REFLECTION TOPIC 4: CONTRACT ADMINISTRATIONS

Contract Administrations is the process in which work is done putting more focus on the planning and execution of contracts; this is the work done before the contract is signed off or signed into effect. Contract administration and contract management are often confused for one another; In this reflection topic, I will be briefly touching on what contract administration represent in the overall contracting process and what is often seen in contract administration. I will also be taking you through my industry work experience and learning curve; The practice I am currently enrolled in is Vortex Design Solutions. Below is a list of perspective categories that fall under contract administration; which I will be explaining how we would go about approaching these categories at my practice. The perspective categories are as follows:

• Preparing, receiving and adjudication of tender documents

• Site meetings

• Inspection of work

• Issuing instruction, notices and certificates to the contractor

• Client reports

• Administration of monetary allowances

• Resolution of disputes

• As-built drawings

• Final accounts

Preparing, receiving and adjudication of tender documents and the procedure connected with has a process that needs to be followed to ensure that the information you give out and receive is clear and precise enough so that the job is easy to deliver and worked out for all parties involved. The preparation and planning process at the office includes sending out of emails to request for proposals to potential contracting partners; asking for costs and negotiating on contract proposals or matters such as the timeline, prices, scope of work, delivery schedules and performance expectations.

Site meetings are the very important part of the successful management of construction projects. Site meetings are done as means of reporting progress, this includes having discussions of any problems or issues and allowing the proposal of solutions for these issues. They also help enable better communication between the parties involved in the project and a shared sense of the purpose making it likely that the project is completed successfully. At the office the way in which we go about doing site meetings is we draw up a project timeline;, a full duration of the project with dates of when we will be doing things and this includes the progress of the project, if one thing is not done and checked if it is up to standard it will affect the next thing; this includes preparation and submitting of meeting minutes. Our office stages run in conjunction with project timeline. Belo is an example of how we go about writing meeting minutes and sending them to the client.

Inspection of work is basically checking quality of work on site and doing a snag list of problems to correct. At the office we do this by going on site visits to ensure that the progress of work done is up to standard in terms of the quality and compliance; depending on the size of the project if there needs to be separate days schedules for site visits for each inspector, they might have separate site inspector for each of the work done for example, there will be a site inspector for structural works, mechanical, electrical and lighting services. This is appropriate to do as it ensures that all works is assessed and a written report is produced of any issues noted.

Issuing instruction also known as scope of work (Statement of work) refers to a general description of work that is expected to be performed under a particular contract. At Vortex Design Solution, their process in which this works is they will prepare scope of work by sending a letter of invitation to supply for quotation to their supplier clearly stating the project description and the work required, a programme of work with the expected timeframes for delivery, pricing, roles and responsibility of parties involved.; this includes tender documentation.

Administration of monetary allowances, this is money given or allotted usually at regular intervals for a specific purpose. At the office, they allow a percentage of 10% contingency on all of their projects and they then ask the client to keep aside for unknowns.

Client report also known as the project status report is a report that is sent to the client on a regular basis as a form of communication with the client to show the status of the project. At the office we do a weekly project report that we send to the client to ensure that the client is aware of what is happening and the progress of things on site, this is very important as it helps us interact with the client regularly. In the report, we state the project start date to the date of the report sent; we do this to outline what has been completed to date, what still needs to be installed and what still needs to be delivered. Thee below documents are an example of what a client report would look like.

Resolution of disputes, At Vortex Design Solutions, they always refer back to their meeting minutes to ensure that whatever is asked of them to do in the minutes they deliver at all costs; They always ensure that all new items noted during a design meeting are to be accounted for.

As built drawings are revised pack of drawings submitted by contractor upon completion of a project; these set of drawings are used to replicate how the contractor built the project and identify what changes were made throughout the course of the constructing the project. At Vortex Design Solutions, we use as-built drawings as reference, as these drawings hold important information of what is there for example existing water and drainage pipes, electrical and lighting layouts. We keep these drawings available to analysis of what is existing and what can we do to add the new. We are currently working on a huge project located at the waterfront, in this project I was very much exposed to understanding the importance of as-built drawings, not only having them as reference, but also the importance of visiting the site to do a site survey to double checking on the measurements and documenting it stating what is what e.g. what type of glass is there, concrete etc.

Final accounts, The above documents are an example of a budget, that clearly shows how they go about doing their costing for things in the project. The column on the left is an original budget, and the column on the right is final reconned budget.

It has only been 3-months since I started working at Vortex Design Solutions, but I feel I have definitely learned and gained a lot of information and experience in terms of how to distinguish the difference between designing and space planning, the importance of meeting minutes, site surveys,' Technical drawings and joinery which I am enjoying and have gained more knowledge on. I am currently learning more about the project management side of design, which I think is amazing.