Latest news with #EarlyContractorEngagement
Scoop
4 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
New Construction Partner Announced For Scott Base Redevelopment
Antarctica New Zealand is pleased to announce LT McGuinness has been selected as the Early Contractor Engagement (ECE) contractor to assist with the design and delivery of the Scott Base Redevelopment. With over 70 years of construction experience, the New Zealand company has a proven track record for delivering some of the country's most complex and high-profile projects across both public and private sectors. Antarctica New Zealand Chief Executive Prof Jordy Hendrikx says the appointment is an important step forward for this legacy project. 'A technically challenging project like this provides an opportunity for all parties to bring their very best, and we've already had a high level of engagement with LT McGuinness on preliminary discussions. Supported by a growing workforce of long-term, permanent staff, their experienced team has the highly technical capability and practical approach required. 'On top of that, being a third-generation family construction company aligns with the culture of Scott Base and the history of our Antarctic programme.' The ECE phase is a critical part of the project lifecycle, where technical partners collaborate to understand the project's full requirements before detailed decisions are made. This ensures robust planning providing greater certainty around cost, the programme and identification of risk as the design progresses. LT McGuinness has engaged global infrastructure leader Parsons Corporation to provide technical assistance on the project. 'Parsons' polar operations experience spans programme and construction management, engineering and planning, and logistics. The company's key role in the redevelopment of McMurdo Station will provide us with a wealth of lessons learned from past projects,' Prof Hendrikx says. He adds that LT McGuinness's digital capability will be essential for this next phase of work. 'Projects of this complexity and scale require advanced digital tools and methodologies. LT McGuinness brings proven expertise in using digital delivery systems to enhance coordination across partners and ensure quality outcomes – critical in remote environments like Antarctica.' Antarctica New Zealand was very pleased with the number and quality of responses to the ECE Request for Proposal, Prof Hendrikx says. 'We're grateful six top construction companies from around New Zealand devoted significant time and resources to bid for our work, and we saw this as a hugely positive endorsement of the direction the redevelopment is now headed.' The announcement marks another milestone for the project. In May, the new Scott Base Redevelopment Masterplan approach was approved, and the team is working towards submitting a Detailed Business Case to Cabinet in mid-2026. The masterplan proposes a three-stage redevelopment of Scott Base over the next 20-50 years, starting with the oldest and most dilapidated facilities. As part of Stage 1, a new Base Services building will be constructed for living and accommodation, with the Hillary Field Centre refurbished for science activity. Critical plant and services will be replaced or upgraded, along with the replacement of the Ross Island Wind Energy system to help power Scott Base and McMurdo Station. Stage 1 is due for completion by 2030 ensuring a functional and fit-for-purpose base. Concept design was completed in March 2025, and the team is now in the second design phase (Preliminary Design).
Otago Daily Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Govt's infrastructure contracting criticised
Still waiting for work to begin on the Dunedin Hospital inpatient site. The outpatient building is behind. PHOTO: GERARD O'BRIEN A lawyer at CPB Contractors, the Australian construction giant set to build the new Dunedin hospital, has gone public to slam the government's "disastrous" approach to contracting major infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, any contract between CPB and Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) to get on with the delayed inpatient build is pending, despite a promise by Health Minister Simeon Brown in January that work would start mid-year. In a social media post liked by a senior HNZ infrastructure boss, CPB legal manager Tom Horder wrote that New Zealand was "very bad at delivering major infrastructure" and pointed the finger at contracts demanding delivery for a fixed price. "There are some practical things we can do to improve. "One of them is picking the right contract model for our big projects ... Over the past decade in NZ, the lump-sum model has been inappropriately applied to major projects, with disastrous results." In the post, Mr Horder links readers to a document listing alternate contractual arrangements including agreeing some costs with the client as a build progresses and challenges emerge. Sources have said HNZ and CPB have considered various contract arrangements, but the government is demanding a fixed price. The decision rests with ministers, but there is an indication that an alternate contract model has been preferred by at least one senior HNZ staffer. Mr Horder's post was liked by HNZ head of infrastructure commercial and procurement Paul Hrstich, who first worked on the project in March 2020, but has "not been involved in the project since January 2023", according to HNZ chief infrastructure and investment officer Jeremy Holman. CPB has also worked on the project for years, under an Early Contractor Engagement (ECE) contract signed in 2021 with HNZ to plan and price the project. However, last year former health minister Dr Shane Reti and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop forced a tools-down on the former Cadbury factory site after claiming a budget blowout. After the decision to proceed again, the chance of CPB undertaking the build has been thought to be a certainty for continuity reasons and due to limited big-build competitors. However, HNZ has issued an invitation for construction firms to tender by mid-June to finish the "substructure". The invitation asks for a fixed price. Naylor Love former chief executive Rick Herd said a fixed price for the Dunedin inpatient build, determined by a set-in-stone design, was "unlikely to happen due to the quality, competency, calibre and capacity of the design teams we have got in this country". He also blamed poor government leadership. "The government struggles to get consistency, continuity and agreement within their own teams and clinicians of what a big hospital should look like and in my experience are constantly changing their mind. This makes it impossible to fix a price." Any agreed price would likely require a "huge contingency" and result in the contractor filing for variations throughout the build, causing "stress, antagonism and conflict". A price tag should be attached to "unknowns" and a decision made about who carried that financial risk. CPB declined to comment.
