Event Review
Value engineering Summit 2019
Big Project ME looks at the second annual VE Summit, which focused on value engineering in construction and infrastructure, and how technology will continue to affect this growing facet of the construction industry More than 200 delegates from across the Middle East gathered together on April 9 at the Oberoi Hotel in Business Bay, for the second edition of the Value Engineering (VE) Summit organised by CPI Trade Media. The conference brought together speakers and panellists constituting consultants, contractors and government authorities, and
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provided them with a platform to discuss and debate the issues and challenges of improving efficiency in construction. Chaired by Nicky Dobreanu, managing quantity surveyor at C-Quest, the event included three panel discussions, two presentations and two CPDcertified sessions, followed by a networking lunch. Ahmed Abdalla Al Hammadi,
director of the Federal Roads Department at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, gave the keynote speech before the day’s discourse started. Scott Coombes, director at AESG, kicked off the event by moderating the first panel discussion, which focused on design and build (D&B) contracts becoming increasingly popular across the region, compared to
traditional construction contracts. The key points reviewed were the pros and cons associated with D&B projects, while industry experts talked about creating clear communication and working in a collaborative environment for successful VE implementation. Overall, the panellists believed that D&B is growing within the organisational culture, but pointed out that the way a D&B