Page 141 - Civil Engineering Project Management, Fourth Edition

Civil Engineering Project Management
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the site and discussing the project with him. It frequently happens that the
employer or his representative does wish to keep contact with the job, but any
observations of consequence the employer makes which might require some
action, should be passed through to the engineer so that he may give the neces-
sary directions.
The employer may, for instance, be hoping that certain sections of the work
can be completed and made use of by him before completion of the job as a
whole; or he may want certain sections left for the time being because he may be
having ideas of altering his requirements. Both these matters impinge directly
upon the contractor’s programme and could change the cost of the job. There-
fore, they have to be looked into by the engineer. Of course, if the employer is
merely wanting to ‘sound out’ what is possible and how much it might cost, the
resident engineer should give him a reasonable answer but make clear that the
engineer must be involved before any decision is reached.
One other matter the employer may wish to raise is the traffic or noise cre-
ated by the contractor about which the employer has already received com-
plaints. The resident engineer may have to consider what reasonable requests
he could put to the contractor which would reduce these complaints.
As some structures begin to take shape an employer can be expected to take
more interest, and he may start making requests for minor additions once he
or his operational staff see what the structure looks like. The resident engineer
and engineer must expect this and, if the contract has been wisely drawn up,
it will allow for some flexibility of requirements in the later trades. Many finishes,
and particularly colour schemes, are best left for the employer to choose. There
is no point in an employer paying large sums for a project and not having some
choice as to its final appearance.
The resident engineer will endeavour to meet reasonable requests by the
employer; but if some apparently extravagant extra is asked for, he should
be wary. He must remember that where the ‘employer’ is a public authority,
the members of that authority might not necessarily agree with any proposed
extra expense suggested by an officer acting on their behalf.
Where construction of the works is likely to be regarded as a nuisance by
nearby residents, the employer may have already set up a liaison committee
with representatives of the residents to smooth out possible difficulties. The
resident engineer should find out what has been agreed so that he can direct
the contractor accordingly. He may also need to attend meetings with local
community representatives to report on progress and future activities and to try
to find ways of minimizing any nuisance caused by construction of the works.

11.7 Setting up the clerical work

It will be necessary to set up a system for the handling of correspondence,
measurement of quantities and checking of contractor’s interim payment
applications, and for log sheets of all technical data. Details of what is required