In-house services for city projects to save Tshwane millions
The metro has cut outsourcing costs by millions as in-house architects and surveyors drive major savings on clinics and community projects across the city, according to its economic development and spatial planning department.
The savings announcement comes at a time when the mayoral committee has approved a policy that mandates all municipal construction projects to use in-house quantity surveyors and architects.
This was aimed at tightening cost controls, mandating that internal services within the department's physical development services unit be prioritised over external consultants.
'The insourcing of these services for new building design projects, alterations, additions and as-built documentation has already begun to save the metro millions in fees that would otherwise have been outsourced,' explained MMC of Economic Development and Spatial Planning, Sarah Mabotsa.
Mabotsa said her department has skilled and equipped professionals.
'Physical development services of the department is staffed by qualified architectural professionals, quantity surveyors, and building works inspectors. [They] are equipped to manage projects from inception through to completion as per the six stages of a project described by the South African Council for the Architectural Profession.'
Mabotsa said that until now, certain city departments contracted these services externally, resulting in high consultant costs for the city and often leading to inconsistent quality and misalignment with city-wide standards.
'By insourcing these services, the metro will reduce expenditure and also ensure standardised project quality and protect municipal interests,' she said.
She added that savings of 10–20% on external consulting fees are typically achieved on smaller projects of up to R500 000 in value, and on larger projects of R20-million or more, savings are usually between 7% and 15% of the project cost.
'This insourcing has already saved the city R16.6-million on recent projects. The initiative to mandate insourcing of these services going forward will save the city many more millions.'
She added that the initiative has earned praise from the city's CFO and gained strong support across departments.
'For projects like the Stinkwater Social Development Centre (R51-million), Gazankulu Clinic (R26.5-million), Rayton Clinic (R24-million), and Soshanguve Clinic (R18.5-million), the metro saved R3.6-million, R1.9-million, R1.7-million, and R1.5- million respectively in architects' fees alone,' she said.
According to Mabotsa, all of the completed projects have had their building plans approved and occupancy certificates issued.
She said other developments, such as the R50-million Mabopane Social Development Centre and the R61-million Lusaka Clinic, are currently underway or in planning, with assistance from the city's physical development services section.
Savings of R3.5-million and R4.4-million in architectural fees are expected on these projects.
'Our insourcing initiative supports the Multiparty Coalition Government's commitment to financial stabilisation in Tshwane. By delivering projects faster and at a lower cost to ratepayers, we're cutting expenses and maximising the impact of our budgets,' said Mabotsa.
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