- There are TWO questions in this assignment.
The overall word length for this assignment should be in the range of 2,500–3,000
words. You may incur a penalty if you exceed the upper value. You must state the
total number of words used at the end of your assignment; however, the content of
appendices and references/bibliographies may be excluded from your word count.
You must acknowledge in your assignment the sources of information that you have
included using the Harvard system of referencing. Please refer to CEM’s guide on the
VLE under ‘Study Skills’.
Please note: Your assignment may be checked using anti-plagiarism software.
SCENARIO
Your quantity surveying practice was appointed to provide professional advice to an
employer who intends to build a mixed development of high-quality apartments with
some restaurant and leisure facilities on an inner-city site. The practice has also been
appointed to provide post-contract quantity surveying services for the employer.
The site was formerly warehouses, which have been demolished prior to work
starting on this project; however, there is a suspicion that prior to that it had been a
residential area with traditional basements beneath. Surveys of the site have been
completed and it has been decided that the main contract should contain a provision
to appoint a specialist piling subcontractor to design and install the necessary piling.
For the purposes of this assignment, assume the contract has been let on a traditional
procurement method using JCT Standard Building Contract with Quantities SBC/Q
2011. Overseas students using the latest version of your local contract should attach a
copy of the relevant clauses to their submission.
The filling of basements has been allowed for in the bills of quantities with the
inclusion of undefined provisional sums.
QUESTION 1
Prepare a report to the employer explaining how their position can be safeguarded
regarding the possibility of negligent design of the work by the piling subcontractor.
The report should make reference to the specific clauses of the contract and the
position of common/case law with regard to defects.
QUESTION 2
The main contractor has approached the contracts administrator to say that the work
to the filling of the basements is far more extensive than envisaged by the undefined
provisional sums in the bills of quantities.
Advise your employer on how the work to the basements can be valued.
Also provide advice on the wider implications of the expenditure of the provisional
sums and the effect this additional work may have on the completion date for the
project.
