of non-payment both

professionally and legally.

“Secondly, those who understand their rights are often reluctant to

enforce them because they don’t want to upset the relationship with the

client, engineer or principal agent.

“This is understandable seeing as it could impact future contract oppor-

tunities down the line,” explains Du Toit.

Instead of opting to sit back, wait and hope the issue will resolve itself

(in other words that a contractor will get paid at some point down the line);

the revision enables contractors to be more proactive.

“Thanks to the latest GCC revision, it isn’t a case of ceasing works in order

to demand payment, which many contractors would be hesitant to do. The

GCC 2015 contract enables contractors to put forward a case that shows

you are unable to work because you don’t have the capital to continue to

fund the project without payment.

This makes it much easier for contractors to enforce their rights and

continue doing business in a way that makes it financially feasible for

everyone involved in the project,” says du Toit.

Du Toit says that while this is the major revision that contractors need

to take note of in the GCC 2015, there are also more subtle terminology

changes that he will be discussing at the upcoming Alusani

CPD – accred-

ited course dedicated to GCC 2015.

For more information, visit the website at:

www.alusani.co.za

NAME CHANGE

Century old engineering and

environmental consulting company,

Jeffares & Green, announced that it will be

changing its name and renewing its brand

to better reflect goals and strategies.

STANDING, FROM LEFT:

Jan Norris, Seetella Makhetha, Phaks Ngqumshe and Martha Makhetha.

SEATED:

Harold Tiganis, Nomsa Mkaza and Paul Olivier (managing director).

options, and involving our valued staff – after

all, our success is built on their strengths.”

He concludes that, “While this is an

incredibly exhilarating time for J&G, we

assure the industry that we remain the same

professional, knowledgeable and inde-

pendent organisation; our name and brand

changing does not alter the spirit of the

company, but rather enriches it.

“We look forward to providing another

century of experience, quality and integrity

as JG Afrika.”

Jeffares & Green, as part of the Lowlands Waterworks Joint Venture, designed the Metolong

bridge where the local communities on either side of the Phuthiatsana River need to have

easy access to each other.