Page 117 - Civil Engineering Project Management, Fourth Edition

Civil Engineering Project Management
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to view the defect together, the wise RE will say nothing, but will allow the
agent to examine the matter for himself. One of two things will happen now:
either the agent will make some admission of fault, or he will say, ‘What’s
wrong with it then?’ If the agent admits a fault there is no doubt that with
careful handling all can be made well; but if the agent asks why the RE has his
objection, the RE must tell him clearly why, what would have been acceptable,
and what might be done in the circumstances. This opens the door to possible
remedies, and further discussion may make it possible to discover the remedy
which is cheapest to adopt.
However, if no acceptable remedy can be agreed upon, it is best to leave the
matter for the time being, so that both parties have more time to think about
the problem. Leaving a decision over for a day or two is often a way of dis-
covering the best answer to a problem.
There will be other occasions when the RE is not at all sure what he should
do, such as when he has to decide whether or not he will accept some method
proposed by the agent. The agent has to think up ways of doing things that are
cheapest, using the men and machines he has got. He may therefore propose
methods which come as a surprise to the RE, who has been schooled to think in
terms of using the ‘right’ way for each particular job. The old style general fore-
man was fertile in thinking up unusual methods of construction that saved him
trouble, and not short of explanations as to why no possible harm could result.
The reasonable RE will not wish to deprive the agent of opportunities for
benefiting from his own skill; on the other hand, he must not allow chances
to be taken which might cause damage or early deterioration of the works. If,
therefore, he permits the agent to proceed on his proposed method he would
be within his rights to forewarn the agent that, if any harm does result, then the
contractor must make the harm good at his own expense. If there is not time
to discuss the matter with the engineer, the RE should discuss the problem
with his own staff, because it is always useful to take others’ opinions, and dis-
cussion can reveal important points that may have been missed.

9.9 More difficult cases of trouble

One of the most difficult things for the RE to tolerate is to stand by and see the
agent make a mess of things. He cannot step in and tell the agent how to do his
job, but he may see time wasted, unsuitable methods tried and abandoned,
errors having to be rectified, and lack of control and proper planning. He may
get to hear, in a roundabout way, of complaints from the agent’s men about the
way the job is run. He fears that all this indicates trouble in the future and does
not know quite what to do about it.
It is necessary for the RE to wait until there is sufficient factual evidence to
report to the engineer, such as poor progress and too much work having to
be rejected; plus instances of obvious mistakes made by the agent when, for
instance, some eccentric method of constructing some work has had to be