Name: John Lyne
Employer: Leadbitter Group
Project: The Square, North Hampshire Hospital Key Worker
Contract: JCT 1998
By taking a refreshingly open attitude to site issues − a can-do mindset rather than a ‘that’s not what it says here’ approach − John Lyne earned the admiration of the client and the construction team and speedily drove out project risk.
His efficiency and drive prevented delays on repeated occasions. The most critical instance was when 96 ensuite bedrooms were ready for occupation but BT could not install the infrastructure to allow the offsite monitoring of the fire alarms. John averted a three-month delay in occupancy by having a security guard, equipped with a mobile phone to provide the link to outside, monitor the fire alarm panel overnight.
He led by example, ensuring all staff understood where they fitted into the team and the importance of their work to overall project progress. He also encouraged the management team to use their initiative.
The key factor in planning and scheduling was the timber frame erection, accomplished by mobile cranes. Rather than accept the traditional methodology of the cranes being driven on and offsite every day, with the consequent loss of an hour or two of production each time in mobilising and dismantling each crane, John had the insurance documentation adjusted so they could remain onsite overnight. It boosted production, reduced vehicle movements and didn’t even cost any more.
He proposed sensible value-engineering initiatives that gained time and simplified logistics. He had the demolition waste crushed and graded, reusing it onsite to save some 2,000 vehicle journeys in materials deliveries and muckaway movements. He installed a single-ply membrane to achieve a watertight roof ahead of schedule and allow more time to deliver internal works with quality of finish.
And he intelligently closed out the delay risk posed by putting a precise envelope of aluminium cladding around an imprecise timber frame. He did so by oversizing the structural timber window openings so that windows positioned by cladding panels would slip easily into the timber-framed openings every time.
Value: £11.1m