Assignment 1: IndividualA Case StudyAssignment 1- BriefPurposeThis Brief sets out what is required to be done by each individual and should be read in conjunction with the instructions given through...

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Assignment 1: IndividualA Case StudyAssignment 1- BriefPurposeThis Brief sets out what is required to be done by each individual and should be read in conjunction with the instructions given through lectures and the unit of study guide.The SBM3302 individual assignment has three major deliverables:1) Project delivery system2) Financial contract type3) Procurement methodIntroductionAPIC CONSULT serves as a general contractor and project consultant to private companies and government agencies. Your manager just got a new project for APIC CONSULT and has asked you to study it and advise the client on selecting the best project delivery system, financial contract type, and procurement method for the project.The project information is presented below which contains by a series of facts and assumptions. Remember that there will be more than one way to select the "most suitable’ project delivery system, financial contract type, and procurement method. This selection depends on what you consider the most important factors related to the project (e.g., time, budget, quality, communication). The key is to have a logical and systematic analysis that is consistent with your client’s overall needs. Based on the material provided to you on tutorial week5, you need to develop an evaluation matrix. Figure 1 is an example of an evaluation matrix which you need to prepare for delivery system, financial contract type and procurement method selection. You are expected to document your answers and provide a detailed explanation of your decisions regarding the project delivery system, financial contract type and procurement method selection. Please document all the assumptions you make and explain, in a very professional way, each number you assign to every cell in the matrix.2Goals/Criteria Criteria WeightProject Delivery Systems Method 1 Method 2 Method 3 Score Weighted Score Score Weighted Score Score Weighted Score Criteria 1 25 4 100 6 150 8 200 Criteria 2 30 5 150 8 240 6 180 Criteria 3 10 8 80 6 60 5 50 Criteria 4 35 6 210 5 175 7 245 Value 100 - 540 - 625 - 675(** The score is the numerical value (between 1 and 10) that you choose for a given criterion. For a specific delivery method, the weighted score is the multiplication of the criterion weight times the score you provided for that criterion. Each one of these numbers should have a very clear and professional explanation.)Project DescriptionThe existing Sydney motorway network (including the M5 Motorway, M5 East and the M4 Motorway) carries high levels of average weekday and peak hour traffic, including large volumes of heavy vehicles from western Sydney to and from the Port Botany/Sydney Airport economic zone. Parramatta Road just east of Norton Street is forecast to carry up to 80,000 vehicles per average weekday compared with 65,000 vehicles per average weekday in 2012. This equates to 24 per cent98,000 vehicles per average weekday in 2012. This equates to 14 per cent growth.In an area of rapid growth that has deemed the current roads insufficient for growing demand and with an existing infrastructure, the Widening of the existing M4 Motorway from three lanes to four lanes each way from Church Street to Homebush Bay Drive is a major project was a major undertaking.After an intensive selection process performed by NSW Government, the AUD 16.8 billion construction project was awarded to WestLINK , jointly with other contractors. Beginning with the award of the contract in early 2015, the difficult task of constructing 33 kilometers of motorway to link western and south-western Sydney with the city began and the work affected the daily lives of many individuals. The WestLINK project will be delivered in 3 stages to 2023. After a massive demolition undertaking, the reconstruction process included widening the new freeway from 4 to 8 lanes, increasing the vertical clearances, and constructing auxiliary lanes between interchanges. The new and improved highway is expected to introduce a great relief on traffic management system and remove an estimated 4,000 trucks a day from Parramatta Road and putting them underground—triggering the opportunity for neighborhood revitalization.The Australian Government has committed a concessional funding ($1.5 billion) to the project so that WestLINK can deliver Stage 1 and Stage 2 concurrently in partnership with the NSW Government.3The organizational structure for the M4 widening project is incredibly complex. The project is composed of three very large prime contractors, two very large design firms, three consultants, and two hundred subcontractors. Each group brought with them a unique way of doing business and a distinct company culture. Dividing up the project and deciding who oversaw which portions of the work was also very complex. With so many different entities participating in the construction, it could be very easy for things to slip through the cracks and for finger-pointing to ensue. Therefore, the selection of an appropriate Project Organization was extremely important.At the beginning, several contractors who were interested in this project included JPM Co., TOP Construction, and KLG Solution. However, the bonding and working capacity that the project required was so high that none of these contractors would have been able to take on the whole job alone. Hence all the three prime contractors together created WestLINK Construction, a jointventure company, which was awarded the primary contract for the project.WestLINK hired three design teams to work with its in-house contractors and owner-retained consultants. Besides the contractors and the designers, WestLINK also hired two consulting companies as its owner-retained consultant to provide technical and management expertise:Larson and Sons and McCartney Inc. Larson and Sons was the lead responsible for communicating with the design team to ensure that the work was up to date. This allowed WestLINK to be fairly detached from the project, performing only brief reviews on quality and overlooking the design teams. Larson and Sons were the technical and management experts while McCartney Inc. was in charge of design issues.There were also about 180 subcontractors that bid on specialty jobs. In order to ensure that local firms would be employed, subcontracting assignments were established based upon a Competitive Procurement Process for any contract in excess of AUD 1.5 million.WestLINK set up an integrated management team from all the project participants, which was comprised of WestLINK Engineers, representative employees from WestLINK’s prime consultant (Larson and Sons) who developed Request for Qualifications (RFQ) and Request for Proposal (RFP) packages with the aid of the WestLINK Technical Support Manager, Mr. F.Gilan; and other consultants (including Shawn Bergman, WestLINK’s design consultant) and an Oversight Team, which consisted of WestLINK upper management. The integrated management team also included a project manager (Mr.Jogn Wheety), a contracts manager (Mr. John Hawks), and a Traffic Management Organizer (Mr. Ted Bourk) all from WestLINK, as well as an NSW Road & Maritime representative.Lastly, there were extensive uses of performance specifications in the RFP (Request for Proposals); and WestLINK assigned the responsibility to the builders to monitor the quality for all quantities of work related to their approaches.Project ChallengesThere were five main challenges faced by this project:▪ Enormous challenge to keep more than 140,000 vehicles moving through the project corridor with a speed limit of 80 kilometre per hour.4▪ Maintaining a fast-track schedule, while controlling costs.▪ Prioritising the safety of workers and the public by diverting traffic from Paramatta Road.▪ Creating a unified cohesive team at the management level that included several individuals from the owner, WestLINK and many other organizations.▪ Meeting the deadline for the 2023, while setting an industry standard for future design-build projects. For WestLINK, it was extremely important that the deadline is met with no cost overrun the Government budget.Deliverable details1) Project Delivery MethodRecommend the best project delivery method (this is given by the LECTURER) for the M4 widening project based on the criteria that YOU think is most crucial to this project. Be mindful that the types of delivery methods that need to be evaluated are Design-Bid-Build, Design-Build and CM@Risk. You must document all your assumptions and rationale for the selection of the project delivery system. All yours suggested grading (the criteria, weights, and scores) should come with justifications and explain why you gave such grade to each element of the selection matrix.2) Financial Contract TypeEvaluate and recommend the best financial contract type for the M4 widening project (from the list provided by the LECTURER) project based on the criteria that YOU think are crucial to this project. The types of contract that need to be evaluated are Lump sum contract, Guaranteed Maximum Price Contract and Cost-Plus Fixed Fee Contract. All grading must be justified and explained.3) Procurement MethodEvaluate and recommend the best procurement method for the M4 widening project (from the list provided by the LECTURER) project based on the criteria that are crucial to this project. The types of procurement that need to be evaluated are Competitive, Negotiated and Best Value. All grading must be justified and explained.AssessmentThis document will form part A of the Tender report. It will be worth 15% of course marks.
Answered Same DayMar 27, 2020SBM3302

Answer To: Assignment 1: IndividualA Case StudyAssignment 1- BriefPurposeThis Brief sets out what is required...

Abr Writing answered on Mar 31 2020
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SBM3302- INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
    Table of Contents
     
    Description
    Page no.
    1.0 Introduction
    3
    2.0 Background of the Project
    3
    3.0 Critical Evaluation
    4
    3.1 Choice of Project Delivery Method
    4
    3.2 Choice of Financial Contract
    7
    3.3 Choice of Procurement Method
    11
    4.0 Conclusion
    12
    5.0 References
    12

1.0 Introduction
This report proposes to analyse the 16.8 billion AUD construction projects that was awarded to West Link and contractors for the purpose of constructing a 33 kilometres motor highway between Weste
rn and South Western Sydney between year 2015 and 2023. In doing so, the report proposes to apply an Evaluation matrix to critically evaluate various project delivery methods, financial contracts and procurement methods so as to arrive at the optimal solution that best suits such a high profile highway project.
The proposed project delivery methods to be considered are Design-bid-build (DBB), Construction Manager at risk (CM@r) and Design build (DB).
Financial contract types upon consideration for evaluation would be Lump sum (LS), Guaranteed maximum price (GMP) and Cost plus fixed fee (CPFF).
Procurement practices to be analyzed are Competitive, Negotiated and Best value method.
2.0 Background of the project
The very nature of transit projects is such that they are huge projects with a project cost exceeding 100 million dollars. With the presence of at least two large contracts, a minimum of two different entities normally deliver such contracts. Further such highway transit projects demand involvement of professionals from varied fields like architecture, interior design, landscape architecture in addition to engineering.
They differ from normal transportation projects as they possess the unique feature of integrating vertical construction structures like parking and transit stations and horizontal construction features like bridges. Further transit agencies involved in such projects need to coordinate with other construction service providers and possess a flexible approach in order to ensure a smooth functioning of the project. (TCRP Report 131, 2009).
In the given M4 widening project also, as the project demanded a huge work capacity and investment, three prominent contractors who were interested in the same namely JPM Company, TOP Construction and KLG Solution were brought together in the name of West Link which in turn had hired three design teams to work in tandem with its in-house contractors and owner-retained consultants. Two consulting companies that provided technical and management expertise and 180 subcontractors were also involved in this massive project.
Apart from meeting the completion deadline of 2023 and controlling costs the primary challenge confronted by the project would be diversion and control of traffic and ensuring the safety of workers involved simultaneously.
Hence the weighted-matrix delivery decision approach has been applied with a view to provide a structured framework that would prioritize the project goals, align the goals with the appropriate delivery methods chosen and document the results so arrived.
3.0 Critical Evaluation
3.1 Choice of Project delivery method
The process of critically evaluating the various project delivery methods and arriving at the optimal one using an evaluation matrix works like this.
Step 1
The process begins with arriving at the criteria for evaluation. Considering the challenges pertaining to timely completion of the project, the responsibility to handle ever-increasing traffic across the project corridor, creating an integrated team across the project that could work towards the goal, the criteria factors are project completion (schedule), cost containment, staffing requirement and stakeholder participation.
Step 2
Weights are attached to the above criteria based upon a simple ranking method from highest to lowest in terms of their influence upon project goals. Going by that while cost containment has been assigned the highest weight, schedule comes next, followed by staffing and stakeholder participation that have been assigned equal weights
Step 3
This step involves the process of briefing the project delivery methods to be compared.
Design-bid-build
Alternatively known as design-tender method, this is a traditional method that involves three important phases in the process of project delivery, namely, design, bidding or tender and finally the construction phase. The design phase involves the process of involving an architect who provides the construction drawings and the design cost normally works around 10% of the total project cost. In the bidding phase, open bids are issued and upon receiving them, the architect evaluates the bids and advises the owner on the qualifying contractor, with whom further discussions happen. Then the construction phase begins, after all legal requirements are met with.
In this project delivery method, two separate contracts each for design and building are present, the prime focus being cost reduction. (AIA Minnesota, 2006)
Design-build As suggested by the name, both the design and the process of construction are undertaken by the owner himself and best suit situations where schedules are tight and return on investment have to be capitalised sooner. This method is particularly chosen when the owner has ample time to start with the construction even before the design is complete. Design build evolved due to this idea as more cost and time are saved which does not happen when traditional methods like design-bid-build are used. Further the construction...
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