Name: Stephen Hart ACIOB
Employer: Wates Construction
Project: HML Project Skipton Building Society, Skipton, Yorkshire
Contract: JCT 2005
Stephen Hart tackled the added non-construction challenges of this project with flair and imagination. He integrated a community focus and offered the client vital reassurance on the innovative M&E package as well as the value engineering and management.
He gained the trust of a client wary of VE by introducing a previous client for a £43m project in Leeds city centre. The resulting discussion of the actual VE and VM benefits built client confidence in Stephen. The satisfying consequences were a £30K client saving from alternative curtain wall glazing. And the introduction of a higher-spec brise soleil increased photovoltaic output and saved another £40K.
Stephen overcame understandable nervousness about the chilled beam installation, sun-tracking brise soleil and natural zinc rainscreen by initiating handover meetings six months before completion. He videoed the training, familiarisation and demonstration sessions for the client, and even repeated the exercise after handover.
He also made contact with a neighbouring college with a construction department. Learning they were struggling to find work experience for students, Stephen ensured his main subcontract packages included such placements. He also organised a charity event that raised £7K to send the students overseas to work on construction projects in developing countries.
By paying genuine attention to all stakeholders, Stephen offered something to everyone. When he noticed relationships suffering at the project peak, he stopped it becoming a problem by bringing the parties back together with clay-pigeon shoots, go-kart racing and after-work drinks. And his posting of the schedules and key milestones on the canteen wall aroused initial humour but paid off with valuable feedback.
Value: £15.8m