NZ Contractor 1512

NEW ZEALAND’S CIVIL CONTRACTING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

D E C E M B E R 2015 $8.95

LONG-TERM QUALITY Sureway Civil is building a reputation of strength and value with expansion of its CAT fleet

INSIDE: Review of NZTA’s Network Outcome Contracts after two years Work finally starts on the Transmission Gully PPP contract Commemorating 60 years since the opening of the Rimutaka Tunnel First 14 certified Civil Tradespeople honoured at parliament

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CONTENTS CONTRACTOR

INSIDE: Regulars 2 Editorial

34 Highlights / Features 20 Chocks away for Transmission Gully

Physical work has started on Wellington’s $850 million Transmission Gully motorway. It is the first New Zealand motorway to be constructed, financed and maintained under a PPP contract.

4 Upfront 16 On the Cover 48 Classic Machines 52 Motoring

26 Procurement: NOCs – a game changer

The NZTA’s new Network Outcome Contracts (NOC) model represents a paradigm shift in the way our highway network is maintained, and it has changed the civil construction landscape. Alan Titchall reviews its progress.

54 Contractors’ Diary 54 Innovations 56 Civil Contractors NZ Comment

34 Lyttelton Port’s expansion plans

Earthquake-battered Lyttelton Port, our third largest and the South Island’s biggest container terminal is a step closer to major expansion after Environment Canterbury commissioners approved a draft recover plan.

56 Advertisers’ Index

Profile 18 Lewis Clotworthy

Comment

40 Civil Trades – first 14 honoured

The first Certified Civil Tradespeople were honoured at the Civil Trades national launch held at parliament in early December. The group, made up of 14 experienced operators from around the country were part of a pilot programme to the Civil Trades Recognition of Current Competence (RCC) pathway.

44 H elmut Modlik Connexis

45 Sam McCutcheon & Kate Henderson Kensington Swan

46 M alcolm Abernethy

It takes a strong presence to rise above the competition in Auckland’s construction market. For the past eight years Sureway Civil has been building a reputation of strength and value through careful expansion of its fleet of modern Cat machinery.

See page 16

42 The Rimutaka Tunnel commemorated

First surveyed in 1898, the Rimutaka rail tunnel which links the Hutt Valley and Wairarapa, was opened 60 years ago. Due to its solid construction it has required minimal maintenance over its life and is set to last for another 100 years.

CCNZ

47 Rob Gaimster Cement & Concrete Association and NZ Ready Mixed Concrete Association

ON THE COVER

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42 DECEMBER 2015 1

CONTRACTOR EDITORIAL

PUBLISHER Contrafed Publishing Co Ltd Suite 2.1, 93 Dominion Road, Mt Eden, Auckland PO Box 112357, Penrose, Auckland 1642 Phone: +64 9 636 5715 Fax: +64 9 636 5716 www.contrafed.co.nz

A long journey The move to the Network Outcomes Contracts model has been a long journey for both the NZ Transport Agency and the road maintenance contractors.

We came to appreciate that journey as we researched material for the 8-page feature in this issue on the NOC regime some two and a half years after it was first launched.

We started with opinion columns written in the magazine over the course of the NOC model development – from the NZTA’s Colin Crampton, Contractors’ Federation’s Jeremy Sole, and Roading New Zealand’s Chris Olsen – spoke to numerous people in between, and ended at the NZTA/NZIHT roading conference last month in Waitangi.

The first and most sensitive stage – negotiating and awarding the initial contracts – is almost over and the hard work begins for the successful contractors.

There will always be pains and gains in any competitive model, and the full effect on small and medium contractors around the country of reducing network maintenance contracts from around 100 to 23 has yet to be seen. Likewise, the effect of ‘sweating’ the roading asset in terms of maintenance intervention has yet to be judged. As a country, if the timing is wrong we risk a ‘bow-wave’ of remedial work that will cost more than we save.

So, our review of the NOC model will be ongoing as these long-term contracts are carried out. Hopefully, the arduous work put into the model by both the Transport Agency, industry associations and contractors will prove to be an improved way of providing the road user with a better and safer network system and at lower cost to the tax payer. Only time will tell, but so far, so good.

Elsewhere in this final magazine for 2015 Richard Silcock takes an in-depth look at Transmission Gully now that work has finally commenced. It’s a project which began in the 1940s, and completion is expected by 2020.

Richard also commemorates the 60 year anniversary of the completion of the Rimutaka Tunnel – first surveyed in 1898 but not completed until 1955.

Chris Webb investigates Lyttelton Port’s expansion which has been making use of clean rubble from Christchurch’s rebuild. The Port’s plans amount to an additional 34 hectares of reclaimed land which will allow it to cope with an expected doubling of freight in 10 years, and doubling again by 2041.

And Mary Searle Bell talks to recently-retired Lewis Clotworthy, who started at Stevenson at aged 21, and still works seven or eight hours a week “tidying up bits and pieces”.

On behalf of everyone at Contrafed, we wish all our readers, partners, supporters and advertisers best wishes for the summer break. Our second annual Perspectives issue will be waiting for you when you get back, and content for February’s Contractor is already looking great.

Kevin Lawrence, editor

GENERAL MANAGER & EDITOR Kevin Lawrence DDI: 09 636 5710 Mobile: 021 512 800 Email: kevin@contrafed.co.nz EDITORIAL MANAGER Alan Titchall DDI: 09 636 5712 Mobile: 027 405 0338 Email: alan@contrafed.co.nz REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Malcolm Abernethy, Mary Searle Bell, Richard Campbell, Hugh de Lacy, Chris McCann, Cameron Officer, Richard Silcock, Lawrence Schäffler, Chris Webb.

ADVERTISING / SALES Charles Fairbairn DDI: 09 636 5724 Mobile: 021 411 890 Email: charles@contrafed.co.nz ADMIN / SUBSCRIPTIONS DDI: 09 636 5715 Email: admin@contrafed.co.nz PRODUCTION Design: TMA Design, 09 636 5713 Printing: PMP MAXUM

Contributions welcome Please contact the editor before sending them in.

Articles in Contractor are copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher.

Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the shareholding organisations.

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The official magazine of Civil Contractors NZ www.civilcontractors.co.nz The Aggregate & Quarry Association www.aqa.org.nz The New Zealand Heavy Haulage Association www.hha.org.nz The Crane Association of New Zealand www.cranes.org.nz Rural Contractors New Zealand www.ruralcontractors.org.nz The Ready Mixed Concrete Association www.nzrmca.org.nz Connexis www.connexis.org.nz

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CONTRACTOR UPFRONT

A map of Melbourne overlayed with the extent of the liquefaction problem Christchurch experienced.

NZTA offers Health and Safety scholarships The Transport Agency has a new scholarship scheme for those working in the roading construction industry. Four scholarships will offer a 12-month opportunity to develop competent and qualified safety professionals.

“We’re committed to leading the industry towards zero harm in the workplace so that all employees and contractors go home safe and healthy every day,” says Martin McMullan, NZTA’s Zero Harm manager.

“This will enable four individuals to become suitably qualified and experienced in health and safety so that we can play our part in providing tangible improvements towards New Zealand’s health and safety performance.”

Each scholarship will include fully funded course and examination fees associated with an International Certificate from the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH), peer mentoring and work experience.

The closing date for applications is January 29, 2016, and successful candidates will be notified directly by February 26, 2016.

Peter Silcock, CEO CCNZ, (left) represented New Zealand at the CCF Conference.

Tony Baulderstone, national president, CCF, (middle) and Ross Barrett, OAM, both of whom have been guests at CCNZ conferences.

Victoria hosts CCF Conference CCNZ CEO Peter Silcock represented New Zealand interests at the Civil Contractors Federation (CCF) Australia annual conference and awards celebrations in mid-October at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Guests were also entertained at a cocktail evening held at the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, and the Awards gala evening at the Sofitel, Melbourne.

Presentations at the conference included a look at the Christchurch rebuild by Fulton Hogan’s executive manager – Christchurch rebuild, Tony Gallagher. While much of Tony’s presentation would be familiar to our readers, showing a map of Melbourne overlayed with the extent of the liquefaction problem Christchurch experienced would no doubt have put the rebuild into perspective for the Aussie audience.

Delegates were also entertained by irrepressible Aussie mates and intrepid adventurers Cas & Jonesy who CCNZ members will recall from the joint NZCF/CCF Queenstown conference in 2013. The pair shared their moving story of crossing the Tasman unassisted in a kayak, and then walking to the South Pole and back.

The awards evening, combining the National CCF Earth Awards, the Earthmover and Civil Contractor Awards and the National Civil Train Awards, were a big night for Queensland contractors, reflecting the work required after the massive 2011 and 2013 floods. Among the winners was Downer, as part of a JV, and McConnell Dowell in categories five and six of the Earth Awards: •C ategory 5 ($75-150m) sponsored by Progressclaim.com was won by CMC/Downer Joint Venture and the Department of Transport and Main Roads for the Pacific Motorway Upgrade – Worongary to Robina Project (QLD) •C ategory 6 (over $150m) sponsored by Arthur J Gallagher was won by McConnell Dowell Constructors for the Gold Coast Light Rail Project Stage One. See earthmover.com.au/gala-award-night-winners/ for the full list.

4 www.contractormag.co.nz

Jonathan and Peggy Bhana-Thomson

Wellington City honours Heavy Haulage’s CEO Wellington City Council has recognised Jonathan BhanaThomson with an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian award in recognition of his contribution to the local community.

Jonathan has volunteered with Diabetes Wellington for 19 years. He initially got involved to support his wife Peggy and others suffering from the disease.

Jonathan has held a variety of roles with Diabetes Wellington over the years, including president, vice president, fundraiser and IT fixer – a role he still helps out with.

Mayor Wade-Brown says that during Jonathan’s time on the Diabetes Wellington committee he’s been a great source of support and leadership.

“He’s also pitched in on the little things; representing the organisation at community events, producing the quarterly newsletter and putting a huge amount of effort into fundraising,” she says.

PHOTO: www.crane-media.com

Mecca crane collapse kills 109 High winds were reported to be the cause of a September 2015 crane crash which resulted in 109 deaths just days before the annual Hajj was due to begin in Mecca. Records show winds reached 22m/s (other reports show it may have been as high as 29m/s), compared to the “safe” level of just 9m/s the crane was expected to encounter. The region is subject to sudden convection

downdrafts, and the 102 metre boom and 84 metre luffing jib had been left elevated – against instructions.

The Liebherr crane was working on the Massa – a route that will allow millions of pilgrims to follow the path taken by Abraham’s wife in her search for water – which will become the largest concrete structure in the world.

A two-year trial of weather-activated road signs with adjustable speed limits went live last month on SH29 over the Kaimai Range.

The 22 high-tech signs aim to reduce the crash rate on the steep road, which links the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty. The signs, along with four web cameras, are linked to a weather station at the summit of the Kaimai Range, and will adjust speed limits between 30km/h and 100km/h depending on conditions such as

weather, road works, or a crash.

NZTA’s chief safety advisor Colin Brodie says, “Our data shows that over 70 percent of the crashes on the Kaimai Range happen in wet weather, and that over 40 percent of these were caused by drivers travelling too fast for the conditions.”

Approximately 9000 vehicles travel over the range daily, including around 1300 heavy vehicles.

PHOTO: NZTA

Weather-activated variable speed signs installed

NZTA’s chief safety advisor, Colin Brodie (left) and Transport Minister, Simon Bridges check out one of the new weather-activated speed signs on SH29.

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CONTRACTOR UPFRONT

Memorial tunnel concrete accolades The 300-metre tunnel built under Wellington’s Pukeahu National War Memorial collected the Landscaping, Infrastructure and overall Supreme awards at the Concrete Society “recognising excellence” awards.

Construction involved some 7500 cubic metres of concrete – used structurally as well as symbolically.

Six organisations were involved: NZTA, HEB Construction, Downer NZ, Tonkin & Taylor and AECOM (formerly URS). Wraight Athfield Landscape & Architecture remodelled the park.

“The role of concrete cannot be understated in this project and it is showcased in all

its forms and textures for appreciation by industry and society as a whole. The Memorial Park Alliance can take pride in this achievement. It has delivered a powerful and fitting centrepiece to the government’s WWI centenary project,” says Paul Wymer, convenor of the judging panel.

Christchurch’s new Ferrymead Bridge received a commendation in the Infrastructure category. The two-span bridge contains innovative pile construction technology that firmly sockets the piles into the underlying rock. It’s considered to be the first application of contact grouting of pile sockets in this country.

CCNZ support Government Procurement Guides CCNZ has welcomed the release of government guidelines for planning construction procurement.

Executive officer Malcolm Abernethy says, “The important thing now is to ensure these guidelines are used and that all government agencies further develop their procurement capability. If that happens there will be significant savings for everyone involved.”

The six guides, published last month by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment comprise: • Overview to the guides; • Matching capability to complexity; • Developing your procurement strategy;

6 www.contractormag.co.nz

• Achieving construction productivity gains by adopting BIM; • Risk and value management; •H ealth and safety and employment standards at work.

The guides are available at www.business.govt.nz/procurement/ for-agencies/key-guidance-for-agencies/construction Malcolm says “These guides can only be a good thing and we encourage their widespread use.”

The guides include information about how to manage Health and Safety obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act, which comes into effect on April 4, 2016.

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CONTRACTOR UPFRONT

Easier consenting of cycleways The New Zealand Transport Agency’s (NZTA) application for requiring authority status under the Resource Management Act (RMA) has been approved by Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith.

The change, which comes into effect on December 17, allows NZTA to apply to local authorities to set aside land specifically for cycleways and shared paths in the same way as it is already able to do for roads and motorways. It also enables NZTA to designate cycleway routes. The decision will better enable the Government to deliver on its ambitious plans of more urban and rural cycleways, Smith says.

Projects that will benefit from the approval includes the Sea Path project on the North Shore, the Tamaki Drive cycleway and the Hutt Valley to Wellington cycleway.

“The significance of this decision is the Government affirming that cycleways, just like motorways, railways or transmissions lines and telecommunications cables are critical modern infrastructure in the 21st century”, says Smith.

New projects gather pace…

While the physical works programmes may still be some way off, recent tenders for subcontract work on both the Puhoi to Warkworth upgrade of SH1 (a stage of one of the Roads of National Significance), and Auckland’s CRL (City Rail Link) show that behind the scenes design and planning work continue. Check out the daily updates from TenderLink if you want to be kept up to date with upcoming work.

Rankin steps up Ngapuhi leader and outspoken public commentator David Rankin intends to stand for the Auckland Council in next year’s local body elections.

“This council is broken – it lacks imagination and integrity, and is driven by Len Brown’s vanity projects, which will drive Auckland bankrupt,” he reportedly says.

His policies include: stopping the inner-city rail loop, and investing the funds instead on roading; extending the urban limits of the city to allow more land for housing; and, halting all future cycle lanes, and removing existing ones where they obstruct traffic.

South-Pole bound crane A ship carrying a LiuGong TC250-4 Crane set sail for the South Pole from Shanghai on November 7th, 2015 to assist in the operations of a Chinese research facility. This is the second LiuGong crane to be sent to the South Pole and is due to land at Zhongshan station in Antarctica after 2 months, where the first LiuGong TC250-4 crane has been in operation for approximately one year. The crane will primarily be loading and unloading cargo, truck hoisting and house repair work at the Chinese research station.

NZ professionals recognised For the first time ever, a Kiwi woman has won two high profile Australian construction industry awards.

Christchurch’s Lucy Eng (pictured), a project and cost manager at Beca, has won the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors Infinite Value ‘Women in Construction’ and ‘Professional of the Year’ Awards.

Eng was told she was a clear winner of the award due to an honest entry and the way in which she goes the extra mile in her pro bono work and other commitments, such as serving on the Canterbury branch board of the NZIQS since 2008.

Meanwhile, Gary Chalmers, a civil engineer from infrastructure consultancy Opus has become the first New Zealander to receive the prestigious International Medal from the UK’s Institute of Civil Engineers.

The International Medal is awarded annually to a civil engineer who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession and this is the first time in its 15 year history it has been given to a Kiwi or an engineer working for a New Zealand business.

Gary, technical principal – ports and marine at Opus, received the medal for his contribution to several engineering fields, including: seismic design; risk management; and asset management in the ports sector with a focus on Lyttelton Port of Christchurch.

PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA: McarmineaEdit” by original: User:Sarefo, modified by User:Kahuroa

Native plant conservation recognised

Metrosideros carminea (common names are Crimson Rātā, Carmine Rātā).

8 www.contractormag.co.nz

A partnership to increase the use of native plant species on Northland’s state highway corridors has won a special award from the NZ Plant Conservation Network (NZPCN).

NZTA, Downer, Opus, the Northland Regional Council and Whangarei District Council have focused on using threatened and uncommon Northland plants on the Whangarei State Highway Gateway Project. Treescape undertook the physical works and Tawapou Native Nursery was the leading plant supplier. The programme was undertaken to address the large number of pest plants that were creating ecological, stormwater, safety and visual problems at the Whangarei entrances to SH1.

UPFRONT CONTRACTOR

Step by step and stride by stride Glen Murray bridge at Rangiriri

high vehicles on the motorway. Construction is due to start mid-2016 and is expected to be completed by early 2019.

In February, Leighton Contractors will begin physical works on the $268 million Southern Corridor Improvements project, which will add lanes to Auckland’s Southern motorway between Manukau and Papakura. The Corridor is the second of four Government accelerated transport projects for the Auckland region. Project completion is expected in 2018 however, extra southbound

lanes will be completed in early 2017 to coincide with the opening of the Waterview tunnel and ensure there’s enough capacity for the additional traffic entering SH1 from SH20.

The project will upgrade 16 bridges and construct six new structures including a shared user path across the Pahurehure Inlet and the new Pescara Point Bridge; a new walking and cycling facility that will connect the local cycle network and Karaka Harbourside and Papakura communities.

PHOTOS: NZTA

The Waikato Expressway juggernaut keeps moving; last month the Glen Murray bridge at Rangiriri was closed for five days so it could be linked to the new Rangiriri Interchange bridge, while further south construction has just started on a new $43 million interchange to separate state and local traffic at the intersection of State Highways 2 and 58 in Wellington.

And, preparatory work has begun on the next – and final – stage of Auckland’s Western Ring Route programme. Widening of the motorway from two to three lanes between Lincoln Road and Westgate will support the expected growth in the western suburbs and increased traffic using the Western Ring Route and Waterview tunnels, which are scheduled to open in 2017.

This project will also see a new bus shoulder lane in each direction, reduce bottlenecks and provide more options for walking, cycling and bus travel.

The interchange at Royal Road will be improved with more lanes, upgraded ramps and a wider, 3-lane bridge over the motorway, comprising an on-road cycle lane and a 3-metre wide shared pedestrian and cycle path. Huruhuru Road Bridge will be replaced and raised to improve clearance for

The Takanini Interchange on Auckland’s Southern Motorway as it was when first built – and today, to be upgraded as part of the Southern Corridor Improvements.

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New equipm ent of an ong from CablePrice is part oing busine ss stra for Base Civil Limited tegy

Two years of 50MAX October marked two years since the first 50MAX permits were issued.

In the period since 50MAX permits for longer and heavier trucks were introduced, over 5700 permits have been issued and around 280 million kilometres have been travelled on 50MAX trucks. By moving more freight on fewer truck trips with 50MAX the Transport Agency estimates that around 28 million kilometres of travel has been avoided with an estimated commercial saving of between $45 million and $55 million. Cost to road maintenance has yet to estimated.

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Kapiti’s $63 Catching 0m, four-lane exp up res Changing with the gentlem sway forges ahe ten an Looking bac dering and procur from McConnel ad: a progress upd l Dowell ate em k – when – Joe Devonport ent with the Cle ver Buying Edwards ’s Calliop e drydoc k was dug approach by hand

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Tairua ratepayers are angry they’ve been charged $11,000 to refurbish a 19-metre section of footpath. And that it took four days.

Members of the Taurua Pauanui Sport Fishing Club are particularly upset that of the $11k bill, $2300 was for a Traffic Management Plan. “There was no traffic management, we’ve got pictures to prove there was none. Just a couple of road cones,” the club’s past president John Haycock is reported to have said.

Haycock also says he couldn’t believe “Establishment, Environmental Management QA” would cost $2250 when the footpath was already existing. “That equates to 25 hours at $90 an hour to plan that? You wonder why I’m distressed?”

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World Bank funding for Tongan project

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The World Bank is parting with an additional US$4 million to improve Tonga’s transport sector.

This will enable the continuation of work begun in 2005 through the Transport Sector Consolidation Project, with a stronger focus on maritime and land transport safety.

The additional funding is a combination of a US$2 million grant and US$2 million credit provided through the World Bank’s International Development Association. The Tongan government will provide an additional US$2 million. In 2010, the project received US$10.3 million in grant financing from the Australian government.

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Brynderwyn work continues CONTRACTOR DECEMBER 2015

I would like

United Civil Construction’s summer work programme in the ongoing $17-$18 million safety improvements on SH 1 on the Brynderwyn Hill south of Whangarei is about to ramp up again The project is entering its second year and includes widening the current road, removing tight corners and installing a wire rope barrier to separate north and south bound traffic. The work is expected to be completed by early 2017.

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CONTRACTOR REGIONAL EXCAVATOR OPERATOR COMPETITION

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Pictures at the 2016 Auckland branch Excavator Competition.

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1. Janie Jurgeleit, from Total Oil, which is a regular sponsor.

2. Getting the BBQ organised is Mark Davies from Enzed, which is also a regular sponsor.

3. Fine judging by Regan Burke, co-director, ICB (and Auckland CCNZ branch executive).

4. Now that’s tough – placing a hard hat on a dummy.

5. The first two competitors duel in the pit – David Gough (left) and Jarrod Marwood (right), both from Giles Civil.

6. Judges concentrate.

7. C oncentrated scoring – CCNZ Northern regional manager, James Corlett.

8. C ablePrice heavies make a big impression.

9. Kids just love the mini excavators. Payment for a ‘go’ at digging up a prize is a gold coin that is donated to Canteen Cure Kids.

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Skills on show

at annual Excavator Competition The Auckland regional competition of the National Excavator Operator Competition takes place at the Big Boys Toys show held in November every year.

The event, organised by the Auckland branch of CCNZ, is always a showstopper, as excavator operators from all over the region compete for the opportunity to meet at the national final in Feilding and fight against other regional winners for the title of ‘Best Multi-Skilled Excavator Operator of the Year’.

Next year Nathan Gibbons from Stevensons will go on to represent

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the Auckland branch at the national competition. In second place was Kerry Brill, from the SH16 Causeway Alliance, and in third place was Willy Andrews, from Higgins Contractors.

In other CCNZ Auckland branch news, entries for the 2016 Hynds Construction Awards and AB Equipment People Awards are open and the next general meeting is set for February 15.

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DECEMBER 2015 13

CONTRACTOR UPFRONT

Sun shines on highway conference ALAN TITCHALL was a guest at the sixteenth Transport Agency & NZIHT conference at

Waitangi where highway network maintenance was up for discussion.

THE JOINT CONFERENCE OF the NZTA and NZIHT is an opportunity for roading engineers to get together and discuss the bigger picture.

For this reason the new Network Outcomes Contract (NOC) model was a central topic. It is always a very well organised event and hats off to anyone with the nous to organise a conference in the sun for once, and not in the middle of winter. The Northland sun poured down on the two-day conference held at the Copthorne Hotel at Waitangi.

This two-day meet is designed as a discussion between the agency and the folks at the sharp end of industry roading maintenance and construction. There’s also a high NZTA ‘show and tell’ content and, of course, the new NOC model was discussed in detail.

This new maintenance procurement and contract model, which features in detail on pages 26-33, has made huge changes both inside the Transport Agency and to the roading industry in general.

These internal changes were evident by the barrage of WillyWonker-esque acronyms and new terms that peppered the conference presentations. New roles include the ‘journey manager’ (a bit like an old customer relationship manager and responsible for moving people and freight, building relationships with other roading authorities, and looking after road users in terms of network availability, travel time and achieving the desired outcome).

A job is not just a job or project these days, but a ‘journey’ (those Hobbit films have a lot to answer for). Groups of managers are called ‘knowledgeable communities’. One doesn’t fix roading pot holes any more, one ‘intervenes’. The words ‘client’ and ‘customer’ were also thrown around with enthusiasm as the NZTA tested its new contracting mantras and expressions. It was noted by at least one presenter that elsewhere the term ‘client’ is only used by lawyers and brothels.

In the agency’s world, whether the client/customer was the roadusing public, the agency itself, or the contractors, wasn’t clear to me.

I read it as all three?

The previous Transport Agency mantra of ‘value for money in all we do’ has been changed to ‘greater resilience of the state highway network’, which has less of ‘The Warehouse’ discount tone about it. I must admit, the agency presentation teams were very well rehearsed in the consistent use of these new terms and they became stuck in my head for days, like a catchy tune.

“These are great times for all of us involved in highway infrastructure and there are huge challenges ahead in all parts of our business… good 14 www.contractormag.co.nz

challenges that we should all be excited about,” said Tommy Parker, NZTA group manager Highways and Network Operations.

“To grow we need to get smarter in the way we do things. We are all part of the same machine and, in the past, we have seen ourselves in different roles with different functions. Now, looking forward, we have to see ourselves as more of a collective and that is the way our customers [the travelling public] judge us.”

Parker talked about the development of the NOC one network road classification as the first time the Transport Agency has been very clear about the level of service required for every road in the network.

“The client [NZTA] should be prepared to be collaborative and work in partnership. We are a parochial country and don’t form enough partnerships.

“I think we have made big strides towards being a knowledgeable client, particularly with the Network Outcomes Contracts.”

Two and half years since the first NOC was awarded for South Canterbury, the programme is about to enter its second phase, he explained. “NOC has been in the tendering phase during the past few years and that created a lot of commercial tension – you don’t need me to tell you that. Now we are coming out of that phase and into the next one. And this is where we are really going to see improvements as we put the contracts aside and focus on doing the job and getting the best network we can and we will be successful,” he says.

Asset management is a challenge across the globe for all infrastructure providers as traditional forms of revenue and funding change, he says.

“How much longer can we rely on excise duty to fund our network as we switch to electric vehicles and more fuel efficient vehicles? But however we are funded we are going to be asked to do more for less.

We have in the past three years and will continue to be.

“The challenge for us is to present our case well to the decision makers and to be clear they are getting great value for money.”

Quality data (through the agency’s RAMM data asset knowledge base and maintenance inventory) was a subject Parker raised a number of times.

“The quality of data is improving and needs to. When it comes to that conversation where we say we need a bigger slice of the revenue pie we have to put a very good foot forward. I think the improvements we have made in data collection will put us in good stead.”

Parker says in terms of future roading he is getting a lot of questions about the next RoNS. “We are only just over halfway through the exiting RoNS construction programme so we still have a bit of a way to go.

“Meanwhile, we have a lot to do and a lot of capital investments on the network. This is a huge amount of additional work that will place a ‘test on our capacity’.

“These works are also spread across the country which is good news for contractors in rural areas. As you would expect, there is still a huge amount of investment in Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury.

“Again the challenge is on us to be more flexible, to move the resources and get the best brains to the regions where the investment is needed.

“Working with local authority partners, we want to be genuinely ‘one network’ in partnerships and formalised collaborations, such as in Gisborne, to less formal arrangements where we are just sharing an office.

“And it’s amazing if you simply have people in the same room how quickly problems are solved and improvements start to flow, and I think we will continue to see more collaboration.

“In my view there is no shortage of innovation in this industry or good ideas but I think we struggle with putting these ideas into place and this is where things get complex.

“How do we take these ideas and make them real? Among the challenges is the remoteness in New Zealand – we don’t get together and talk and we’ve got to work on that. The country is too small not to share. I would be very disappointed to come back [to this conference] next year and find a great idea is still sitting on a piece of paper.”

• NOC feature starts on page 26.

Cultural change for NZTA The NZTA culture has changed from just a focus on our highway asset to include a ‘customer journey’ (or client management in corporate speak).

This has involved additional commercial roles, such as contract managers, network managers, and journey managers that collectively form ‘knowledgeable communities’ or groups that get together on a regular basis for networking, discussion and workshops about the NOCs. The agency has an internal website (with blogs!) for agency folk to share knowledge, but admits it still has a long way to go in terms of upgrading. Capital projects teams work closely with suppliers.

Upgraded process and support systems include InfoHub, the agency’s electronic document storage system. There is a sub section called Highways Information Portal – a repository for manuals and procedures. Due for publication on this portal is a contracts manual specific to the NOCs – a guide for both NZTA and suppliers. Inside the agency’s customer management system (a ‘beast to run’ someone admitted) is its two-year-old finance management tool – SAPS. And, more recently, a zero harm portal for incident reporting.

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DECEMBER 2015 15

CONTRACTOR ON THE COVER

Investing in long-term quality It takes a strong presence to rise above the competition in Auckland’s explosive construction market. For the past eight years, Sureway Civil has been building a reputation of strength and value through careful expansion of its fleet of modern Cat machinery.

FROM ITS BEGINNINGS as a small start-up in 2008, the Auckland-

based company now boasts 30 permanent staff and 15 machines.

Specialising in residential subdivisions of up to 70 lots, Sureway Civil’s continued growth enables it to take on larger clients and more complex projects.

Sureway Civil initially worked with Gough’s rental division for its equipment. “Through The Cat Rental Store we got to know, and like, using Cat machines,” says owner Brandon Hands. “We got more equipment as we could afford it. It seemed logical to continue with Cat as we expanded.”

The result was the growing company bought many of the same models of Cat machines that they had previously rented.

Poovan Naidoo, Territory Sales manager with Gough Cat, sold the company its first used six tonne mini excavator. It was the beginning of a strong business relationship that continues today. Poovan soon helped Brandon choose a new 311DL excavator to add to Sureway’s growing fleet.

“We’re very happy with the reliability of the Cat excavators,” says Brandon.“They guys love them. Everything about them is top quality.”

16 www.contractormag.co.nz

As the company added larger residential projects and commercial contracts to its portfolio, the need for quality equipment increased.

With an eye toward building his reputation in the competitive Auckland market, Brandon looked for a strong brand that would not only satisfy his requirements, but provide excellent service and product support, along with time and money-saving technology.

“Availability of parts is good; it’s one of the reasons I’ve chosen Cat,” Brandon claims.

“The company has been stable since we began dealing with them eight years ago. If you need the parts they’re there. There’s no down time – not that we ever have breakdowns anyway!”

Brandon thinks long term when it comes to adding value for his clients while lowering production costs through supported equipment solutions and his company currently has a Cat fleet that includes a 120M grader, 312EL and 320EL excavators, a variety of D-Series excavators, as well as Cat mini excavators, rollers and a multi terrain loader.

Prior to the inclusion of a new Cat 120M motor grader to its fleet, Sureway Civil subcontracted its grading work. With the increase in

Auckland construction, the company often found it difficult to find quality workers.

The new 120M gives the company a competitive advantage by allowing them to offer a reliable and consistent solution to its clients, with more efficient fine grading, higher production and lower operating costs.

The new grader is equipped with Caterpillar’s ACCUGRADE GPS System, which combines digital design data, in-cab operator guidance features, and automatic blade controls to increase productivity by up to 40 percent, while making dramatic reductions in site costs.

The latest addition to the Sureway Civil fleet is a new 320EL excavator, which joins a 312EL as the second new Cat E-Series in the fleet. Brandon worked with Goughs to compare the benefits of the Cat D and E series model before making his decision.

The 320EL was chosen for its advantages of lower operating costs, 10 percent more fuel efficiency than the D-Series model, and higher levels of operator comfort and safety.

Sureway’s commitment to technology has seen the new excavator fitted with ACCUGRADE GPS grade control, which will assist the 320EL operator work to the design plan by accurately cutting, filling, and reducing material cost. It uses technology to compare the excavator blade position to a three-dimensional computerized site plan and signals the operator or hydraulic system to raise or lower the blade to achieve the design requirements. This allows the

The new 120M gives the company a competitive advantage by allowing them to offer a reliable and consistent solution to its clients, with more efficient fine grading, higher production and lower operating costs. operator to quickly and accurately excavate trenches, slopes and complex designs without traditional survey stakes, which increases material utilisation and ultimately makes the Cat 320EL a more productive performer.

Poovan credits his good working relationship with Sureway Civil to Brandon Hands’ appreciation of what makes a machine valuable over time. Brandon also appreciates the value of good service.

“We have a great partnership with Goughs and a salesperson who looks after all of our needs,” says Brandon.

“The market is busy,” he adds. “We look forward to keep expanding to meet demand and having Cat and Goughs as key partners along the way.”

•

• Copy supplied by Goughs.

DECEMBER 2015 17

CONTRACTOR PROFILE

Mr Dependable Lewis Clotworthy has been in the heavy haulage industry for most of his career. And for much of this time he has worked as a steady and loyal servant for the industry. While others around him shouted and blustered, Lewis quietly and steadily got things done. He recently retired and chatted to MARY SEARLE BELL. EVERYONE I SPOKE to about Lewis said the same thing – Lewis was always there. Always reliable. He was at all the association meetings, board meetings, the committee meetings, and conferences. He was always focused on the issues at hand, always doing what was necessary to advance the position of the industry.

The antithesis of your stereotypical heavy hauler, Lewis is not loud or flamboyant. He’s not one to tell tall stories or crack dubious jokes. His nature is more reserved. Yet, he is always friendly, and was well liked as a president of the Heavy Haulage Association.

His easy-going personality belies his focus and dedication to the task at hand. For that is where he excels. Association chief executive Jonathan Bhana-Thompson says Lewis could always be relied on to get things done how they should be.

“He has an eye for detail. He made sure the i’s were dotted and the t’s crossed. And in everything he did, he put the industry first. He always had the interests of the association at heart.”

“You have to make sure you do the job properly for the members who’ve elected you and make their jobs as easy as possible.”

18 www.contractormag.co.nz

Gavin Riley, past editor of this magazine, describes Lewis as “a very important figure in heavy haulage history”, having served the industry association as its president twice.

“He was a very popular president, very laid back,” says Gavin, who regularly attended association meetings throughout the ’80s and ’90s. “He was always enthusiastic about heavy haulage matters.”

Lewis’ career in the industry began in 1968 when he was employed by Stevensons as a truck driver. Prior to this he had trained as a panel beater.

“Back in those days your parents made you do a trade, so I did a panel beating apprenticeship,” Lewis told Contractor. But a neighbour who drove for Stevensons took Lewis out in his truck and he was hooked.

“I liked trucks,” he says simply. “So I started with Stevies at age 21 and stayed with them for nearly 50 years.”

After a few years of driving, Jack Stevenson asked Lewis to move into the transport office as transport supervisor to look after the trucks. Four years later Bill Stevenson made him transport manager.

That was 1979, and the first year he went to a Heavy Haulage Association meeting.

“I got on to the committee that year – it must have been easy in those days,” he jokes.

He served on the executive for 20 years. He was vice president in 1984-85, and held the office of president in 1986-90 and again in 1993-94. In addition, he was on the Axle Weights and Loading Advisory Committee for 25 years, from 1982 to 2007.

At the same time, he also served on the Road Transport Association and the Road Transport Forum, and was with the Franklin Road Transport Association (which later merged with the Auckland/Northland regional RTA) for 25 years. He received life memberships of all three organisations.

And there’s more: He was on the board of Contrafed Publishing (which produces this magazine) for over 10 years. He was also with the now defunct Commercial Road Users Association for a number of years, serving them as president for three, and also served the Ready Mixed Concrete Association.

“Stevensons encouraged its staff to be involved with associations,” Lewis explains. “We were a small player in the industry, really. Our fleet was for our own equipment mostly – carrying gear between our quarries, mines and workshops.”

Notably, Crelin Keig says Lewis “didn’t work for his own company’s interests but for the association’s”.

Crelin says this is what qualified Lewis for life membership of the Heavy Haulage

Association (given in 1996 at age 49, the youngest ever to receive this honour) and why in 2002 he was awarded the Gus Breen Memorial Award for outstanding achievement in the industry.

“He gave an enormous amount of time to the association,” says Crelin. “He was always very well informed because of his position on the Axle Weights and Loading committee – he knew what was going to happen and how it would affect the industry.

“He was a good chairman. Impartial. And there was no wasted time in meetings. We always finished on time and there was no waiting around for idle chatter. But this didn’t mean he wasn’t friendly,” says Crelin.

“As chairman, he led by example. Everything was done by the book – there were no shortcuts. If that was the law, then that was the way you did it.

“I liked him,” says Crelin. “I liked the way he operated. I liked the way he ran meetings. He was open to motions from the floor and would let people speak as long as they stuck to business.”

Crelin says this focus on doing things properly was key to Lewis’ success as president.

“Lewis’ philosophy was, ‘if you wanted something changed, you impressed the authorities with the weight of your argument.’

He wasn’t one for rallies and loud protests and shouting, he would always go through the proper channels.”

For Lewis, the highlights of his presidencies with the Heavy Haulage Association include taking over the pilot process. “We worked to get what they have today, which is a great thing,” he says.

“Getting the housemovers to join the association was a big achievement personally,” he says. “We had a meeting in Wairakei in 1979 to discuss them joining, and they did within four years.

“And Winston Martyn and I set up the original Permit paper, and that was quite worthwhile too,” he adds.

However, Lewis is reticent about his achievements, blaming a poor memory, and downplaying his years of dedication and service.

“You have to make sure you do the job properly for the members who’ve elected you and make their jobs as easy as possible.”

But now, after 48 years in the industry Lewis has retired. Well, almost. Officially, he retired from Stevensons in June but is still working seven or eight hours a week “tidying up bits and pieces”.

He now has more time to spend with his wife Lynette in their new house in Tuakau, South Auckland (“it’s actually in Waikato”), and with his two young grandsons in Auckland and two teenaged granddaughters in Brisbane.

The endless meetings are being replaced with indoor bowls, walking, cooking and baking, and watching rugby. However, the friends he made throughout his time with the association haven’t been forgotten.

“I intend to stay in touch,” he says. “And attend the heavy haulage conference when it’s in the North Island.”

And if Lewis says so, you can be sure he will.

DECEMBER 2015 19

PHOTOS: MARK TANTRUM FOR LHJV

CONTRACTOR PROJECT

CHOCKS AWAY

for Transmission

Physical work has started on Wellington’s $850 million Transmission Gully Motorway. It is the first New Zealand motorway to be constructed, financed and maintained under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract.

RICHARD SILCOCK reports.

Above: Transport Minister Simon Bridges (left) with Otaki MP Nathan Guy, WGP CEO David Low, LHJV project director Mick O’Dwyer, and NZTA regional director Raewyn Bleakley at the site of the first earthworks.

Opposite page: Map showing the route of the Transmission Gully Motorway.

20 www.contractormag.co.nz

AFTER COUNTLESS DECADES of discussion and

feasibility studies that date back to the 1940s, and following almost a year of preparatory work, Wellington’s Transmission Gully Motorway is finally underway with earthworks having commenced just north of Paekakariki.

At an on-site briefing on October 22 to celebrate the commencement of physical works, the Minister of Transport, Simon Bridges said that the motorway has been designed and would be constructed in a manner that met the government’s Safer Journeys Strategy.

“At $850 million it is one of the most significant single pieces of greenfield’s road construction in the lower North Island,” said the minister. “It is a serious piece of highly spec’d infrastructure – its design and construction reflects the need for an alternative route north that will be both quicker and safer for motorists

and also be more resilient to earthquakes.

It’s really exciting that we now have tangible progress.”

The government gave its commitment to the motorway back in 2009, prompting a number of geotechnical investigations, route determinations, specimen designs and costings. These were accompanied by a series of public consultations, hearings and at times heated public debates before resource consents were awarded in June 2012.

The contract to build the motorway was awarded last year by NZTA to the Wellington Gateway Partnership (WGP), a consortium of financiers and contractors who will finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the highway for 25 years following its completion.

Leighton Contractors and HEB Construction in a joint venture (LHJV) are undertaking the

MAP: WELLINGTON GATEWAY PARTNERSHIP

KEY PROJECT FACTS • I t is the first motorway to be constructed under a PPP contract in NZ. • I t will also be the first to attain GreenroadsTM certification in NZ. • It will comprise: •A 27-kilometre, four-lane motorway from Linden to Mackay’s Crossing.

• 27 bridges and underpasses, the longest being 270 metres.

• Around 110 cut slopes, the highest being just over 70 metres.

Gully

• Three grade-separated interchanges.

• A maximum gradient of 8.3 percent.

• 7 kilometres of swales.

• 17 kilometres of silt/sediment collection ponds.

• 26 kilometres of stream diversion and enhancement work.

• Construction challenges include: • Building specifications that ensure a high degree of seismic resilience.

•S teep gullies and hills will necessitate considerable earthworks with over 6.5 million cubic metres of earth moved to fill gullies.

design and construction for WGP and are calling on a number of subcontractors, such as Goodman Contracting and Higgins Contractors for some of the work in a range of areas including earthworks and maintenance activities.

URS and AECOM are assisting with design aspects, Peters and Cheung is providing geotechnical engineering and Boffa Miskell is providing environmental and ecological advice. Opus International Consultants, which carried out a lot of the early feasibility studies and geotechnical work for the highway several years’ ago, has been engaged as principal advisor by the Porirua City Council for the link roads that will tie in with the highway.

CEO of WGP, David Low says construction will adhere to international and domestic best practice in order to safely and efficiently deliver the project on time and within budget,

• Controlling high rainfall run-off.

• 11 different geological terrains along the alignment.

• It will take five years to complete, with the completion date set at April 2020.

•T he 25-year operational and maintenance contract will be managed by the Wellington Gateway Partnership once the motorway is completed.

What is a PPP contract?

A Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a long-term contract between a public authority and a private sector organisation. It covers the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of public infrastructure and services over a period of time. Full ownership of the infrastructure remains with the public authority.

In the case of Transmission Gully, the contract is between NZTA (for the government) as the public authority and Wellington Gateway Partnership as the private organisation.

DECEMBER 2015 21

CONTRACTOR PROJECT

Representative impressions of the bridge over Cannons Creek.

Design has still to be finalised.

cognisant of all consents and stakeholder requirements, while at the same time meeting all safety practices, undertaking some innovative engineering and environmental mitigation techniques.

The four-lane motorway will run 27 kilometres from the Wellington-Porirua Motorway at Linden to MacKay’s Crossing near Paekakariki, where it will join the Kapiti Expressway (refer Contractor November 2015). There will be five link road interchanges along the motorway, three of which will be grade-separated, and the southern tie-in with the Wellington-Porirua Motorway will be constructed in a manner that will allow for future widening.

Work to date The focus so far has been preparatory: A project office, housing over 100 engineers, and a work compound was established at Lanes Flat near Pauatahanui several months ago following a ceremonial sod turning by Prime Minister John Key and other dignitaries last year, and a blessing of the site by local iwi earlier this year (refer Contractor October 2014 and March 2015).

Other satellite site offices have also been established near Paekakariki (the northern most point of the highway) and Porirua near the 22 www.contractormag.co.nz

southern end.

Other work has entailed geological and environmental investigations prior to establishing access tracks and haul roads to parts of the designated motorway ‘greenfield’ route, constructing temporary stream crossings, preparing for some of the stream diversions and undertaking stabilisation trials.

These trials will confirm the correct methodology is in place to permanently protect exposed cuttings and batters. In conjunction with transverse drainage elements, they will establish monitoring benchmarks and ensure environmental performance once the main earthworks commence.

In addition work has involved vegetation clearance, erecting security fencing and the relocation of service utilities. Transpower has removed and re-routed the high voltage transmission lines and supporting pylons that ran through the gully (after which the route is named) and carried power to the Kapiti Coast.

A midden containing a large number of cockle shells was uncovered in the course of creating a bund for the compound at Lanes Flat, giving credence to the area as having once been a site of an early Maori pa site close to the Pauatahanui Inlet.

The initial physical works for the highway

Above: LHJV senior environmental advisor, Reuben Mills on left, with Goodman’s digger driver Malcolm McLeavy and project archaeologist Mary O’Keeffe, inspect the midden finding at Lanes Flat.

Left: Looking north at an artist’s impression of Bridge No.19 over Duck Creek with Kapiti Island and Wainui Saddle in the distance.

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DECEMBER 2015 23

CONTRACTOR PROJECT

An excavator and dumper commence preparatory earthworks for the new motorway preparing a water sediment holding pond near Paekakariki.

itself have involved building erosion and sediment collection ponds, but will soon move to drainage work including installing crossculverts prior to diverting a number of streams and the commencement of major earthworks.

The project has been divided into zones and construction will be staged so that teams will be working in multiple areas at the same time across the entire length of the project.

Challenges Australian born project director for the LHJV, Mick O’Dwyer, says this motorway’s construction presents quite a few challenges from an engineering perspective.

“The nature of the terrain is our biggest challenge as it ranges from very steep hillsides and gullies [such as the Wainui Saddle], through rocky outcrops to rolling farmland and semiurban areas,” says Mick. “There are 11 different geological terrains along the alignment, each requiring different construction techniques, including ripping rock with bulldozers through to using excavators, scrapers and dump trucks depending on where we are working.

“It will require large-scale earthworks in the vicinity of 6.5 million cubic metres over the length of the project which in itself present’s challenges. Most of the earth will be used 24 www.contractormag.co.nz

within the project, for example, to fill some of the gullies and provide base layers for the highway.

“To achieve this efficiently will require a highly coordinated mass haul strategy, with the weather, geology and the machinery selection all critical factors in achieving efficient haul rates,” he says. “Progressive stabilisation as the earthworks progress will help minimise any impacts on the environment and ensure good ground compaction.

“Controlling the flow of rainwater run-off from the many steep hills and gullies that run perpendicular to the alignment is also a special challenge,” says Mick. “We will control this through the installation of temporary culverts and overland flow paths during the construction phase.

“For the permanent works we have to consider both 10-year and 100-year storm and flood events and will address this by combining the stream diversions, overland flow channels and buried culverts that will run both parallel and across the highway alignment. The large transverse culverts have been designed to also carry any debris flows from the hills above.”

As there are several fault lines that run through the gully the motorway also needs to withstand the effects of earthquakes. As such, one of the engineering requirements is that

the design and construction of the motorway and the various structures meet New Zealand’s earthquake safety standards and are resilient to severe movement.

Twenty-seven structures are to be constructed for the motorway, ranging from small underpasses to a 270-metre long bridge across Cannons Creek. Most will be built using reinforced concrete mounted on hollow-core and super-T bridge beams, with reinforced concrete abutments and piers.

Four will be steel structures, of which two will be constructed by incrementally building out across Cannons Creek and Duck Creek.

Innovation In meeting the work safety requirements, LHJV is integrating new technology within established methods to reset ‘the norm’ and carry out tasks both safely and efficiently.

“An example of this is where we will utilise drones [UAVs] to provide fast, real time GPS and survey information for alignment, volume calculations and three-dimensional data,” says Mick. “Rather than sending surveyors in, we will be able to overfly areas to ascertain this information, saving a lot of time and providing real-time calculations.”

Transmission Gully will be the first motorway

and road of national significance (RoNS) constructed in New Zealand to achieve Greenroads certification. This is an international sustainability rating system for road design and construction that meets a recognised environmental performance standard.

NZTA say the PPP contract model will help encourage the most advanced technology and innovation is brought to the project and that it will drive value for money, reduce financial risk and ensure a high quality outcome, while also retaining the intellectual property rights and ownership for government.

NZTA chief executive Geoff Dangerfield says, “The Transport Agency will consider PPPs for other projects that have the scale and complexity that will permit superior value for money to be achieved by using a PPP approach.”

Together with the upgraded WellingtonPorirua Motorway and the new Kapiti Expressway, Transmission Gully will provide a seamless, 110 kilometre ‘Wellington Northern Corridor’ route from Wellington to Levin when completed in 2020. It is expected over 22,000 vehicles will use it each day by 2026.

Sections of the current SH1, not incorporated into the new route will be re-designated as an alternative coastal route.

“The Transport Agency will consider PPPs for other projects that have the scale and complexity that will permit superior value for money to be achieved by using a PPP approach.”

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DECEMBER 2015 25

CONTRACTOR PROCUREMENT

NOCs

An industry game changer

The Transport Agency’s new Network Outcomes Contracts (NOCs) model represents a paradigm shift in the way our highway network is maintained, and it has changed the civil construction landscape. Having reached into its second year, with the sensitive tendering process almost completed, ALAN TITCHALL reviews its progress.

THE NEW ‘NETWORK Outcomes Contract’ model was developed for one primary reason – to meet “constrained maintenance budgets” during the past recession made by road funding cuts imposed over the 2012-2015 National Land Transport Fund period. The Transport Agency now concedes that, since 2000, highway maintenance costs had been “getting out of hand”.

It is over two years since the NZTA came up with its new Network Outcomes Contracts (NOCs) model. I don’t think anyone, least of all the Transport Agency, knew how significant its changes were going to be, and what an impact they would have on both its own culture and the roading industry.

First a quick history In 2012 NZTA’s group manager, Highways and Network Operations, Colin Crampton was in charge of absorbing budget cuts.

Back then he wrote in this magazine that road maintenance and operations had reached a tipping point. “Facing a six percent annual increase in maintenance and operations and renewals expenditure, which equates to a $160 million shortfall over the next Government Policy Statement period, is a pretty loud wake-up call for our sector.

26 www.contractormag.co.nz

We have to do things differently, and we have to find efficiency improvements.”

Concerned that any government funding cuts would hurt an industry already in recession, Roading NZ and the Contractor’s Federation approached the government and asked it to review its network spend from the angle of ‘efficiencies’. This resulted in a Minister’s Road Maintenance Efficiency Task Force.

At the same time, the NZTA carried out its own internal review of network contracts. Both investigations found, not surprisingly, a lot of ‘inefficiency’.

As Crampton explained at the time, State Highway “business” had remained, largely, unaltered since the introduction of competitive pricing procedures some two decades before.

“For example, Opus is our predominant national supplier of network maintenance professional services, managing around 70 percent of our network,” he said. “A single supplier, yet we have 16 different contracts with them. Does this represent good value for money?”

At an early stage, the NZTA placed the focus on the size and duration of future maintenance contracts. In other words bigger, fewer, and longer than the typical five-year duration of the existing performance-based Performance Specified Maintenance (PSMC), Hybrids and Traditional contracts (with many variations) employed at the time.

The review and eventual new model ended up with multiple drivers: The government’s Road Maintenance Task Force (RMTF), made up of local government, industry and NZTA representatives, an auditor-general report into NZTA’s procurement policies, and the NZTA’s own State Highways & Operations Group. The Transport Agency must have also taken note of Auckland Transport’s moves to larger and longer road maintenance contracts after the merger of the city’s local authorities.

On the sidelines was an advisory group made up of contracting and transport sector representatives and NZTA staff.

Keeping to a promise, the NZTA did a lot of listening and collaborating with the industry; specifically, with the Contractor’s Federation, Roading NZ, and ACENZ, which all had a vested interest in any new procurement model. Ongoing roading network maintenance is, after all, the life blood of civil contracting.

The transport industry at the time, it was noted, either directly or indirectly controlled more than $1.5 billion in civil contracting maintenance works every year. The way this is procured will always have a significant impact on the entire industry.

And it can be argued that the differing views of Roading NZ and the Contractor’s Federation around the development of the new procurement model, along with the use of NZS 3910, or the collaborative NEC General Conditions of Contract, crystallised the contracting industry into speaking with one voice, and was a major driver in the merger of Roading NZ and the Federation into Civil Contractors New Zealand (CCNZ) in 2014.

Roading NZ was already pushing for a technology-based, collaborative-type contract approach to road construction and maintenance with a strategy called ‘Whole of Life Savings’, which recognised that a large proportion of the total cost of an asset over its lifetime is incurred by maintenance. That cost can be reduced both by taking ‘whole of life’ into account when designing the road in the first place, and by planning an ongoing maintenance programme around the most effective options from a specified budget. The essence of this strategy was published as a document called ‘Stepping Up... to the challenge of efficiency gains’ in February 2012.

The Contractor’s Federation pushed for collaborative forms of contract under ‘alliance’ type principles. It also had an agenda to maximise the number of new maintenance contracts and protect the interest of its smaller members. The Transport Agency at one point talked about two mega network maintenance contracts (one for each island), before this number crept up under negotiations to eight and, finally, 23.

Position of the small and medium contractors From the outset, the new model, developed by the NZTA’s own maintenance and operations review team (under its Headway Focus project), moved to performance outcomes, rather than the inputs focus of existing contract models.

The development of a single performance contract involved aggressive

levels of aggregation, which resulted in lively industry debate. Would reducing maintenance to a single supplier contracting model result, over time, in a lack of industry competition, and a diminishing number of small to medium contractors?

In a column in this magazine Colin Crampton acknowledged this concern.

“That’s why the new contracting model includes built-in measures to encourage more head contractors, and for these bigger suppliers to form new arrangements with medium to small contractors to be competitive. For example, the [contracts] will have a two-year transition period during which head contractors must tender out a fixed percentage of work based on the historical market. This will give current suppliers an opportunity to work and grow with the new model.”

Crampton added: “We think the [new model] covers all the competitive bases.

But we’ll need to see it in action to be sure competition is being encouraged, not stifled. And if it is, be prepared to act, quickly and proactively.”

The final model, launched in 2013, is called Network Outcomes Contracts (NOCs) and features mechanisms, as promised, that require Primary Suppliers to engage and treat SMEs fairly. There’s a direct channel for contractors to raise issues regarding unfair contractual conditions and behaviour. The minimum default percentage for subcontracting out NOC physical and consulting work is 20 percent, but no less than that subcontracted on historical levels in the region (which means well over 30 percent in some regions).

At the NZ Transport Agency & NZIHT annual conference last month, I had an opportunity to talk with agency management over the success of this arrangement.

Says NZTA group manager Highways and Network Operations, Tommy Parker: “In competitive tendering there are always going to be winners and losers.

“We went through a long process with extensive consultation with the industry and specified a minimum amount of work by subcontractors to sustain local market for smaller players.

“We do encourage all contractors to come and talk with us and liaise, and we have a number of avenues [through] which they can do that.

DECEMBER 2015 27

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“The impression I get is that by and large it [NOC model] is fair and is working for most people and our contractors are getting a fair crack of the whip with work.

I won’t say that is the situation in every case, but generally we are satisfied at where we have got to.”

Nic Johansson, the NZTA’s primary liaison person with contractors in regards to the NOCs, says: “Most contracts are delivering to the timeframes from the initial contract start date which shows contractors are starting well, and are keen to get it right.”

He adds that no subcontractors have raised issues regarding unfair contractual conditions or behaviour, but nor has any subcontractor ‘stepped up’ to become a Principal Supplier.

“Not as yet,” says Johansson. “We are seeing good cross-section representation on contract boards and contract management teams. One of the benefits of this model is that it provides the

opportunity for subcontractors to step up to lead contractors in the future – as this is only the first round of tenders under the NOC model, we would envisage the potential for this stepping up to occur in future tendering rounds.”

One network approach A fundamental principle of the new NOC model is a ‘one network approach’ so road users experience no differences between regions. While the size of each region varies, the average roading area per contract is between 1200 and 1600 kilometres.

The one network approach is the reason both contractor and NZTA work together as one team, and even share offices, and work on consistent management and measurements (through Operational Performance Measures [OPMs] and Key Results Areas [KRAs]) supported by the NZTA’s visual identity guidelines manual.

The NZTA acknowledges areas of ‘vulnerability’ in terms of overall contract compliance (eg, ‘shoulder’ measurements) and where OPMs are open to interpretation, such as vegetation control. All sealed services must be free of vegetation, but what about lichen and moss? While there are things in the NOC that are still open to interpretation, any decisions made must be on a “national basis”, says the NZTA, while acknowledging areas such as ‘emergency response’ will vary according to the scale of the region.

At the NZTA/NZIHT conference it was noted: “In these situations we decide what is fair and reasonable using a collaborative approach and ensure a national consistency, while appreciating there is always going to be some variation around our regions.

Meantime expect ongoing changes to the [visual identity] guidelines as the document evolves.”

NZTA cultural change

JACK HANSBY, NZTA’S principal procurement manager, says

that two and a half years down the track the programme is on target.

“And the credit goes to the industry and to our people for their commitment and focus into this significant change.”

It has involved a huge cultural change in the agency and a “paradigm shift” in the way it views and acts on the country’s highways asset, he adds.

“We learnt that in the old approach we focused on the asset and the road surface and roading environment. The new approach takes in ‘the customer and the customer journey’ in addition to optimising asset management.

“The Highways and Network Operations team restructured itself and we reformed how we looked internally, both at national and regional office.

“At the end of the day, we restructured industry. We have all changed together.”

28 www.contractormag.co.nz

Highway maintenance contracts have been reduced from around 100 contracts to 23, he iterates.

“Surprisingly, we have seen five new contractors. Of the 13 NOCs awarded so far, five of these have gone to new suppliers.”

Hansby notes the irony that while the whole exercise had been about efficiencies and budget restraints, the country’s largest ever state highway annual capital expenditure is planned between 2016-17.

“Ultimately you will ask the question in terms of the NOC contracts – have we actually achieved that $160 million shortfall?

“Yes we have.

“The question remains – has this saving been achieved through competition, efficiencies from the contract model, or reduced investment in renewals, or perhaps from all of these?

“We still need a bit more time before we can tell you.”

NOC finer points

The SCRIM truck is a regular summer visitor to our roads and vital for estimating network maintenance intervention

Gauging success THE QUESTION REMAINS, when does the NZTA start to appreciate the overall success of the NOC model?

“We are always getting signals and so far they have been very good,” says NZTA highways manager Tommy Parker. “We are getting a lot of competitive tenders, good prices and good signs about the culture and capabilities – and it’s all looking good.

Of course maintenance is long term so it’s always going to be an emerging picture.

“What we have seen to date is significant savings, no clear deterioration in the condition of pavements. However, as a long-term game we have to continue to improve our data quality, and it not always as complete or as good as it should be so we are looking to improve that.”

Have you succeeded in producing a single model that can be applied across the country?

“The key principle is that we have the same contract model across the whole network with the exception of Auckland, so we can compare and contrast the regions on a consistent basis because previously we had different contract models and it was impossible to compare.

“We have a high number of suppliers now. The tender phase did cause a lot of commercial tension. We are looking at getting over that and exercising the contracts.

“As we only have one more contract in the North Island, we will have a dashboard for the whole of the North Island where we can compare production, cost and output of different contracts and that will allow us to ask some pretty good questions.”

The new contract model contains a mix of one-sum and measured-value contracting; and both output and outcome based requirements.

It sets out to clearly define the risk profile within the contract; shares some risk with suppliers, while seeking to transfer risk to suppliers through lump sum payment items.

Where the scope of the works cannot be clearly defined, the NZTA says a transparent and measured cost approach is adopted.

The NOC also contains what it calls, “Clearly defined and measurable outcomes and value for money performance measures; mechanisms to drive performance against a key set of customer focused deliverables; and mechanisms to reward and penalise performance.”

They also involve works that cannot be adequately scoped, such as winter maintenance and ‘emergency response’ beyond an agreed risk profile.

There is flexibility to adjust quantities and levels of service throughout the contract, which also has a tenure risk reward mechanism with performance against (six) Key Results Areas. There is a ‘reward mechanism’ for ‘stretching’ the pavement and aspahlt concrete surfacing assets – or getting better life out of those.

A monthly at-risk payment is linked to a significant number of performance measures.

There is a contractor obligation of at least 20 percent of annual turnover, to make sure small or medium contractors get a look in and that part of the market is continuing to be upskilled. There is a ‘desire’ for advance asset management principles documented within the maintenance management plan.

Plus there are expectations of quality and close supervision of construction to avoid the penalty reductions if the quality is not right. There are also expectations of collaborative working and taking ownership or stewardship of the network.

Importantly, there is an expectation of an ‘open relationship’ based on good faith and an expectation for contractors to work closely with local councils.

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The first NOC in action AT THE TIME OF writing 13 new NOC

contracts had been awarded; three previous maintenance contracts were ‘converted’ to NOCs – Marlborough Roads (from a Hybrid) and two Performance Specified Maintenance Contracts (PMSCs). There’s also the special Auckland Motorway Alliance and the Milford Road contracts in the mix. Two more new NOCs were at tender phase at the time of writing, leaving three more contracts to be tendered.

The new model has resulted in new contract sharing among nine major contractors and includes newbies such as Aussie-based Services South East (Gisborne North region) and major contractor Higgins stepping up to a Primary Supplier role.

The first NOC was awarded just before Christmas, 2013, to a partnership led by Downer (the previous maintenance contractor for this region) for the South Canterbury area – a 570 kilometre, mostly rural network.

The partnership involves engineering services provider GHD, surfacing supplier Isaac, local contracting company Paul Smith, and vegetation control operator GSL. The $69.9 million contract started in April 2014 and runs over seven years.

Murray Keast, Downer manager for the South Canterbury NOC, made a presentation (his own views) at the NZTA/NZIHT conference called ‘The journey so far’ and he admits it

proved a “long journey” in terms of maintenance management planning.

“For Downers it has presented a number of opportunities. We are involved in six NOCs, either as lead contractor or a supplier in a contracting, or a JV situation.

“We are able to offer a lot more opportunities for our cadets and graduates and existing staff in terms of the range of skills and experiences being involved.

“We have worked at ‘consistency’, not only to mirror the agency’s expectations, but those of our corporation, in terms of breaking down silos and being consistent in the way we deliver to the agency.

This has mainly been through the contracts plans and the South Canterbury and Taranaki NOCs working closely together.

“Auditing those plans is a new process and is a big requirement of the ‘Key Result Areas’ so we have developed some common auditing processes.

“Asset management is an important part of these contracts and this was a huge undertaking for us and that was approved recently [late October 2015] and was a major achievement for the [agency] teams and the company.”

Keast says the NOC contracts have created “a whole lot of new relationships not only with the agency but with our subcontractors – and we have been meshing together nicely”.

The NOC model was a major focus at the NZTA/NZIHT conference Waitangi.

30 www.contractormag.co.nz

“We have knowledge communities within Downer with our network managers who meet together on a monthly basis and good opportunities to share different aspects of the contract.”

One of the challenges was that the South Canterbury region had been a traditional ‘measure and value’ contract since the early 1990s. “As a fully measured contract structure, it has been a challenge for crews at the road coalface. Rather than waiting to be told what to do they have been empowered to make decisions in terms of what’s required.”

Another challenge, he says was getting heads around the Network Outcome OPMs and the new KRAs. The NOCs are self-audited by the suppliers and the NZTA developed a Visual Audit Guideline on its website for agency and supplier staff to interpret OPM auditing in the field, to make sure everyone is on the same wavelength and avoid regional inconsistencies.

A NZTA ‘performance team’ made up of ‘asset integrators’ and ‘contract manager’ oversee the level of service delivered on each network and the overall performance of the suppliers.

“The Key Results Area system is new and very evidence hungry,” says Keast. “You have to prove or demonstrate you have done what the key performance indicators require of you.

“It’s fair to say it was a slow start in year one. The guidelines were issued in September [2014] after our contract award, and it took us a little while to get our heads around what was actually required of us to measure and what evidence to capture and keep.”

Keast’s advice for new NOC comers is simple. “Get started early. And it is easier for a contractor that has come from a Hybrid or PMSC background than from a traditional contract model. Use the grace period as much as you can. Start OPM and KPI measurements during this time and get an understanding of what the forward work programme entails, as it does vary depending on when your contract starts. Understand the OPM and KRA processes and the data required, and records that need to be kept.”

The new model is going to be around for a long time, he adds. “We are still early on the journey and there’s still a lot of understanding and working together to be done. But we will succeed together.

“Those of us who drink a bit of wine appreciate the difference between that just out of the barrel and wine that has been in storage for a wee while. The NOC is a very young wine, and has some way to go.”

Local authorities teaming up with NZTA

The art of asset squeezing AT THE CCNZ CONFERENCE at Wairakei

this year, NZTA highway manager Tommy Parker made an interesting acknowledgement about road maintenance funding, referring to a $160 million shortfall a few years ago that initiated a whole new approach to network maintenance contracts.

“We will have to talk to our masters,” he said. “We cannot squeeze the [roading] assets any further.”

He added: “Whether we have made too much in savings is only something we will know in the future.”

The NZTA has made reference to this gamble in the past, but it was the first time it publicly acknowledged the risk of ‘asset sweating’ our roading network.

About five years ago the government decided it needed to save $160 million over three years on the maintenance and operations (M&O) of the state highway network.

A Ministerial Taskforce led by Steven Joyce looked at the entire ideology of maintaining and operating our roading network in terms of better ‘efficiencies’.

The NZTA eventually developed the Network Outcomes Contract (NOC) model based on, amongst many other new angles, asset condition rather than routine maintenance.

One angle is to simply ‘sweat the asset’, or take the roading asset to the point where it is just about to fail before intervening. Past practice saw resealing on a regular basis; usually every five years. But if you push this out a few more years while monitoring the condition of the roading network,

Tommy Parker

there is money to be saved. That’s the theory.

The risk is getting it wrong in terms of timing and ‘intervention’ and ending up with a bow-wave of roading renewals and rehabilitation.

Monitoring road networks is not an easy task. Traffic flow patterns change over time on different sections of the networks and the number of nine-axle, high productivity vehicles on the road is increasing.

These days there is a lot of technology, such as SCRIM monitoring, to assist in the intervention decision.

“And our data sets are improving, which is ultimately what you want to get down to. In my experience it is a lot harder than you think and there’s always a number of variables that are unforeseen,” says Parker.

“But the more data and track record you have the better informed those decisions will be.”

The NZTA’s new NOC model has affected contract work from contractors’ other main source of work – local governments which, around the country, are in a conundrum whether to go down the NZTA bundle path or not. While one size does not fit all, and every region is different, alliances between the NZTA and local governments over roading maintenance are picking up a lot of interest.

This was a subject that came up in papers at this year’s Road Engineering Association of Asia & Australasia conference and not all councils agree with the NZTA. In a conference presentation called, ‘Does size matter in procurement?’

by Warren Furner from the Ruapehu District Council and Roger Coles from GHD, it was noted that the local council ‘swam’ against the current of amalgamation and bundling and challenged the ‘bigger is better’ approach.

The Ruapehu District Council, when developing its procurement strategy, say the authors, unbundled its maintenance contracts and extended contract terms to better align with plant life and investment returns, and allow “significant participation” from “small to medium enterprise in a contest for smaller parts” of the council’s road maintenance business.

It was noted that the process was like “returning to the roadmen of old”, who watched over the asset.

DECEMBER 2015 31

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At the coalface A sampling of different views about the new NOC model from those close to its development.

Nic Johansson

(pictured above)

Johansson is the NZTA’s primary liaison person with contractors in regards to the NOCs. He was the Southern Region NZTA manager when the contracts were being set up and now he is based in Tauranga as the highway manager for the region.

Can the NZTA already appreciate the ‘benefits’ it expects from the new NOC model?

It is still very early in the implementation of the model. Early indications are that it is producing the outcomes sought. We are seeing a good mix of primary suppliers, professional service providers and subcontractors, and savings through tender processes.

When do you expect to fully assess the workings of the model?

It is relatively hard to judge when we may be able to ‘fully assess’ the model – the roll-out is progressive and, as such, I would say it is a continuous improvement process. Rather than fully assessing the workings of the model, our combined success will be in how we [the Transport Agency and our suppliers] are working together to continue to develop a model that delivers on expectations and outcomes. Having said this, we are regularly assessing performance against service delivery and Key Result Areas and, as we better develop our reporting regime, this will better inform us of the success of our new approach. We also have been building our internal knowledge of asset management performance, and are becoming a much more well-informed asset owner/client.

32 www.contractormag.co.nz

Chris Olsen, ex Roading NZ chief executive

Dave Wilson, managing director, The Roading Company

As someone who was at the sharp end of NOC model development, what was Roading NZ’s biggest concern?

That the efficiencies of the NOC model would be compromised/reduced by a move away from a true collaborative contract model and by artificial interventions in the free market.

Do you think NOCs provide greater opportunity for most contractors?

The team that I went with in the NOC Southland bid was unsuccessful so there will be no NZTA work available for me to tender for the next nine years (except capital work which there is very little of in Southland).

What would your definition of ‘success’ be?

As per the RNZ ‘Stepping Up …’ document released in February 2012.

How has it changed the way you work with other contractors?

Our company relationships have changed as we now are on the outer with the winning contractor, which impacts on our ability to tender for LA [local authority] work. We can only get one sealing rate.

Jeremy Sole, consultant and ex CEO NZ Contractor’s Federation What would your definition of NOC scheme success be?

I think the final configuration was good and success looks like: efficient, quality, lower cost maintenance and repairs; and a healthy road maintenance contracting industry with multiple participants at multiple sizes and opportunities to bid directly for road maintenance work.

When will this show?

I think that the first test for NZTA comes when the operationalisation deadlines are reached for each contract – they have a specified time to reach operational efficiency levels or the contract will be terminated – whether or not NZTA has the appetite for that remains to be seen – same for each of the following review points. I also think NZTA’s commitments to industry will be tested if, and when, a primary contractor (at least its regional staff anyway) treats a subcontractor unfairly.

The ultimate success will show at the end of the contract periods if there have been savings, there is a healthy local road maintenance contracting community and if the roads are in good condition.

What changes would you like to see in the NOC scheme in the future?

The biggest impact on the market at the moment is the lack of spending in the regions (sweating of the asset?). The lack of certainty of budgets has meant that very little work has reached the market this season.

Chris Russell, managing director, Russell Roads You were originally opposed to the NOC contract model. What is your opinion now?

Yes, I was strongly opposed to this type of contract, but Jeremy Sole and the NZCF listened to what a number of SMEs had to say and managed to get a number of conditions into the contracts that gave us a chance to carry out some of the work.

As I understand it, the large companies have also to commit to helping SMEs achieve higher qualifications and be able to compete for this work in the future. A big ask, I know, but if that is followed through that would be a big win/win for all concerned.

What, if anything, would you like to see changed?

The rules set in place need to be followed in the spirit they were intended otherwise it could be the end of the road for a number of SMEs especially ones that want to grow and tender for local body and NZTA work.

David Geor, chief executive officer, Higgins Do you think the NOCs provide greater opportunity for most contractors?

The opportunity is contained within the NOC model to create a more balanced and healthier market. This together with the removal of the evaluation categories of ‘relevant experience’ and ‘track record’ from the tender attributes is providing greater opportunities for companies to compete for this work. Prior to the NOCs the market was dominated by two companies for physical works and one for professional services. There has been some movement of this position, but more needs to be done to realise the goal of a nationally distributed market.

How has it changed the way you tender for contracts and how you work with other contractors?

In the first instance, the change in models has made it more attractive to bid for other networks, some of which we would not have bid for in the past.

We are also looking to developing greater subcontractor involvement in our bids, making sure that we are above the minimum threshold levels that are set. In this we are deliberately passing work through to subcontractors which we are capable of self-performing.

What changes would you like to see in the future?

We need to see it in full operation; this means the accurate reporting of contract performance and the subsequent contractual remedies.

The new model brought in payment adjustments, both up and down and tenure adjustments. These need to be put into effect so we can see the full impact of the model’s operation before we consider changing.

As a part of this, the Transport Agency has work to do on its side to further promote uniformity in its contract administration. A lot has been done, but there is more to do around the

performance measurements and the procurement of additional services.

Anecdotally, these issues may be being managed differently on different networks. However, in overview, the model is fundamentally sound, once you take the time to understand it.

companies may suffer.

Having been a part of the development of the NOC I believe the model is sound and now relies upon the parties to make them work.

Malcolm Abernethy, executive officer, CCNZ

Have you picked up any concerns from major contractors or SMEs? We have heard some niggles from the major contractors about missing out on market share, however that was always going to occur if the incumbent maintenance contractor is unsuccessful in a NOC that replaces an existing maintenance contract. The issue arises where a major contractor has to move from a regional area or significantly downsize its operation. We have heard reports of job cuts that at a regional level are significant. That’s not good, especially if the people are not employed by the successful Primary Supplier.

Anecdotally, we have heard a high level of satisfaction from subsuppliers but that has not been fully canvassed (yet). We have also heard some dissatisfaction over how tender evaluation has occurred and not understanding how some contract award decisions are made.

As someone who has been at the frontline of the NOC development, what do you think now?

The procurement process appears relatively robust and not all of the contracts are awarded on price.

For that reason it is encouraging to see recognition of the contractors’ Maintenance Management Plan along with other non-price attributes.

There was recognition that pricing by contractors was generally low and so NZTA has changed to a type of target out turn model. NZTA has also embraced collaboration in many of the contracts, however the level of collaboration varies dependent on the personalities involved.

The Primary Suppliers share some knowledge and watch each other to determine how each contract is being managed – both by the contractor and NZTA. The true test for the subsuppliers (subcontractors) will not become apparent until the contracts have been in operation for a full year.

And while there are many mediumsized contracting companies included within the NOC, there is a significant concern that the next tier of contracting

How long do you think it will be before we will know the NOCs are working to expectations?

I think it will take a [another] full year for each of the contracts to determine their success and in the meantime the challenge is that they remain relatively consistent in terms of contract conditions. It may take longer to determine the effect on those contractors that have missed out and the impacts on the local market(s).

I suggest that where a local supplier is very dominant the effect may be disastrous for some SMEs unless they become a lot more agile and adapt the type of work they do and their client base. The effect on the ‘healthy industry’ may take several years to determine the full impact and this will be dependent on how the local road maintenance space is packaged.

Ruapehu District Council [see story on page 31] is a refreshing outcome that needs to be emulated. Remember the mantra that ‘one size does not fit all’.

I understand NZTA is doing, or has already done, an audit on Ruapehu’s procurement practices as a result of their direction.

Frances Boyce, director, Whittaker Civil Is the NOC model working in your region?

It has been a slow process for work being released, however we are expecting work schedules to pick up in the next 12 months.

There will always be a consideration for improvements in road conditions, and particularly in Taranaki we have road networks that need upgrading.

Could it work better – of course. As I said the delivery has been too slow, which means that from a continuous maintenance perspective, issues of [asset] deterioration are currently prevalent.

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34 www.contractormag.co.nz

LYTTELTON PORT expansion Earthquake-battered Lyttelton Port, our third largest and the South Island’s biggest container terminal, is a step closer to major expansion after Environment Canterbury commissioners approved a draft recovery plan. CHRIS WEBB looks at the work so far.

DECEMBER 2015 35

CONTRACTOR PROJECT

Above: Last year, Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee called for the preparation of a Port Recovery Plan that would speed the necessary consenting and other procedures to ensure Lyttelton can rebuild, keep abreast of demand and maintain its important position at the heart of Canterbury’s vibrant economy.

Opposite page: Some 7000 cubic metres of concrete have been poured to form the wharf deck, much of it up to one metre thick, in an operation involving up to 60 trucks a day.

36 www.contractormag.co.nz

LYTTELTON PORT CURRENTLY handles almost

400,000 20-foot container equivalents a year, a figure which its operator, Lyttelton Port Company (LPC), expects to increase fourfold over the next 30 years. To cope with this growing throughput, and in the wake of the 2010/11 earthquakes, LPC wants to expand the eastern end of the port to build two new berths and a long-term container terminal.

Major works are already under way to reclaim 10 hectares of land using demolition waste from buildings irreparably damaged in the earthquakes and repairing port structures.

Some 75 percent of Lyttelton’s wharves and other structures were identified in LPC surveys as severely damaged. Last year, Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee called for the preparation of a Port Recovery Plan that would speed the necessary consenting and other

procedures to ensure Lyttelton can rebuild, keep abreast of demand and maintain its important position at the heart of Canterbury’s vibrant economy.

Environment Canterbury commissioners approved the draft plan in August after an initial public consultation, paving the way for the minister to publish it, invite written comments from the public, and decide whether to rubber stamp it or approve it with or without changes.

Proposals in the draft plan include providing a more streamlined and reliable consenting process for an extra 24 hectares of reclaimed land at Te Awaparahi Bay for a new container terminal, and enabling the redevelopment of Dampier Bay, ensuring better public access to the waterfront, while limiting commercial development there so that it does not compete

with Lyttelton town centre.

Some 10 hectares of land is currently being reclaimed.

However, the additional reclamation would enable the port to construct a new container terminal and to provide for larger ships.

It will be a controlled activity under the Resource Management Act, in which Environment Canterbury must grant the consent, but it can impose conditions, and the consent application will be publicly notified. Other activities associated with the reclamation, including building wharf structures and dredging to create a berth pocket, will also be controlled activities with public notification.

Currently, work at the site continues apace, however. The huge project to rebuild Cashin Quay Two wharf was scheduled to be finished in November, with the storage area behind it for more than 700 containers set for completion early next year. The new wharf marks a significant milestone in LPC’s plan for

future growth. Work has involved the demolition of the existing structure and its replacement with a new 230-metre long and 34-metre wide container wharf including associated works.

HEB Construction is the contractor for the $56 million project, which involved the cutting of a dredge batter providing for a wider wharf structure and deeper berth pocket with approximately 45,000 cubic metres of excavated material being undertaken from land and 20,000 cubic metres from barge. The project also involves the placing of 19,000 cubic metres of armour rock.

For the new foundations, works included installation of a total of 42 bents of six piles each (four of 710 metre diameter, two of 610 diameter) driven piles to approximately 60 metres deep.

Some 7000 cubic metres of concrete have been poured to form the wharf deck, much of it up to one metre thick, in an operation involving up to 60 trucks a day. The completed structure has been

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Ph 027 946 2828 www.torrentfloodgates.co.nz DECEMBER 2015 37

CONTRACTOR PROJECT

At its peak, construction of the wharf employed 180 personnel in what is one of Canterbury’s most significant earthquake rebuilds to date.

designed to be stronger and more resilient.

At its peak, construction of the wharf employed 180 personnel in what is one of Canterbury’s most significant earthquake rebuilds to date. LPC says it will provide for a second container vessel berth, increase the capacity for the container terminal and allow better operational efficiency.

At nearby Rolleston, construction of the new Inland Port is underway and scheduled to be fully operational with a rail service by early 2016. It is all part of LPC’s 30-year vision to ensure Lyttelton can meet increasing freight demands, with container volumes expected to double in a decade and double again by 2041.

An important part of the long-term plan is to relocate significant port services east onto a

vast area of reclamation in Te Awaparahi Bay, intended to allow the re-opening of parts of the inner harbour in the west to the public.

Building landward was a restrictive option, leaving seaward reclamation the most attractive alternative. Consequently, marine reclamation into the harbour began just a month after the 2011 earthquake.

To this end, LPC has now reclaimed more than nine hectares of harbour to the east of existing container operations. Completion of the 10 hectares in total, for which LPC has resource consent, is expected early next year. LPC wants to extend the project in the long term to a total of 33.5 hectares that will boost capacity by adding a second container terminal and support the region’s forecast freight increase.

Christchurch rubble a win-win After the earthquakes, initial assessments indicated the city faced the demolition of some 1100 CBD buildings, up to 500 commercial buildings outside the CBD, and perhaps 10,000 or more domestic dwellings. Lyttelton is utilising these ‘clean’ rubble arisings in the reclamation process which LPC chief executive Peter Davie describes as a “win-win” for Christchurch and the port.

“Christchurch is able to dump free of charge recycled hard fill from city demolitions at the port’s reclamation, thereby providing free fill to create the additional space needed for its operations.

“This will help ensure LPC can continue to sustainably contribute to the economic well-being of the region as a major cargo hub.

“Space has become particularly important since

38 www.contractormag.co.nz

the earthquakes, with the majority of the wharves damaged. Our focus has been on staying operational while completing temporary repairs and dealing with continued growth in international trade.”

All told, around 4.25 million tonnes of recyclable demolition material is expected from the demolition of buildings. The ‘clean’ concrete and brick rubble is going to the Lyttelton Harbour reclamation project and other sites, as it requires only minor processing. What is left is the mixed demolition material needing major processing to be separated into useful components. The government approved the 10-hectare reclamation at Lyttelton Port at an early stage, giving the city of Christchurch a practical way to deal with some of the estimated 8.5 million tonnes of rubble and other materials.

HELPING BUILD NEW ZEALAND FOR OVER 60 YEARS

hirepool.co.nz | 0800 15 15 15

CONTRACTOR CIVIL TRADES

First certified civil tradespeople honoured The first Certified Civil Tradespeople were honoured at the Civil Trades national launch, which took place at parliament in early December. The group, made up of 14 experienced operators from around the country, were part of a pilot programme for the Civil Trades Recognition of Current Competence (RCC) pathway.

RCC IS ONE OF THREE available ways to become a Certified Civil Tradesperson. The process involves experienced operators being assessed to a Level 4 Civil Infrastructure Trades Qualification. To obtain the qualification, the new graduates demonstrated, through evidence they gathered with the support of the Connexis customer service account managers, that they had a minimum of five years’ experience and had worked at a highly skilled level for at least one year.

This evidence was assessed against the qualification, and the group were then evaluated for the Civil Trades Certificate.

The new RCC process represents a step change in the way qualifications are assessed in the civil infrastructure space. The aim of the pilot programme was for industry to get familiar with the new RCC assessment model for the new Infrastructure Civil Trades Qualifications. It was also an opportunity for the Civil Trades Certification board to confirm that the evaluations for the Civil Trades Certificate are being carried out at the correct level.

The board selected the candidates for the pilot programme to ensure small, medium and large companies spread from Northland to Southland were all represented. Despite their diverse backgrounds, a recurring theme among candidates was their pride at finally gaining formal recognition of their skills and experience. A number of candidates who have 40 www.contractormag.co.nz

previously achieved industry qualifications commented that the RCC process was a lot more relevant and straightforward.

In the words of one candidate, it cut out a lot of unnecessary paperwork and didn’t try to teach him to “suck eggs”.

Civil Trades has been developed by Civil Contractors New Zealand and industry training organisation Connexis, and is supported by the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT). CCNZ chair Dave Connell says, “Civil Trades will benefit those working in the industry, their employers and their clients. At long last those people building our roads, bridges, ports, tunnels and pipelines will get the respect they deserve for their skills and experience.”

Dave cautions that acceptance of Civil Trades will be a longer process. “Our tradespeople don’t come into contact with the public to the same extent as builders, plumbers and electricians. We are the invisible workforce that builds our highways, bridges and utilities. We therefore need to work harder than other trades in promoting ourselves. We all need to play our part by supporting our industry at careers days at schools, and at job expos.”

The Civil Infrastructure Trades Qualifications are currently being finalised. Enrolment will be open in early 2016, and contractors are encouraged to contact Connexis to register their interest now.

CIVIL TRADES AT A GLANCE A structured career pathway and recognised trade for the Civil Infrastructure Industry

How it works • Civil Infrastructure Trades Qualification (Level 4), plus • 8,000 hours of practical experience (around 4 years) including 2,000 hours at Level 4 competency.

• On successful completion of the above, candidates apply to become a Certified Civil Tradesperson.

Three specialisations Choose from three Civil Trades specialisations: • Road Construction and Maintenance • Pipeline Construction and Maintenance • Road Surfacing For further information talk to your Industry Training Organisation, CONNEXIS ITO 0800 486 626 askus@connexis.org.nz www.civiltrades.co.nz

THREE WAYS TO CIVIL TRADES CERTIFICATION RECOGNITION OF CURRENT COMPETENCE (RCC)

APPRENTICESHIP

SECTOR QUALIFICATIONS

WHO FOR

Experienced employees who have worked in the Civil Infrastructure Industry for 5+ years.

Those new to civil infrastructure or transferring from another industry. Open to everyone with no age restrictions.

Those who have had less than five years in the civil infrastructure industry and obtained some unit standards or a Level 2 or Level 3 certificate.

PROCESS

Assessment to a Civil Infrastructure Trades Qualification based on candidate’s skills and knowledge.

Apprentice obtains a Civil Infrastructure Trades Qualification over a 2-3 year period.

During this time they will gain 6000 hours of industry experience.

Candidate finishes the next qualification in their sector pathway, together with the total 8000 hours required.

Candidates demonstrate via logbook or other documentation a minimum of five years’ experience with at least one year at a high level of skill.

On completion of Civil Infrastructure Trades qualification, apprentice completes another 2000 hours of experience at a high level of skill to obtain total 8000 hours.

Once qualification and required hours are completed, candidates apply for Civil Trades certificate.

Once qualification and required hours are completed, candidate can apply for Civil Trades certificate.

On successful completion of qualification and required hours, apprentice can apply for Civil Trades certificate.

INTRODUCING THE FIRST CERTIFIED CIVIL TRADESPEOPLE IN NEW ZEALAND Congratulations to the following people, who were part of the Civil Trades RCC pilot scheme: • Barry Bowen, City Care, Christchurch • Kenny Brown, Fulton Hogan, Christchurch • Joe Fraser, Goodman Contractors, Waikanae • Che Gallagher, Fletcher Construction, Christchurch • Wes Jefferys, City Care, Christchurch • Richard Leach, Higgins Contractors, Wellington • Robert Matete, Downer NZ, Gisborne • Scott McKenzie, Ching Contracting, Nelson

• Ross McLaren, Andrew Haulage, Balclutha • Matt Paget, Higgins Contractors, Mount Maunganui • Joshua Rapihana, Downer NZ, Auckland • Ray Scott, McConnell Dowell, Auckland • Wayne Smith, HEB Construction, Auckland • Billy West, Fulton Hogan, Northland We’ll be profiling some of these people in upcoming issues – stay tuned to hear their stories!

DECEMBER 2015 41

CONTRACTOR HISTORY

Commemorating 60 years

The Rimutaka Tunnel Its 60 years since the Rimutaka Rail Tunnel opened. Due to its solid construction it has required minimal maintenance over its life and is set to last for another 100 years. RICHARD SILCOCK traces its history.

THE RIMUTAKA RAIL TUNNEL, which runs under the Rimutaka Range between the Hutt Valley and the Wairarapa, opened in late 1955. It is the longest, singletrack rail tunnel in New Zealand through which both freight and passenger trains operate. At just over 8.7 kilometres long it is only superseded by the Kaimai Tunnel north-west of Tauranga, which is just under 8.8 kilometres long, but caters only for rail freight.

The tunnel replaced the tortuous and lengthy rail route over the Rimutakas, which, due to the steepness of the terrain, utilised the famous ‘Fell’ steam engines to slowly haul passenger carriages and freight wagons over the incline. These unique engines, which began operating in 1878 over the route, ran on a track comprising three rails, with the centre rail slightly raised to couple with two pairs of horizontal grip wheels mounted beneath the engine to provide extra grip when climbing the steep incline. Special brake vans helped control the descents.

The tunnel was a long time coming and was fraught with delays. In 1898, surveyor and engineer J Dobson completed several surveys for the Public Works Department (forerunner of the Ministry of Works and Development), however it was not until 42 www.contractormag.co.nz

the mid-1920s that any advancement was made and a number of feasibility studies and routes explored.

Due to lack of funding and the Depression it was not until 1936 that the government announced its intention to proceed with the tunnel, and while detailed plans were made the project was abandoned due to the advent of WW2.

By 1945/46 it was becoming urgent, as the incline route was in bad shape and the Fell engines were in need of expensive maintenance. Work began in 1948 with exploratory bores of up to 321 metres, and in July/August 1951 a consortium comprising American company Morrison Knudsen and Downer and Co commenced work at both ends.

‘Carved’ from solid rock the tunnel construction took three years to break through. Workers toiled 24 hours a day, six days a week, using explosives, drilling, boring and pick and shovel to excavate the portal. The spoil material was carted out by wagons on temporary rails, with some of it used as ballast for the railway line. The tunnel excavation was shored-up by wooden framing and was built with a semi-circular roof and near vertical walls in what was then known as the ‘American system’ with concrete casing up to 38-centimetres

thick lining the tunnel and culverts providing for water seepage.

There was one fatality during construction, the result of a rock fall on September 9, 1952, when 27 men were trapped for over nine hours underground before being rescued.

When the tunnel broke through on April 20, 1954 the survey error was only 44.5mm astray, which was quite a feat given the length and gradient of the tunnel.

It took another year to build the approach formations and bridge piers, lay track and install the signalling equipment, with the first train passing

PHOTO: UPPER HUTT CITY LIBRARY HERITAGE COLLECTION

through on November 3, 1955.

The tunnel is 4.68 metres wide and 5.18 metres high. It rises at 1-in-400 from the western portal to the highest point, which is approximately midway through, before descending to the eastern portal at 1-in180. A 117-metre high vertical ventilation shaft was bored up to the surface from the midway point to allow fumes to escape.

Over 299,258 kilograms of gelignite and 26,163 tonnes of concrete were used and around 87,800 metres of aggregate removed.

Due to smoke build up, coal/steam driven locomotives were unable to use the tunnel, resulting in the Wellington to

Wairarapa line becoming the first to utilise the ‘new’ diesel locomotives. To this day, when ‘commemorative’ steam trains use the line, diesel locomotives have to haul them through the tunnel. Electrification was provided for (though not operative) by way of a 1500-volt DC line.

According to KiwiRail, the Rimutaka Tunnel still has plenty of life ahead of it, with head of civil engineering, Daniel Headifen saying the tunnel and those who constructed it left a valuable legacy.

“It is still a massively significant piece of infrastructure for both KiwiRail and for New Zealand,” he said in a recent Radio NZ interview.

Above: Construction workers, Rimutaka Tunnel circa 1952.

Workers toiled 24 hours a day, six days a week, using explosives, drilling, boring and pick and shovel to excavate the portal.

DECEMBER 2015 43

CONTRACTOR COMMENT

Getting what you pay for HELMUT MODLIK, CEO, CONNEXIS

BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS, the Civil Trades regime will have launched, including recognition of the first group of certified Civil Trades people with others expected to enrol in early 2016.

It is timely therefore to raise an important related subject that hasn’t had a lot of airtime to date, but it’s time to start the conversation. I’m talking about the pay implications of the Civil Trades regime.

The Civil Trades regime will raise the standard of training and confirmed competence of the civil workforce, in particular those who become Certified Civil Trades people. These tradesmen and women will be competent to deliver higher quality, less rework and safer outcomes for their employers and infrastructure owners. They will, in short, be quicker, better and more productive constructors.

A key figure behind the development of the Civil Trades regime – John Bryant – made these observations to me when he shared an experience some years ago building two bridges involving two different groups of workers. One involved a large group of relatively un/semi-skilled workers and the other a smaller group of highly skilled and experienced men. The difference in the speed, quality and profitability of the two builds was so graphic, that it led John to a strongly held view that the second approach is how the civil industry should always work, and hence his support for the development of the Civil Trades regime.

The lesson John learned is that those who know why and how always deliver better than those who only know how.

Skilled trades people know why, and respond better to varying situations, requiring less supervision and inspection. Working with qualified, more highly skilled and productive people results in improved outcomes, including financial outcomes for employers and infrastructure owners alike. The question is, what will it mean for the civil trades people who deliver those outcomes?

44 www.contractormag.co.nz

The answer is of course that they will be duly rewarded, variously determined by the market and their employer.

There’s nothing new or surprising in that observation or the related thought that you get what you pay for. The better and more highly skilled a worker, the more they generally earn. An inevitable result of the launch of Civil Trades therefore, is that a market value for certified trades people will emerge. Employers should anticipate and consider this.

Investing for improved productivity is nothing new to contractors of course. An outstanding recent example is the satellite-based, GPS surveying technology used on the M2PP project in the lower North Island. While the cost of the technology’s deployment has been hundreds of thousands of dollars, the direct and indirect benefits have been millions of dollars already. It’s so successful, that it is highly likely to be replicated on other projects by other contractors in due course.

The point is that contractors are used to investing when the returns outweigh the costs, and this is just as true with our workforce as it is with our equipment. Employers who consider the return available from making a sound investment in their people’s training and qualification, will reap the benefits. The Civil Trades regime has been developed precisely for that purpose, ie, to ensure their training investment is “sound”.

There are also wider issues around the emergence of the Civil Trades regime and pay levels of civil trades people. The Civil Trades regime will create a career path and market value for Certified Civil Tradesmen and women. This will increase the attractiveness of the industry and average industry skill levels – both by improving the retention of the existing workforce and by attracting new, increasingly capable people to the industry.

It is vital that we don’t ignore the need to attract and retain good people in our industry. The existing civil workforce is an aging workforce, and characterised by shortages in key areas.

The Civil Trades will help by making trade training and careers more attractive and accessible to employees. Remuneration is also an important incentive for people to better themselves, and when combined with development opportunities and a structured career pathway, creates an attractive environment for people to join and stay in the industry.

This is vital, as there is a shrinking cohort of young people to choose from, and strong competition for them from other industries and sectors. If we are to successfully attract the right number and calibre of young people, we need to provide real opportunities, a structured career pathway and income potential.

Facing these challenges is the responsibility of individual employers and the wider industry. Creating a more productive and attractive industry will require investment in our workforce, and must begin with a shift in our thinking about what we pay our best people, in future they will be Certified Civil Trades people.

LEGAL CONTRACTOR

Changes to the Construction Contracts Act:

What you need to know

SAM McCUTCHEON / KATE HENDERSON, SOLICITORS IN KENSINGTON SWAN’S MAJOR PROJECTS AND CONSTRUCTION TEAM

THE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS ACT 2002 (CCA) is the primary legislation governing cash flow and dispute resolution under construction contracts. On 20 October 2015, Parliament passed the Construction Contracts Amendment Act 2015. This act alters and adds key provisions to the CCA and represents the largest legislative change since the CCA was introduced.

This article highlights key changes that you need to know about.

The amendments will be implemented in three stages: • 1 December 2015 – the residential/commercial distinction in construction contracts is largely removed and adjudicators’ determinations around rights and obligations will become enforceable.

• 1 September 2016 – the CCA will apply to architects, engineers, and quantity surveyors.

• 31 March 2017 – the new retentions trust scheme comes into force.

The December 2015 and September 2016 changes will only apply to construction contracts entered into after the above dates. In terms of the retentions trust scheme, the act is silent around whether this will be applied retrospectively or prospectively, and clarification on this point is expected.

1 December 2015 After 1 December 2015 most distinctions between commercial and residential construction contracts are removed. For example, the distinction between progress payment provisions in the act will be removed, and from 1 December 2015, all payment claims are required to be accompanied by a prescribed form that sets out the payment processes (currently this form is only required on residential projects).

At present only determinations about payment of money can be enforced outside of the adjudication. From 1 December 2015 an adjudication determination around rights and obligations, for example a party’s entitlement to a variation, will become enforceable.

1 September 2016 From 1 September 2016, architects, engineers, and quantity surveyors will be brought within the ambit of the CCA. This amendment will allow these parties to access the default payment provisions and to resolve disputes through the adjudication process.

Adjudication is currently an efficient and cost-effective method to resolve disputes. Where multiple parties have contributed to an issue, for example a contractor and a designer, it remains to be seen whether adjudication can include all of these parties. We may see multiple adjudications in relation to the same dispute. To ensure these are dealt with in the same forum parties will need to apply to have these adjudications consolidated. Multi-party adjudications will result in increased costs, and extended time periods required for determinations.

31 March 2017 From the end of March 2017 the provisions relating to retentions on commercial contracts will come into effect. This scheme will only apply to commercial construction contracts over a certain value and will require the payer (principal or contractor) to hold retentions on trust for the payee (contractor or subcontractor).

The parties cannot contract out of this requirement.

The obligation to hold retentions on trust will only apply when the retention amount is more than a minimum sum with the threshold level to be set in regulations. Questions arise around whether the trust will apply to retention money before it reaches the prescribed level, or only once it exceeds this level.

Holding the moneys on trust will mean that retentions need to be held in the form of cash or other liquid assets that are readily converted into cash. Retentions held on trust are able to be invested (in accordance with the Trustee Act 1956) and the payer is entitled to retain the benefit from those investments.

Holding money on trust will mean that payees will have a preferential claim if a payer enters insolvency. Payees will be entitled to claim retention moneys before other creditors such as banks or the IRD. Of course, the ability to make a preferential claim will depend on the moneys being available, and identifiable.

Due to industry opposition, an initial proposal to hold retention moneys in a separate bank account was not adopted.

The provisions do not prevent commingling of retention money although there is an obligation to keep proper financial records and to account for the retention funds.

In practice, this may mean retention moneys become ‘mixed’ with other company funds. If a company were to become insolvent it may not be apparent which of the remaining funds are subject to a retention trust and which are available for the pool of creditors. To ensure compliance payers may wish to consider holding the retention moneys separately from other funds or investments.

The trust will come to an end once the money is paid to the payee, applied in the terms of the contract, or an agreement is reached with the payee. Statutory interest will apply to any late payments.

What you need to do These changes provide an ideal time to review your contracts and contracting process. Invoicing systems will need to be reviewed and amended to ensure they comply with the December 2015 changes.

Architects, engineers, and quantity surveyors will need to start familiarising themselves with the CCA before they are brought under its jurisdiction next year.

Finally, principals and contractors need to turn their minds to the retention provisions and consider the internal systems and processes that will be required to ensure compliance.

DECEMBER 2015 45

CONTRACTOR COMMENT

Consequences of the

Construction Contracts Amendment Act MALCOLM ABERNETHY, EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CIVIL CONTRACTORS NEW ZEALAND

THIS GOVERNMENT HAS been pushing through legislation that results in a great deal of work by interested parties within condensed time frames.

We have seen this in the health and safety space and now for the Construction Contracts Amendment Act 2015.

The Act comes into effect in three stages. Changes from this month (December 2015) include the following.

Within the Act there are various provisions that have received a relatively minor update.

Some of these provisions include repealing the residential construction contract, updating the definitions of the construction contract and construction site. The definitions for a defendant, for instance, will be replaced – aligning it with the adjudication process and enforcement. The definitions for plaintiff and progress payment are similarly replaced. Progress payments include instalments as part of the construction work and final payment, but do not include an amount that is a deposit for the construction work.

The working day definition is also updated in line with NZS 3910:2013. Three new definitions are added for ‘chief executive’ who is the chief executive of the department responsible (MBIE), identifies premises in relation to related services, and ‘related services’ means construction work carried out by design and engineering work and quantity surveyors.

The amendment removes the difference between a residential construction contract and a commercial construction contract.

There are some minor amendments to payments and payment provisions. Progress payments are treated as any other payment and so the difference between a payment and progress payment is removed. Of significance in these sections is the Amendment Act allowing parties to agree over payment provisions and further allowing the parties to a construction contract to expressly agree over a single payment.

Suspension of work is clarified within the Amendment Act and details the reasons that apply if work is to be suspended.

Adjudication of disputes is also amended and clarified along with processes for initiating adjudication proceedings.

The strict requirements of serving an adjudication notice are relaxed, provided it is in writing, describes the nature of the dispute, and does not mislead or affect the interests of the recipient. The Amendment Act also allows a party to an adjudication to provide another party, or the adjudicator, with copies of, or extracts from, the construction contract – but is for any reason unable to do so (for example, in a case where the contract is oral), that party may provide the missing

information in the form of a statutory declaration together with any supporting documents that are available.

Adjudication process timeframes have been adjusted for the selection of adjudicator, response to a claim, and notice of adjudication acceptance.

The current sections relating to District Court review have been repealed and the adjudicators’ role supported by ensuring that their determination is enforceable. The enforceability of an adjudicator’s determination has been strengthened. This is the critical point. Determinations as to rights and obligations were previously unenforceable.

The provisions that include design and engineering work (consultants) and quantity surveyors being covered by the Act comes into effect on September 1, 2016.

The meaty part of the Amendment Act that does not come into effect until March 31, 2017 relates to retentions. The intent of this section of the Act is to require retentions to be ‘deemed’ to be held in trust. It is this section that will need considerable input into the development of regulations and guidance.

The important point to consider is that contracts that have commenced before this section of the Act comes into effect will need to meet the Act’s requirement (this is our interpretation of the Act as it is silent on the savings provision that deals with commencement of this section). And it is this section that needs clarity – particularly in commencement and establishing by regulation the ‘de minimis’ amount.

Retentions are held to ensure defects are remedied and should only be used for that purpose. When retentions are due for payment at practical completion, and at the end of the defects notification period, they must be paid irrespective of whether retention payments have been made by the client.

The release of retentions is no different from any other payment. Main contractors cannot withhold retention payments from subcontractors until the head contract retentions have been released.

Importantly, it should be noted that retention money can be used by the party holding it, and is not required to be held in a separate trust account, and may be comingled with other moneys. While the Act allows retention money to be comingled, it also provides security of retentions that elevates their priority to that of a secured creditor.

Most of this Act addresses the concerns of industry related to payments, and adjudication, but the provisions for retention money needs to be well considered when developing the regulations, and determined early.

Postal Address: PO Box 12013, Thorndon, Wellington 6144 Physical Address: Margan House, 21 Fitzherbert Terrace, Thorndon, Wellington 6011 Phone 0800 692 376

46 www.contractormag.co.nz

COMMENT CONTRACTOR

Concrete apprentice of the year ROB GAIMSTER, CEMENT & CONCRETE ASSOCIATION OF NEW ZEALAND AND NEW ZEALAND READY MIXED CONCRETE ASSOCIATION

INDUSTRY AWARDS HAVE become de rigueur over recent decades as a way to recognise and honour individuals who, or companies that, have made a significant contribution to their field of endeavour.

And rightly so, as awards offer an opportunity to raise profile and make people feel that their work is valued, while the presentation ceremony itself is a chance for celebration and reflection. Recognition also helps motivate people.

...we shine the light on a wide range of

Concrete Industry Awards

our people in training.

Across a two-year timeframe the wider concrete industry celebrates its own success in terms of ready mixed concrete, finishing and placing, engineering and architectural feats, as well as its contribution to a sustainable built environment.

In doing so we shine the light on a wide range of professionals, including concrete technicians, mix designers, operational staff and placers, as well as builders, architects and engineers.

Yet there is one group we have tended to neglect in terms of recognition – namely our people in training.

Training for success Although we place a premium on knowledge and experience, and recognise the value of existing expertise, we also realise that our workforce is aging.

There is a strong argument for training based on the proposition that human capability is both a key asset and a critical risk for firms across the spectrum.

A priority for the wider concrete industry is therefore to train well and train appropriately in order to secure strong future prospects.

Trainees need not necessarily be young people, but rather those who have a desire to expand their skill set and become qualified professionals.

Having said that however, it is important to understand ‘Generation Y’ (15-35 year olds) as they will make up a significant proportion of the workforce by 2025.

Young workers need a reason to stay which is greater than that to leave. Apprenticeships and mentoring can help greatly in this regard.

Giving back Everybody was young once and many of us were apprentices – someone provided the opportunity to gain trade skills.

To make sure the industry has enough qualified professionals to be sustainable, skilled and willing employers need to help shape the next generation.

Training others is also a good way to keep abreast of the latest industry developments and meet others in the industry.

Concrete Apprentice Of The Year While our industry is busy promoting the importance of training, we should take time to acknowledge the effort of current

professionals, including concrete technicians, mix designers, operational staff and placers, as well as builders, architects and engineers.

Yet there is one group we have tended to neglect in terms of recognition – namely

apprentices as well as the support offered by their employers.

To this end, the Cement and Concrete Association of New Zealand (CCANZ) in association with the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO), has recently announced that the inaugural Concrete Apprentice of the Year Award will be presented at the October 2016 New Zealand Concrete conference in Auckland.

The award will be open to all trainees enrolled in Level 3 and 4 BCITO concrete qualifications, including: • Precast Concrete • Concrete Production • Product Manufacture: Pipe • Product Manufacture: Masonry Product • Construction: Sawing & Drilling • Construction: Placing & Finishing • Concrete Construction As the hard skills across these qualifications are reasonably distinct, wider personal attributes will also be considered as another set of criteria.

The supportive employer of the winning trainee will similarly be acknowledged, and therefore share in the triumph.

CCANZ looks forward to working with the BCITO over the coming months to identify the “best-of-the-best” in terms of concrete industry trainees, and sharing their success at next year’s conference in the form of the Concrete Apprentice of the Year Award.

A good business decision Industry outlay in training provides the basis for enhanced performance, to the benefit of all.

Not to do so would place customer relations at risk, and be expensive in terms of churn, recruitment, re-training and possible rework.

The development of this award is testament to our industry’s ongoing commitment to training and the understanding that investment in our workforce today will yield valuable outcomes tomorrow.

DECEMBER 2015 47

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CONTRACTOR CLASSIC MACHINES

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Clear shot of an OC-18 with Heil straight bulldozer stripping topsoil.

The long wide hood was not an aid to good forward visibility although the operator of this tractor doesn’t seem too concerned. The OC-18 was a medium sized dozer, larger than a Cat D7 but smaller than a D8.

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PHOTO: INTERNET

The Oliver OC-18 In its heyday, the Oliver Corporation of Cleveland Ohio, USA was a well-respected company manufacturing agricultural tractors and implements. BY RICHARD CAMPBELL

LOOKING TO EXPAND its marketplace options beyond agricultural wheel tractors, Oliver Corporation acquired the Cletrac Tractor Co, also of Cleveland Ohio, in 1944.

Cletrac had fallen on hard times during WWII, being one of the few tractor manufacturers not to be given large war contracts for the production of machinery, so the sale to Oliver was very timely and prevented the company going into bankruptcy.

Background Cletrac had a long history dating back to 1916, and was one of the pioneers of the track type tractor industry.

In fact Cletrac was the first company to manufacture a “hi-drive” (elevated sprocket) track type tractor on a production basis (its Model F) which was produced from 1920 to 1922, pre-dating the Caterpillar D10 by 57 years!

The Model F was a small crawler 48 www.contractormag.co.nz

tractor strictly speaking only suitable for agriculture and weighed around 900 kilograms, but could pull a 3-bottom plow with no trouble.

One of the hallmarks of Cletrac tractors was their reliability, especially final drives.

This was due to the way the track frames were mounted to the chassis by way of a dead shaft.

Using this method, no impact shocks were transferred through to the final drives.

It also allowed a higher than usual amount of ground clearance, making Cletrac machines especially popular with logging and forestry contractors as they could pass over stumps and brush that could potentially bring other tractors to a very sudden stop!

Other track tractor manufacturers took a long time to duplicate this method of undercarriage attachment with the first to successfully adopt it being Euclid in the mid-1950s.

From 1936 until the Oliver buy out,

Cletrac used an alphabetical system to identify individual models within its product range, eg, Model BD, Model DG, Model AG etc.

When Oliver took over the Cletrac tractor range it consisted of some 12 different models, some gasoline powered, the others diesel.

Oliver kept the Cletrac name, marketing them as Oliver-Cletrac so as not confuse the buying public and it was business as usual.

In 1949, it was decided by Oliver management to add some clearer structure to the model numbering system, better reflecting the sizes of machines offered.

The Cletrac name was dropped altogether and a new machine identification system “OC” (Oliver-Cletrac) prefixed all the track type tractors.

With this system in place, models included the OC-3, OC-4, OC-9, OC-12, OC-15 and our subject this month, the OC-18.

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Oliver as a company did not expend great amounts of research and development money on its OC track tractor range.

This was unfortunate as ‘resting on its laurels’ allowed other manufacturers to get the jump on it.

Sales started to decline as the existing machines were being surpassed by better technology.

Things came to a crunch in 1960 when Oliver was bought by the White Motor Corporation.

White continued to operate Oliver as a going concern but was also reluctant to spend the large volumes of cash required to update the Oliver track type tractor range.

The end result was that in 1965, production of all Oliver track type tractors was discontinued, the company preferring to concentrate on agricultural wheel tractors.

The Oliver OC-18 described The Oliver OC-18 was the largest track type tractor that Oliver ever produced and sat between D7 and D8 size in the track tractor world.

Some 800 were manufactured between

1951 and 1959.

It had originally started out as the Model FDE in 1945 but was extensively redesigned by Oliver engineers and reemerged as the Model OC-18 in 1951.

Oliver used a Hercules model DXFE diesel engine in the OC-18.

This engine was a 6-cylinder inline diesel putting out 161 flywheel horsepower and had a 14.7 litre displacement.

A double plate clutch connected the engine to the 4-forward, 2-reverse speed manual transmission which gave the machine a top speed of 5.4 miles per hour.

Oliver was unique in the American track type tractor market by using differential steering rather than the traditional steering clutch and brake method.

Cletrac had pioneered the use of differential steering decades beforehand and it was carried over into the OC range of machines.

It wasn’t until the 1990s that other manufacturers began to use this steering method.

The OC-18 was a 78” gauge tractor and utilised a 6-roller track frame with two carrier rollers per side. Track links were 35-section and the standard track shoe

1. Preserved Oliver OC-18 at a vintage tractor show in the USA. This example has a rare Heil hydraulic straight blade, the hydraulic power coming from a vane-type pump driven off the front of the engine crankshaft, the top of the pump being just visible in the photo. This is a fairly late production tractor as it has a plain perforated radiator guard, Oliver dispensing with the chevron type in 1957.

PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

2. Photo scanned from a contemporary publication on the OC-18 dated 1954 shows a machine outfitted with a Buckeye angle blade and an exhaust muffler. This must have been the height of luxury as very few creature comforts were offered as options for this tractor.

PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

3. One of the last Oliver OC-18s manufactured, this preserved example belongs to Greg Parker in the USA. At some stage the machine has been fitted with a front pump as the radiator guard has been cut to suit. PHOTO: HCEA 4. Factory photo of a very early production Oliver OC-18 with single carrier roller undercarriage.

Very early in production this was increased to two rollers to support the weight of the track.

Other points to note are the riveted track frame, opposed chevron radiator guard (an Oliver trademark) and the very clean lines of this tractor. PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

DECEMBER 2015 49

CONTRACTOR CLASSIC MACHINES

B R I E F S P EC I F I CAT I O N S

Oliver OC-18 Engine: Hercules DFXE, inline 6-cylinder, naturally aspirated, rated at 161 flywheel horsepower at 1500 rpm

1

Clutch: 15” double-plate, overcentre Transmission: Constant mesh manual, 4-speeds forward, 2 reverse Top speed:

PHOTO: INTERNET

2. OC-18 on a highway construction job equipped with a Heil straight bulldozer and cable control. The area just in front of the operator housed the machine’s fuel tank which held 66 gallons. The operator doesn’t look too happy with his lot however.

5.45mph

Steering: Differential type, air assisted Brakes:

Contracting band

Track gauge:

78”

Tracks:

35-section

2

Rollers: 6 bottom and 2 carrier per side

14’ (bare)

Width:

8’ 6” (bare)

Height:

6’ 10” (bare)

Operating weight: 16 tons (bare)

was a single grouser, 26” wide.

As mentioned previously, the track frame was isolated from the final drives and attached to the chassis by means of a large deadshaft, which, along with the multi-leaf equaliser spring, allowed track oscillation of some ±13”.

A good spotting feature of the OC-18 was its long front hood, the rear part of which housed the 66 gallon diesel fuel tank.

Oliver supplied its larger crawlers with a distinctive opposed chevron design radiator guard and the OC-18 was no exception.

The operator had an excellent view to trailed equipment as there was no fuel tank to look over. However, the view forward was a long one and the hood did not feature any taper.

Operator comforts were very few other than a deeply padded seat and airboosted steering levers to reduce effort.

This was an unusual feature for a track 50 www.contractormag.co.nz

PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

3. An OC-18 working on a highway embankment job in the state of Georgia, USA, 1956. It is equipped with a Heil dozer blade and cable control unit, the cable being routed from the rear of the tractor through the large tube on the right hand side.

Photo is dated 1955.

Standard shoes: 26” Length:

1. The tractor that the Oliver OC-18 was developed from, the Cletrac Model FDE. This preserved example was saved from a logging site and exhibits all the necessary gear of the day including a Carco winch, rudimentary scrub canopy and an Isaacson straight bulldozer blade. The twin aircleaners for the Hercules diesel engine are noteworthy.

3

type tractor and something that set the OC-18 apart from the competition.

An engine-driven air compressor provided constant pressure for the system.

Full instrumentation was provided on a semi-circular instrument panel in the centre of the dashboard.

Attachments Oliver did not make its own attachments and relied on outside suppliers to provide bulldozer blades, rippers, cable controls and the like to equip the OC-18 for service.

Principal suppliers were Heil, Isaacson, Buckeye and Carco with the most predominant of these being Heil.

The New Zealand connection New Zealand distributor for OliverCletrac was Frederick W Smith.

Regrettably, no records have survived from this company to give any

PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

indication as to how many Oliver OC track type tractors were imported including (if any) OC-18s.

There were certainly a great deal of the smaller Oliver OC tractors brought into New Zealand however, and these proved to be very popular, especially in the South Island.

The author would be keen to learn if any OC-18s made it to New Zealand as he’s never come across any on his travels.

For the model collector Very slim pickings here with no models of the Oliver OC-18 being available at all.

There is however a remarkably good model of the smaller model OC-12 available from Spec-Cast.

This is to 1:16 scale and is available with or without a hydraulic blade.

The model is generally available through eBay for under US$150 and makes a fine display piece for those of you who collect larger crawlers.

Earthmoving / Construction / Quarries / Minings

Very high-performance lubricant for all diesel engines, with or without particulate filter

Formulated especially for off highway equipment, Rubia Works 2000 is for use with engines that are required to operate for long periods at full capacity or with repeated acceleration and idling cycles.

Specifically developed for use with Japanese engines, also suitable with American and European engines. Rubia Works 2000 has obtained the official JASO DH-2 licence.

Rubia Works 2000 is a low saps oil which means it has lower Ash, Phosphorus and Sulphur contents to reduce clogging of the particulate filters in latest generation low emission engines.

For further information phone 0800 868 256 www.totaloilsolutions.co.nz

CONTRACTOR MOTORING

Everest reaches for lofty heights

As we go to print the Ford Everest has only just gone on sale, and CAMERON OFFICER still confidently wagers it is going to be a sales winner in 2016. Here’s why.

UNDERNEATH ITS BIG, bold exterior the

new Ford Everest is essentially a shorter Ford Ranger. And when it comes to New Zealand’s most popular ute, 6300 buyers can’t be wrong. That’s approximately how many Rangers were sold last year.

It has been a busy year for updated utes during 2015, with Mazda, Mitsubishi and Nissan all launching new or updated versions of their light-work weapons during the past six months. Despite this Ranger sales haven’t faltered, with this year’s buyer figures looking as healthy as last year’s for the model. In fact, with Ford also having launched an updated Ranger in the last few months, its figures are still looking buoyant and the Ranger currently enjoys 20 percent market share in the ute segment.

The arrival of Toyota’s Hilux this month (see? Told you it has been a big year for new utes) might spoil Ford’s Christmas party a bit, although we won’t be able to 52 www.contractormag.co.nz

gauge buyer reaction to the Hilux from a sales point-of-view until after the New Year.

So with its ute sales doing very nicely, Ford now turns its attention to a completely different model. No, not the right-hand-drive Mustang, which arrives at almost the same time; I’m talking about the Everest.

The Everest is the latest vehicle featuring the ‘ute with a boot’ formula; a ute with an extra row of seats and a roof over the bit the wellside tray usually goes. A few years back there weren’t many of these vehicles around; the Mitsubishi Challenger (which has just been discontinued in our market) was about it for new cars of this type. Well, that and legions of imported 300,000 kilometre-plus Toyota Hilux Surfs.

Now the Everest arrives in a market already sporting a couple of other options; namely the similarly-themed

Holden Colorado7 and Isuzu MU-X, which have both joined the market during the past 18 months. Toyota will get back in on the action before the end of the year too; its ute-based Fortuna is set to join the market a nanosecond after the all-new Hilux shakes up the light commercial segment in the next few weeks.

Like its ute sibling, the Everest features truck-style separate bodyon-chassis construction, meaning that despite the seven seats and SUV comfort features inside, it’ll handle the rough stuff like a gutsy work truck. The Everest also boasts confidence-inspiring ground clearance of 225mm and a fording depth of 800mm, meaning that whether a creek crossing is needed to access the worksite or the whitebait stand, the Everest should see you right.

The SUV features an advanced terrain management system which gives the

driver the option of selecting from four preset settings – normal, snow/gravel/ grass, sand and rock. Vehicle settings for throttle response, transmission, the fourwheel-drive system and traction control are then altered according to what’s underneath the wheels.

So in terms of heading off tarmac, it certainly has the tech to get you wherever you need to go. There’s plenty of grunt on offer too, with the 3.2-litre Duratorq turbo diesel onboard; the same 147kW/470Nm engine we’ve already sampled in the Ranger.

Ford’s level of technology for everyday on-road driving looks pretty impressive too. The Everest features active and passive safety systems such as Curve Control, which is designed to help drivers maintain control when heading into a corner too quickly, along with Lane Departure Warning software and a Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with Cross Traffic Alert, which gives the driver an audible warning when there is a vehicle in their blind spot while driving or when preparing to reverse out of parking spots.

Ford has recently been at pains to point out how comfortable and well-equipped the newly updated Ranger is, and as you can well imagine there’s no let-up in the specification stakes for the Everest.

In top titanium trim the Everest features standard equipment such as an 8” colour touch screen, Bluetooth handsfree and audio streaming capability, a reversing camera, radar cruise control, Ford’s SYNC 2 voice control system and interface, satellite navigation, ambient interior lighting… the list goes on. A sixspeed automatic is standard too.

The Everest has a 3000-kilogram towing capacity, which comfortably puts it in ‘trailered mini digger’ territory for the working week and ‘big boat’ territory for the weekends.

Speaking of ‘territory’ (or Territory, with a capital ‘T’), it’s worth noting that despite its American looks, Ford’s Australian arm – the same designers and engineers that crafted the soon-to-be-no-more Ford Territory medium SUV – had a big hand in designing the Everest. The right-handdrive examples we’ll be getting here are assembled at Ford’s Rayong plant in Thailand (the same place our Ranger utes come from).

So as far as ‘utes with a boot’ go, the Everest stacks up well… if you’ll pardon the pun.

Skoda Superb TDi 4x4 Wagon Engine: 1968cc four cylinder turbo diesel

0-100km/h: NA

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Max speed: NA

Power: 140kW

Fuel economy: 5.1L/100km

Torque: 400Nm

C02 emissions: 134g/km Price: $57,900

A Superb take on the 4x4 wagon While Kiwis have been ignoring wagons in increasing numbers over the last few years (heading instead towards SUVs and crossovers), every now and then a new station wagon arrives and reminds us what is achievable with this versatile body shape.

Skoda’s newly updated Superb TDi 4x4 is just such an example.

Aside from its handy (and capable) 4x4 ability, the big headlines for the Superb are both its level of fit-and-finish, and its… well, superb amounts of interior space.

The room occupants get to enjoy is excellent; even with the longest limbed driver up front, rear seat passengers can still stretch out, which is ideal for long road trips over summer. And while the car is undeniably long, it’s not as long as you’d imagine.

At 4856mm in length, the Superb wagon is 81mm shorter than a Holden Commodore Sportwagon, which makes you wonder how they fit it all in.

Because on top of occupant space there’s also copious amounts of boot space too; between 619 and 1909-litres depending on whether the rear seats are up or down.

Even with a full complement of five people onboard, there is still plenty of room for luggage.

All up the Skoda Superb is an exceptional vehicle with a pretty exceptional price tag too.

DECEMBER 2015 53

CONTRACTOR INNOVATIONS

Safer towing Yet another innovation for work or home, and a solution for avoiding the terrifying experience of a caravan or boat trailer ‘snaking’ or swaying behind your towing vehicle when travelling at highway speeds. Chances are you have experienced this, and if so it probably means you haven’t got the right load balance between the vehicle and the caravan or trailer. Incorrect loading has been identified as a factor in 27 crashes a year on our roads and it’s probably one of the most difficult things to get right, according to towbar manufacturer, Best Bars.

“It can be unnerving and highly dangerous when a caravan or trailer swings wildly on the back of your tow vehicle, but it’s telling you something isn’t right,” says Stephen de Kriek, CEO of Best Bars.

“Before you set off make sure you have the correct download on the towball, are not overloaded for either the trailer or the towing vehicle, and that the load distribution in both the towing vehicle and the caravan/trailer is correct. Ideally this means the trailer and tow vehicle are close to level with the road surface. It’s not always easy to achieve, but there is a device that can assist.”

It’s called a load leveller and it fits onto the drawbar of the trailer and connects to the towbar on the towing vehicle, helping redress the balance through redistributing the load, so the weight is transferred further forward on the towing vehicle. These are available through leading motor vehicle distributors supplied

by Best Bars.

Poor weight distribution and overloading aren’t the only dangers towing motorists should be aware of. Defective or poorly fitted towbars, wrong size towball to coupling match, low tyre pressures, safety chains not connected and defective brakes and wheel bearings are also among leading causes of trailer-related accidents.

Best Bars advises motorists to check all these aspects as well as the condition of the towbar, ensuring all bolts attaching it to the vehicle are tight, there is no corrosion present or cracking in the vehicle chassis or towbar structure, and the towball itself is not worn and is secured tightly to the tongue. Also remember that a towball is a wear item and should be replaced periodically if any wear is noticed.

Even if the towbar looks okay from the outside, it may not be up to the task. Some towbars are made from thin-walled steel that simply cannot withstand the vehicle manufacturer’s towing load guidelines.

If fitting a new towbar, ideally purchase a ‘genuine’ part towbar, endorsed by the vehicle manufacturer, or ensure it is a towbar designed and tested to NZ Standard 5467 by a reputable manufacturer and has a metal tamper-proof label attached. All towbars should be professionally fitted. Avoid cheap imported towbars, second-hand towbars or those available online, which may use inferior parts and/or be poorly designed and/or be damaged.

For more information on towbars and towing go to www.bestbars.co.nz.

CONTRACTORS’ DIARY Date

Event & Venue

Contact

Excavator Operators’ Competition 4-6 Dec

Northland – Whangarei A&P Showgrounds

murray@clementscontractors.co.nz

24 Jan 16

Otago – Taieri A&P Show

Carl Hollands carl.gill@xtra.co.nz

10-12 Feb 16 Southland – Waimumu Field Days

Lou Dougherty southland@civilcontractors.co.nz

27 Feb 16

Park David Howard david@ccl.co.nz

Wellington/Wairarapa – Upper Hutt Summer Carnival, Trentham Memorial

18-19 Mar 16 National Finals – Central District Field Days, Feilding

Tricia Logan tricia@civilcontractors.co.nz

2016 11 - 16 Apr

bauma 2016, Munich

www.bauma.de

Please send any contributions for Contractors’ Diary to kevin@contrafed.co.nz, or phone 09 636 5710

54 www.contractormag.co.nz

BEFORE

AFTER

The product being used on a quarry road near Havelock. HEB project engineer Shane Nicholls and HEB pavement manager Kenny Growden inspecting the works.

Road stabilising enzyme FirmaMent is an organic road stabilising enzyme distributed by FirmaMent NZ, which creates a dense road base resistant to water, weathering, erosion and wear.

The treatment is environmentally safe and completely harmless to plants,

animals and humans, is non-toxic and non-flammable. It is also said to be cost effective, can be laid in all soil types and can also stand up to the punishment of heavy machinery.

As a product it is used in the USA,

Asia and New Zealand to create low maintenance sustainable roads that can stand up equally well to snowy winters and baking heat.

More information: www.firmament.co.nz.

Hensley Bladesaver benefits Komatsu Australia has released a unique new wheel loader lip system for quarry and mining applications, that it says delivers significantly reduced bucket wear, increased safety and operator comfort, greater productivity, and lower wear-and-tear on machines and components.

The new Hensley Bladesaver QM loader lip system, currently available for Komatsu WA500 and equivalent-sized loaders, is a fully integrated bucket lip system that offers 100 percent protection along the front edge of the bucket – resulting in reduced wear on the base lip.

According to Rod McCallum, Komatsu Australia’s business development manager for Ground Engaging Tools, the Bladesaver system provides a streamlined profile for better penetration and loading.

In addition, it provides a completely smooth lip underside, further increasing production, reducing tyre wear, and increasing operator comfort.

“The Bladesaver system is fully integrated, so that each individual component fits

together and is held securely in place both individually and by the other components,” he says.

“All shrouds and teeth are fully mechanical, based around Hensley’s unique hammerless pin system, which

only requires conventional tooling/ sockets to remove and replace them.

“This eliminates the need to use hammers when changing components, greatly reducing the risk of injury to service personnel.”

DECEMBER 2015 55

CONTRACTOR CIVIL CONTRACTORS NEW ZEALAND

Christmas wishes to members All of the team at Civil Contractors New Zealand wish our members and supporters a safe and merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

We are looking forward to continuing our work with you all in the New Year to build a safe, viable and progressive industry that meets the needs of all its participants

NZTA and Auckland Transport roll out new pre-qualification system NZTA and Auckland Transport (AT) have selected ISNetworld as their contractor prequalification system. (See www.isnetworld. com for more information.)

CCNZ is aware that both NZTA and AT have been looking at ISNetworld but is surprised at the speed that this is being rolled out particularly with both Christmas and the busiest months for contracting work approaching.

NZTA has advised all pre-qualified contractors that ”to tender for Transport Agency physical works contracts, your company must subscribe to ISNetworld and post all required information by April 4, 2016”.

The Agency has advised its contractors that ISNetworld representatives will contact them to make them aware of the changes, answer questions, provide assistance and demonstrate the benefits to contractors.

Effective immediately, AT contractors and their sub-contractors are required to become subscribers to ISNetworld in order to pre¬qualify for work with AT. Over the next two months, AT and ISNetworld will work with companies to achieve the health and safety standards required for pre-qualification.

If contractors work for both NZTA and AT, only one subscription to ISNetworld will apply. Both NZTA and AT believe the benefits for both clients and contractors will far exceed any associated costs.

The Construction Contracts Amendment Act The Construction Contracts Amendment Act was passed in Parliament on October 20, 2015 and gained Royal assent on October 22, 2015.

CCNZ emailed the key contact people of all CCNZ contractor members with a summary of the amendments made indicating those areas where contractors need to pay particular attention.

There have been a large number of organisations that are suggesting it is imperative to attend seminars in relation to the Amendment Act, which CCNZ believes is a little premature.

CCNZ is in the process of planning a series of workshops for contractors in the new-year and is continuing to work with MBIE to represent contractor views during the development of the regulations that will contain critical details that will impact on the operation of the Act Amendments.

Contractors support Government Procurement Guides Civil Contractors New Zealand (CCNZ) has welcomed the release of government guidelines for planning construction procurement.

CCNZ executive officer Malcolm Abernethy says; “The important thing now is to ensure these guidelines are used and that all government agencies further develop their procurement capability. If that happens there will be significant savings for everyone involved.”

CCNZ contributes to ACC & WorkSafe Injury Prevention Plan Peter Silcock, CCNZ CEO, recently participated in a workshop to further develop the construction sector plan which will be included as part of the ACC and WorkSafe Injury Prevention Plan that sets the work programme for both agencies over the next three years.

The workshop was supported by worldrenowned H&S expert Lawrence Waterman OBE. Lawrence is currently head of Health and Safety for Battersea Power Station

development. He was head of Occupational Health and Safety for the London 2012 Olympics, is a trustee of the British Safety Council and a director of Park Health & Safety.

Worker Participation and representation Regulations have been developed for this important and new part of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The regulations were commented on by Civil Contractors New Zealand and are due for sign-off by Parliament early in the New Year.

CCNZ also continue to work with Work Safe in the development of guidance materials to support the regulations and this is currently a large piece of work which we are trying to get into a form that is easily understood by PCBU’s and workers. The guidance materials are currently available for comment and CCNZ are preparing a submission on these.

Machinery and Plant Operator competency assessment CCNZ has been working with NZTA, Zero Harm and other industry leaders to determine and develop a competency assessment for plant operators and equipment users that will allow competency assessments to be transferred between employers and contractors.

Industry currently spends a great deal of time and cost to determine if an operator has the competency required for a particular piece of equipment or plant and the task to be completed. Currently operators are assessed each time they start on a new construction site as an operator or subcontractor meaning there is a large amount of duplication, inefficiency, and cost.

A recognised and trusted competency assessment scheme will result in efficiencies and savings for the civil construction industry.

A DVERT ISER’S IND EX bauma 16

IBC

Hirepool 39

Total Oil

CablePrice OBC

Hynds Pipe Systems

25

Transdiesel IFC

CCNZ 46

OMC Power Equipment

5

Trimble 11

Counties Ready Mix

13

Prime Pump

19

Digga NZ

15

Taylor Built

9

Gough Cat

3, 7

56 www.contractormag.co.nz

Torrent Flood Protection

37

Youngman Richardson

51

23

Connecting Global Competence

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Experience trends, innovations and enthusiasm up close at the industry’s most important international exhibition.

This is where the world comes together, so you can’t miss out! Prepare your business success and look forward to: 3,400 exhibitors More than half a million visitors 605,000 m² of space

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