Cooke & Dowsett Rosetta Plumbing

April already, wow time flies when you’re having fun. The year has got off to a great start. Some projects such as Derwent Entertainment Centre and Southern Remand Centre are finishing up and some are commencing such as the Hobart Youth Foyer, a recently celebrated win. Cooke & Dowsett – Rosetta (CDR) are incredibly proud and excited that we have recently secured the TasTAFE Trades & Water Centre of Excellence, which will become the new trades school for our industries plumbing apprentices. In Tasmania, we only have one ‘trade school’ training facility meaning that once completed, all future plumbing apprentices will be trained in a building that CDR ‘plumbed’. The pressure is well and truly on for the site team to ensure everything is in place no doubt to be forensically critiqued by hundreds of future industry leaders over the years to come.

By the looks of it – it has not all been work, work, work. No less than 4 of our team have recently welcomed beautiful bundles of joy into their respective families. Extending warm congratulations from the entire team to:

Kallum Krautz and Freya who welcomed Matilda Dylan Bygraves and Bree who welcomed Luna Dan Luck and Elissa who welcomed Esther Dan Cooper and Gabrielle welcomed Charlotte

Good luck and enjoy these precious times.

The Northern team is growing and on fire smashing out our two terrific Northern Tasmanian projects, Rivers Edge and Willis Street. Lead by newly crowned Site Manager Scott Schroder along with his team of Alex and Jarryd, the team are working through in ground and suspended drainage on both sites. As well as being a first-class plumber, Scott is a highly skilled beat boxer as well as being CDR’s first employee (sorry Nathan!).

Due to the fact that the Willis Street site is on reclaimed land, the in-ground drainage is completed suspended using SS clipping and droppers. Please reach out if this methodology is required on any of your projects. We have accurate pricing, timing, and installation details if it can be of assistance with your projects. 23

Suspended Drainage – Willis Street Site

THE REAL COSTS OF ROCK

We all know that at the tender stage typically we exclude excavation in rock. This is because the cost of getting rock out of a trench can vary as well as the extent of rock in the ground. What we do know is that getting rock out of the ground is expensive, and typically 5x greater than our excavation allowances in that of soil. There are far more costs than the rock breaker… Larger machines, slower productivity, over excavation, 100% imported backfill, higher disposal costs, variation documentation times and further costs in many instances.

The past months CDR have found it critically important to be on the front foot when it comes to rock having encountered it on a number of projects at the same time. As per our contracts, notify the builder as soon as the rock is found, and have them issue you an instruction to proceed. Communication and agreeing on documentation process also critically important as well as record keeping. As with many variations, initially we are carrying the can for the cost, and with excavation in rock it quickly adds up. It may seem tedious and time consuming to document thoroughly but it can become extremely important when submitting the variations for additional costs.

Sorell School in ground works

Southern Remand Centre Hobart

HOBART’S SOUTHERN REMAND CENTRE PROJECT IS BOWLED

Site Manager Aaron Warn and his team have all but bowled Hobart’s new remand centre. The state-ofthe-art prison features an Enware Water Management System where all fixtures are controlled electronically for times of days fixtures can be used, run times, quantity of uses, maintenance cycles and full lock out if required at times of crises. Essentially each fixture has a solenoid controlling water flow connected to a computer network where usage items are programmed by the prison. Reports can be pulled showing flow data, usage volumes, patterns of use and more. These systems are becoming more and more common particularly driven from an environmental water usage and maintenance point of view where plumbing fixtures are connecting in to BMS.

On a recent site visit I was highly impressed with the quality of workmanship from team CDR on this project. It is a first-class installation, including some technical and complex items. Our plumbing installations are the foundations upon which our company brand is built. This project is a great example of what team CDR is able to achieve…. Well done to all involved.

L-R Scott Schroder, Alex Koch and Jarryd Drew

Southern Remand Centre Hobart