7/29/2019 Engineering at Risk

1/2

Engineering at Risk

From my experience over the past 20 years, it appears that Engineering is changing into atype of production line in most consultancies and contractors alike. Less emphasis is

given to the Engineering aspects of the projects than the economy of the project. There

are obviously exceptions in high prestigious projects where this is not the case. But mostof the local authorities and private organizations opt for the economy in the construction

of the structure to a degree where the Engineering part is sacrificed and decisions are

made base on the pressure from client, contractor due to shortage of time and budget incompleting the projects.

More often than not the designers are not involved in the pricing and programming the

design works, they are given a programme to work to. The Designers should assess theprogramme and raise their concerns if any right at the start of the project.

Vague scopes of the works can cause a lot of redundant work. It is worth studying the

project first and making a list of comments/questions to clarify the areas where theEngineer may think it is unclear. The Engineer needs to communicate the queries using

appropriate communication methods (Technical Queries, TQ) to document this at thestart of the project.

Instruction from the parties involved in the project is another trap that the designers fallinto quite frequently. The Engineer receives instructions to change something without

realising the consequences of the change. The Engineer should document the change and

inform the instructor of the effect of the change on the program and budget, he/she may

change his/her mind.

The contractors generally ignore the construction methods and details that are specifiedby the designer and choose a cheaper and quicker option without consultations with thedesigners. They then argue and pressurize the designers to justify the methods used are

acceptable.

One of the arguments that we hear constantly is that we have done this many time in the

past, this does not validated the correctness of the method and its fitness for the specific

purpose. The design codes have changed and more strict requirement might be in place

today than it was in the past, therefore this should not be used as a justification. Specificprojects have specific details, constraints and so on, the fact that it has been done in the

past is a vague statement that has no value at all. The liability is still with the designers to

ensure they comply with the current Standards.

The other phrase used commonly is it should be fine, it should be fine based on what,

how many time have we thought a design to be sufficient, prior to carrying outcalculation only to find out after calculations that it not sufficient. The designers should

carry out the necessary calculation in all circumstances and not post calculate the design.

Which then would be impossible to change the design as soon as it is out f the door. The

Designer then need to do a lot of research, cutting corners to justify the design.

7/29/2019 Engineering at Risk

2/2

The designers are expected to work with shorted programs and produce more. The

economic crisis has further affected the budget on the projects. One of the commonphrases used in many companies to justify the pressure on the Engineers is You are

lucky that you still have a job!

In summary:

1) Engineers are expected to work with extremely tight deadlines, obviously notcompromising the design and produce the same amount of calculations as before due

to shortage of budget.

2) Engineers are expected to accept what has been built by the contractors to economise

the construction cost.3) Commonly used phrases mentioned above should not be used as justification.

4) Vague scope of works

5) Engineers should be grateful for having a job! What a joke!

What should we do as Designers and Engineers.

1) Value our work

2) Assess the program of works at the beginning of the project and raise any concerns

that we may have.3) Document all the communications and decision that are made. People give

instructions and later forget! This is very common in our industry, always document

the decisions made.

4) Document all the variation/changes to the design and send to the parties involvedspecifying the addition time, budget and resources that it requires.

5) Ensure that sufficient calculations are carried out prior to submitting something to

Client or the Contractor.6) Do not be pressurised by various parties involved. If you delay the submission and

ensure it is right is much better than submitting something which may not be correct.

I have seen many urgent cases where if something was not done in two days timethen a disaster will happen, few months down the line the designers were still

carrying out the design and everything was fine!