How to shave £3m off the budget
- Published: 17 November 2008 15:13
- Last Updated: 17 November 2008 15:13
The CIOB's Construction Manager of the Year Anthony Joubert turned a tricky project involving disparate clients and nationalities into a personal triumph
Enjoying barbecues, lamb spitroasts, and cheese and wine on a holiday island may not seem the most obvious way for a construction manager to earn his stripes. But not so for Frenchman Anthony Joubert, who has just become the CIOB's Construction Manager of the Year.
The project which enjoyed such delicacies was the complicated redevelopment of a disused abattoir site into a new bus terminal and tourist office in St Helier, Jersey.
Mr Joubert got the job done on time and managed to shave over £3 million off the original £13 million budget. But more than that, he won the award for his ability to manage a tricky mix of several clients.
He also got French, Portuguese, English and Polish subcontractors to work well together and dealt with last minute changes to the design – sometimes at the stage where construction was about to begin.
He spent seven years as a design manager at French builder Spie Batignolles – which has a turnover of £1.4 billion – before taking on this job, his first construction management role, for Jersey contractor Camerons.
The project involved building a new bus terminal of 11,200 sq ft at ground floor level, with four floors of hotel and commercial space of 53,000 sq ft.
There was also a new tourism office and visitor centre of 10,000 sq ft over five floors – which had to incorporate a listed facade wall.
Obstacles and relics
Then there was a German WWII gun emplacement which had to be dismantled and afterwards restored to its original spot, as well as an electricity substation serving most of St Helier's financial firms and a hospital which had to be worked around.
So it was no easy task. One of the more difficult things was meeting the demands of several clients and end users.
"There were a lot of clients' representatives – the tenants, users, and government. So there was a lot of politics," Mr Joubert says.
Working with stakeholders
But he diffused situations with humour. "One day I went to a board meeting which was quite tense. When everyone was introducing themselves I said: 'I am Anthony Joubert, I am the bloody French builder.'"
In all seriousness, he says, he was conscious of the time that discussions between stakeholders would take and he tried to accommodate them all as much as possible, while making sure the project moved forward.
But things didn't always go to plan. "A client changed its mind on the layout of some of the party walls when we were about to start building – I couldn't believe it," he says.
But he just got on with the job. "It doesn't help but you just have to create a crisis team and get everyone to work together,and get the decisions made as quickly as you can."
Mixed team
There was also a skills shortage on the island as it was seeing a construction boom, so French subcontractors were hired.
They mixed in with local labour as well as English and Polish workers, so Mr Joubert chaired meetings in both English and French.
Partnering was also key to the project's success, ensuring no reportable accidents or disputes. And he got the different cultures to appreciate each other and their work partly by using food.
He says: "I tried to create an ambience where people wanted to work – not just a normal job. For example we had two roast lambs at Christmas and a bar, each subcontractor was in charge of cheese or wine or beer, so they were part of the event and they turned up."
The scheme ended up being done in 62 weeks – having told his team that they had 60 weeks – and the client asking for 64 weeks.
Unusually, the clients were not ready for the building when it was done, having to finalise insurance before they could inhabit it.
Joubert's recipe for success
And Mr Joubert's secrets? "First the team; I want to congratulate them as well. You can't do anything on your own. Even if you have to have some mulled wine and a barbecue.
"Then – don't think in terms of problems, only solutions. Being a design manager before helped a lot. Keep positive or you won't get where you want to go."
Stewart Rowney, managing director of consultant and client representative Rowney Sharman, who nominated Mr Joubert for the award, praises his management style.
"It may have been very tough but he tried to find unique solutions. What struck me was the respect the team had for him. A large part of it is personality; his is all about trying to work with people," he adds.
Mr Joubert says: "There are two types of management – human and dictator… I am human. If you have some respect for people then you get more from them."
He is now back in France working for his father's rendering company but expects to be back on Jersey soon, working on a £100 million incinerator project.
SMART THINKING THAT SHAVED £3 MILLION OFF THE BUDGET
Partnering was encouraged and this helped make savings:
· Mr Joubert spent £10,000 on a ground-penetrating radar survey that showedhe could use mostly 250 mm augured CFA piles instead of more costly Odex piles in the areas of the site which did not incorporate the nearby sea wall. This saved £250,000 and six weeks of programme time – as about 15 CFA piles can be put in per day as opposed to two or three a day for Odex, and mitigated the risk of rig standing time.
· A sway-frame redesign by the steel subcontractor allowed the previously designed in-situ concrete lift cores to be taken off the critical path and built as a lightweight structure.
· Materials not available on Jersey were imported from France, such as plaster blockwork and reinforced concrete blocks.
· External paving to the bus terminal – an economical solution was designed using a free-draining block pavior on a CBM3 sub-base, instead of the original piled concrete slabs.
· Euros were bought in advance at a hedged rate to pay the French subcontractors.
