- Client: Midlothian Council
- Role: Quantity Surveying Services
- Value: £11.37m
- Programme: Complete November 2024
- Procurement: Two – Stage Design & Build
- Location: Dalkeith Schools Community Campus
Project Description
The project works is for the extension and alterations to Woodburn Primary School to add much needed capacity to the school. A significant amount of children at the school are being taught in temporary accommodation. The extension is made up of a new gym hall, an additional plant room, storeroom, toilets, cloakrooms, and 10 new classrooms
The works comprised of groundworks and sub-structure, steel frame, brick and metal clad external envelope, metal clad roofing, mechanical and electrical works, joinery works, decoration and floor coverings to match the existing building. The existing alterations include an extension to the dining area, and alterations to offices, and early years area.
The project was procured as a two-stage design and build.
An energy efficient design was adopted rather than Passivhaus accreditation.
Our Role / Scope
Our role as cost consultant on the project began with collaboratively working with the design team to ensure the project was proceeding in line with the client’s budget along with their vison and brief. An Initial Cost Plan was prepared and some further minor refinement of the design was carried out to ensure the project was in alignment with the client’s budget.
Cost exercises were carried out on more detailed aspects of the design during RIBA Stage 3 (such as a detailed review of the landscaping scope and specification and soft market testing of the M&E). An update of the formal cost plan was carried out on more detailed design information to give further cost certainty for the client.We undertook a Life Cycle Costing exercise to assess the impact on of differing U Values and Air Tightness figures on overall costs over 30 years to assist the client in key design decisions. We collaborated with the proposed contractor in market testing the works and validated the project cost. Benchmarking with similar projects was carried out to further prove value for money.
Post contract we carried out monthly valuations, prepared cost reports, attended monthly progress meetings and managed the change control process from a commercial perspective.
Challenges
The key challenges on the project so far have been:
- Contaminated ground and unsafe existing mine working requiring stabilisation which was located adjacent to the main road along the site boundary. This required temporary measures to make safe prior to works commencing in full.
- Scottish Water. Due to issues on other sites with delays caused due to a lack of progress with Scottish Water this was a key aspect that was proactively managed from the outset with early assessment and application with ongoing tracking.
- Achieving required GIFA on budget. Due to the nature of the steeply sloped site with limited scope for building location achieving a design that was both on budget and GIFA, whilst maintaining adequate daylighting levels, proved challenging. Careful coordination of the design team and contractor to understand buildability and groundworks ultimately established a design that accurately met the ACR’s and Accommodation Schedule to the client satisfaction.
- Late client design change requiring re-work. Again careful management and communication was key to conclude in a timeous manner.
Technical Capacity
The team comprises the following:
- Project Director
- Senior Quantity Surveyor
Benefits to Client
- Collaborative working with the design team and client to refine the design to ensure value for money and on budget while ensuring alignment with their vision and brief.
- Life Cycle Costing.
- Project projected to be delivered within client’s budget and completed one month early.
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