Our Projects
GRAHAM – National Highways Area 6 and 8 SDF Framework
Client: GRAHAM
GRAHAM were awarded Lot 1.2 East – General Civil Engineering on the National Highways Scheme Delivery Framework. The geographical area covers the counties of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
Frameworks are fast moving environments with frequent programme changes, requests for early starts, and demanding deadlines for project completion.
While structured within the NEC4 Contracts Framework, the various Lot contractors may find themselves working as both Principal Contractor and Contractor on multiple schemes simultaneously.
Frameworks like this are notorious for Early Warnings being submitted as the incident is happening, and Compensation Events being filed retroactively. Rapid reaction to programme changes and commercial adjustments are key and when there are twenty schemes all running at once, keeping track and enacting change can create an overwhelming workload.
Identifying these issues early, GRAHAM invited us to assist on their framework to reduce the burden on their in-house team so they could focus on delivering the work.
How we are helping
Programme management
Frameworks are important as they build trust between contractors and clients and provide a fluid means of starting several projects within the same framework contract which saves commercial mobilisation costs. Up front it is an excellent system, the client can rely on their chosen contractors to deliver schemes at short notice, and the contractor has a ready stream of work available to them.
The tendency though is for frameworks to scale quite rapidly as funding becomes available or priorities shift. It is here when programmes and commercial updates can get left behind while the delivery team gets to work.
To assist GRAHAM we loaded their existing programmes into our P6 database, and set up project templates to provide familiarity between schemes. We then established a high-level forecast programme to give their senior management team an overview of their pipeline of work.
With the project programmes the site managers and project manager can now see progress on task activities, giving them time to make informed decisions and take early engagement with the client to mitigate problems and reduce delays. The forecast programme gives the senior management team and overview as to turnover predictions and staff resourcing, allowing GRAHAM to make informed decisions as to team size and quarterly reporting.
CEMAR integration
What sets VM Group apart is our understanding of real-world issues and how to address delays, early warnings, and compensation events. Contractual understanding will only get you so far, understanding people gets the desired outcome.
When we are engaged to do something we like to make it as easy as we can for our client and their client. To serve this purpose on the SDF Framework we are using our knowledge of NEC4 contracts and CEMAR to coordinate PMIs, EWs, CEs, CL31 and CL32 programme submissions, and commercial applications.
CEMAR integration means when something goes off programme we can issue fully quantified early warnings and raise compensation events to the client on the delivery team’s behalf, or we can prompt the team while providing a narrative as to why an early warning or compensation event is being raised.
It means we know exactly when a client has issued an instruction, works order, or revised design drawings and gives us the advantage of being able to action programme changes and narratives in real-time and prepare the delivery team as to how best to proceed.
Tender and Clause 31 programme and buildability development
With a small team and projects in mobilisation or close-out bookending schemes currently in delivery, the opportunity to scope additional work or provide input into work for future financial years becomes an aspiration.
VM Group has been able to undertake this role on behalf of GRAHAM. By giving us direct access to their client and trusting us to work on their behalf, we are able to leverage our expertise and act as a force multiplier.
Our resources give GRAHAM an unprecedented ability to react to a sudden influx of new work requests. We can prepare tender and Clause 31 programmes, and create buildability matrices while their in-house team focuses on delivering their existing projects. Entrusting us to liaise with the client and submit RFIs, TQs, and programmes on their behalf is giving the SDF team the space they need to do their job while being safe in the knowledge we are helping their commercial team secure a long standing and mature pipeline of work.
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