Name: Michael Simpson MCIOB
Employer: Sir Robert McAlpine
Project: Redcar Primary Care Hospital, Redcar
Contract: PFI
Mike Simpson won this contract by lopping a whopping 22 weeks off the expected construction programme. Fine leadership and superior organisation then allowed him to deliver on his promise.
One of the key factors in achieving the amazingly rapid progress was Mike’s positioning of the £7.9m M&E package at the heart of the build. He maintained access routes so that 6m-long prefabricated service modules could be installed within the main hospital routes, and he built the main link bridge structures well in advance of the programme to help with the service runs.
To give himself a high degree of programme control, Mike carried out the earthworks, civil works, and brick and blockwork packages direct. It allowed him to dictate the speed of the works and encourage subcontractor performance. It also meant he could give M&E early access and working areas, and ensure the services work was never delayed or disrupted.
As the works unfolded, Mike confidently responded to issues as they arose. For example, a major problem emerged when the latex levelling screed below the vinyl flooring debonded from the concrete substrate. The timing could not have been worse, as rapid progress on the floor covering was critical to the programme.
Mike’s calm and professional reaction was to face up to the problem by halting work until a full technical assessment had been carried out. Effective implementation of the solution
– precise cleanliness, humidity and temperature control – averted the risk of the client having to deal with subsequent flooring defects. And Mike’s intelligent reprogramming recovered the time lost by the disruption.
Value: £30.7m