Project: New build. Concurrent development projects totalling 40 single and two-storey residential units. Original design fee apx $100k. Geotechnical and structural engineering design services. Government initiative KiwiBuild, aimed to deliver affordable homes.
Role: Project Management, Design Coordination and Construction Monitoring
Project Management
- Tender preparation: Initial scoping and pricing
- Client negotiation and liaison
- Negotiation of variations totalling apx 50% of original design budget
- Design meetings and liaison with external design parties
Design Coordination
- Coordination of Geotechnical reporting and assessment
- Earthworks plans, cut/fill
- Coordination of Structural and Foundation Design
- Existing “standard” building templates existed however these templates were limiting, and majority structures had design changes that required structural verification.
- Repetitive work: created efficiencies through standardisation of design spreadsheets, and standard details
- Design of internal timber framing elements outside NZS3604, including:
- Floor and roof beams, lintels, stairs,
- Ribraft foundations for poor soil conditions
- Bridging piles (for civil services)
- Timber and concrete retaining walls up to 3.0m high
2.1 Context
New build. Concurrent development projects totalling 40 single and two-storey residential units.
Government initiative KiwiBuild, aimed to deliver affordable homes.
Political disaster, primarily due to delays, such as:
- Land procurement
- Resource shortages
- Finance and funding issues
- Design challenges
- Bureaucratic regulatory issues; Some of these issues we witnessed first-hand.
Prior established relationship with Kainga Ora (NZ homes and communities).
Won two simultaneous KiwiBuild tenders totalling 40 residential units.
Geotechnical, civil and structural engineering design.
2.2 Deliverables and Efficiencies
- Deliverable: Standalone design package for each unit
- Strict, staggered timeframes
- Tight budgets
- Scalability factor
- Need to create efficiencies in repetition
Before structural design, I brainstormed how we could create efficiencies.
- Took previous project and standardised it
- Same formula for structural design, drafting and documentation
- Variation from formula went through me
- Standard, simple-to-use design spreadsheets
- Timber floor beams and lintels simple to design, standardised timber spreadsheet covering all design elements to minimise likelihood of confusion
- Complex-to-use design spreadsheet for foundation design was taught to two engineers using them
- Standard details pulled together or created beforehand, for any foreseeable details
- First project we properly used MS Word’s autopopulate function for quick documentation
First page.
Final page.
2.3 Negotiations and Variations
Variations required bespoke design and drafting, introducing rather substantial cost, particularly compared to our original pricing based on repetitive work.
More notable variations include
- Sloping ground
- Complex earthworks, cut/fill
- Additional geotechnical testing and analyses for a suitable sub-base
- Foundation walls and bridging piles
- Retaining walls
- Support for concrete patios
- Redesign for some stairwells
- Redesign of some floor beams
- Drafting for above elements
Negotiated three variations across the duration of the project.
Design budget extended approximately 50%.
Completed design within budget.
