Construction World October 2016

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IMPORTANT POINTS TO CONSIDER BEFORE TENDERING

ances called for? Will you have to work with as yet unspecified nominated subcontractors and direct contractors? Site: Have you inspected the site? If so, do the drawings and the description provided make sense to you? Is there access to site, place for site huts, equipment and material storage? Do you have to employ local staff and labour with unique payment conditions and whose skills may be suspect? Existing/adjoining buildings: If this is an existing building, has a professional engineer provided input regarding the method of construction, precautions to be taken, etc? Restrictions: Are there building restrictions such as limited working hours, noise and dust limitations that may influence the method and programming of your work? Will you have to complete the excavations and foundations during Does the work have to be completed in sections or as a whole? Are the intended dates for practical completion realistic? Are the specified materials and goods readily available? Risks: Do you know the client – and have you had any ‘bad’ experience with this client? Have you worked with the project consultants before? Putlitz adds:“Perhaps the most important point to consider before tendering is if awarded the tender, would you be able to complete the project on time to the specified standard - and make a fair profit to remain in business?” the rainy season? Completion:

There are some important points to consider before your company decides to tender for building work, says Uwe Putlitz, CEO of the Joint Building Contracts Council (JBCC). JBCC is a non-profit South African company which represents building owners and developers, professional consultants, and building contractors who provide input for the compilation of a comprehensive suite of JBCC building contracts. Putlitz here deals with some of the factors to consider before tendering: Opportunity: What is your current work load? How long before you run out of work? Do you have or can access the appropriate human and other resources? Competition: Who else is tendering? How desperate are you to secure the work ‘as the lowest tenderer’ as opposed to being ‘the best tenderer’? If you are the lowest tenderer, could you lose money and consequently deliver a job of poor quality leading to early termination and a dispute? Tender documents: Are your tender documents properly compiled to quote for the project? Is the construction information complete? Building contract: If there are any deviations from the standard JBCC building contract, are these listed in the contract data or the Preliminary Bill of Quantities? Are there any unusual payment conditions, or unusual guarantees or insur- >

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AWARDS FOR SAFETY STANDARDS AND PERSISTENCE Leading South African flooring supplier, KBAC Flooring, has won two major accolades this year for its supply and installation of carpet tiles for the new prestigious Sasol head office building in Sandton. ness Park, to hoisting, stacking and storage on site, and final installation,” Ross states.

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Julien Fanton, director of Interface, con- gratulated Interface's SA distributor, KBAC Flooring, on winning the Interface ‘best won sales project – 2015’ trophy earlier this year. Pictured were (from left): Neil Dun- can, KBAC chief financial officer; Brandon Park, KBAC sales director; Julien Fanton, Interface director; Lesley Fidrmuc, KBAC Interface consultant; and Graham Park, CEO of KBAC Flooring. Ian Harris (left), director of Amokoro Training, awards the ‘best sub-contractor’ to Werner Gouws, KBC Flooring’s senior contract manager. Interface's ‘Best Won Sales Project Trophy for 2015’ for Interface's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region was received on behalf of KBAC by the Sasol supply project leader, Lesley Fidrmuc, KBAC’s Interface Consultant, at an EMEA meeting in Lisbon earlier this year. The second award to have come KBAC Floor- ing’s way this year was for its ‘persistent and determined’ efforts tomeet the complex flooring requirements for the Sasol head office with the award of a special trophy for commit- ment by Interface, the world's leading modular floor supplier. KBAC Flooring is the sole South African distributor of Interface flooring which was specified for the futuristic 10-storey building in Katherine Street, Wierda Valley, by the project's interior designers, Paragon Interface.

Firstly, the company won the Master Builders Association (MBA) North annual Health & Safety Award for the ‘Best subcontractor without established site’ for the second time by harnessing top honours in the 2016 competition. The company also walked away with top honours in the same category in 2014. KBAC won the MBA accolade for its attention to safety requirements during the supply and installation of the carpets for the new Sasol corporate headquarters in Katherine Street, Sandton, at the MBA North H&S awards function in July. Louise Ross, KBAC’s health and safety co-or- >

dinator, says among the challenges, KBAC had to face for the Sasol project was the presence of several other sub-contractors working on site simultaneously, with a mix of trades to contend with on each phase of the project. “As a result, the safety risks faced by all workers changed constantly and it was impera- tive that our employees adhered to safe working practices to avoid potential safety hazards. KBAC’s dedicated installation fitting team, under the guidance of senior project manager, Werner Gouws, managed to do this and maintain a continuous flow of work: from the loading of material in the KBAC warehouse in Linbro Busi-

CONSTRUCTION WORLD OCTOBER 2016