CASE STUDY
NSW LAND AND HOUSING CORPORATION BUILDS SENIOR HOMES TO STRICT COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS ON TIME AND ON BUDGET BACKGROUND The NSW Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) needed to demolish established buildings and construct suitable housing for older, senior people. Everything to be done in a pre-set format using the client’s proprietary templates and we have the flexibility to do that. The site was a large 1700 square meter block that required a lot of detail from a surveying data collection point of view. Street View House 1
LAHC was looking to comply with the State Environment Planning Policy for Seniors Living (SEPP-SL), so, extra surveying was required, for example, to make sure the grade of the existing footpaths from the new residences to the closest bus stop allowed for easy access for wheelchairs and people with limited mobility.
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Street View House 2
Our firm was approached, because of our LONG-STANDING REPUTATION in the industry and because we are among only a handful of surveying firms QUALIFIED on the client’s recommended tender list. THE CHALLENGE This 1700sqm site project required the collection of about 3 times more data points than a typical residential project. In addition to that, time is always a factor with surveying projects and this project needed to be completed quickly, accurately and to predetermined standards. Hundreds of data points were necessary to be collected. The more data points, the more room for error exists.
View from rear of property
Tenant liaison is a challenge when dealing with multiple properties because of the numerous tenant availabilities and various access requirements. Consequently, we required access to multiple properties on the same day, logistically this was not a small undertaking. One of the many hidden sources of value we bring to projects like this is our ability to work quickly, efficiently, 15 Parkes St Parramatta, NSW 2150 x T: 02 9806 3000 x F: 02 9891 2806 www.DonovanAssociates.com.au
CASE STUDY
safely, and most importantly accurately while negotiating all the competing priorities with the other tradespeople and construction professionals on site. OUR SOLUTION We produced detailed and accurate CAD drawings to meet the client’s strict specifications. OUR CUSTOMWRITTEN SOFTWARE PROVIDED A QUICK AND EFFICIENT DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS. Because we don’t use off-the-shelf software for data reduction, we on average, saving up to 60% of the time usually required by most of our competitors. This value-add is another hidden benefit of working with our experienced team, adept with cutting edge technology. Countour + detail plan
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Plan view and long section - bus route
Furthermore, we used a carefully monitored process to eliminate all potential human errors. We had one person calculating the boundaries, another person drafting them, and another person processing the data. At each step of our robust quality assurance process, three to four different people were analysing and verifying the job. In our experience, this integrated team effort helps us to complete projects quickly with maximum accuracy. Many other surveying firms have one person doing all the jobs from start to finish, which is difficult for that person to see his/her own mistakes or omissions. We however, believe in a well structured methodology that ensures each part of the project is handled by a qualified expert while remaining cost effective because the overall time taken to complete a project is less than the alternative with only one person. The client received all the documents required, a PDF and CAD version of the drawings, the photos we took on site, copies of the title, Deposited Plan 88b, all relevant covenants, Dial Before You Dig (DBYD) plans and the GPS coordinates. With this information in hand, the client could then proceed with the building work confident in knowing that all essential details have been accounted for and verified to the strict specifications.
15 Parkes St Parramatta, NSW 2150 x T: 02 9806 3000 x F: 02 9891 2806 www.DonovanAssociates.com.au