USAID NOB2
During my tenure as Construction Project Manager on the Walker Creek III project, C.J. Irons CC/All Top Properties were presented with the opportunity to develop a new 8000m² office compound for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on behalf of the United States Government.
C.J. Irons CC/All Top Properties and their partners took this prestigious project on, knowing full well that the demands of this project would be unlike any other project previously encountered. I was appointed as the Assistant Project Manager working alongside the Project Manager involved with the original USAID building developed in Pretoria circa 2001.
Due to the nature of this project and working with the Government of the United States of America, far greater oversight and controls were required than we would normally apply to our projects. This required me to extensively study the contractual and legal documentation to establish our obligations towards the Government and the American People, and to accurately and clearly convey these requirements to both the Professional Design and Construction Site teams.
Constant design review was required to ensure that all the requirements set out in our contract with the Government were met, in accordance with extensive documentation which was not always applicable to South African building codes alone.
A greater degree of reporting was also required in terms of Construction Site Progress, Materials Testing Results, Health and Safety compliance, Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC), as well as Green Building requirements, with monthly reports, often surpassing 150 pages, being submitted to the Governmental representatives for discussion during Progress Meetings.
My key responsibilities and tasks during this project involved the following:
– Contractual and Legal Review to ensure compliance with all local and foreign requirements.
– Extensive Design Review in relation to Scope of Work documentation received.
– Monthly Reporting to the United States and USAID Governmental Representatives.
– Monthly Programme/Schedule Evaluation in consultation with the Main Contractor and Scheduler.
– Monitoring of Contractor compliance in terms of QA/QC as well as strict Green Building requirements.
– Assisting the Project Manager in the execution of Site, Quality Control and Progress meetings.
– Evaluating variances between Local Authority and Foreign design requirements and establishing which took precedence in order to be correctly incorporated into the design.
– Ensuring compliance of design elements such as the Fire Evacuation and Internal Lighting systems.
– Establishing cause for Change of Scope and compiling Variation Orders for additional Cost or Time to be submitted for approval by the Governmental Representatives.
– Monitoring monthly Health and Safety reports and ensuring that any non-compliance was addressed by the Main Contractor.