Architects protest turnkey government tenders in FS

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20-08-2024
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Sunday World
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The Free State Department of Human Settlements’ plan to appoint an implementing agent for a 36-month-long, R3-billion housing project has left the South African Council for the Architectural Profession (Sacap) outraged, citing that the approach stifles growth and transformation in the architectural and allied professions. 

Sacap has warned that the approach preferred by the provincial government was a veritable playground for corrupt activities since a contractor-led turnkey projects meant the cost was not transparent. 

“No single contractor can afford the upfront financial administration to kick-start the implementation of a project of this magnitude,” said Sacap president Charles Nduku in a letter dated July 30. 

“As Sacap, we hold a strong view that one of the disadvantages of this turnkey approach led by a contractor is that there is no knowledge of the cost of the project upfront because it is a budget without quantities,” Nduku said. 

He addressed his letter to Free State Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae and Teboho Mokoena, the MEC for cooperative governance, traditional affairs and human settlements. 

“It is Sacap’s view that a project value of R3-billion, at 20% professional fees allocated to the built environment professionals’ teams, hypothetically equates to possibly 60 built environment professional practices benefiting from this project, with a projected revenue of R12-million each for built environment practices,” said Nduku. 

He continued, “We submit that skimping on pre-planning is necessary to avoid the risk of unknown upfront costs, and that can only occur if built environment professionals lead the construction process.” 

He stated that Sacap’s concern with this approach was that the client would have to pay for the equivalent of a normal management team or consultants without benefiting from their full and independent services. In a dispute between the department (employer) and the contractor, the department would act alone against the entire team for which it had already paid. 

“This will be triggered by the fact that the contractor fully assumes the role of an employer with this approach. In the event of litigation, the department would have to engage a similar team for advice, and that could cost even more. We submit that the pitfalls are numerous in this approach, and the department remains in the dark on many vital issues that may not be included in the bid documents.” 

Nduku said that according to bid documentation, the implementing agent role encompassed the project management of contractors, engineers, architects, and quantity surveyors, suggesting it favoured a single-built environment practice. 

The professional body, which represents professional architects, senior architectural technologists, architectural technologists and draughtspeople, argued that the bid inappropriately favours contractors who lack the necessary implementing agency capacity and expertise. 

“The bid excludes built environment professionals, though the feasibility study, designs, and construction monitoring are performed by built environment professionals.  

“It perpetuates a scenario where the contractor will be the judge and a jury,” said Nduku.  

He noted that architectural and allied built environment professionals were highly competent in housing delivery and should lead the way from design to implementation. 

Traditionally, professionals in the built environment, such as architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, construction managers, and project managers, were responsible and accountable for the design, construction management, oversight, and supervision of all construction projects. They have to ensure that a contractor performs its contractual obligations following approved building plans, he added. 

“With the advent of the turnkey approach to construction, this has changed, and the interests of the clients and the quality of construction work have been severely compromised when the turnkey approach is led by a contractor. As Sacap, we discourage the department’s approach of placing a contractor as a lead in a turnkey contract,” he said. 

“Therefore, we implore the department to consider unbundling the project into manageable sizes led by a professional team under the management of the implementing agent to mitigate the risk of placing all the eggs in one basket.”  

Nduku urged the department to withdraw and restructure the bid, stating that this would support the transformation and sustainability of built environment practices.