Longbridge Leisure Scheme.
Challenge.
ACS was contracted to construct a multi-use market building in Longbridge town centre. The site was a post-demolition former factory site and the project involved transforming this into a mixed-use redevelopment, the installation of incoming services and the construction of the required building. The project had a defined end date as the future tenant had a fixed occupation date and this meant that liquidated damages were included in our contract.
Solution.
We faced several technological uncertainties which needed to be resolved during the project. One of the main challenges we solved involved the installation of polycarbonate cladding.
As part of the project, the timber framed building needed to be finished with polycarbonate external cladding. This element of the work was originally procured as part of the building superstructure package and therefore it was included in our scope to manage.
With the fixed tenant occupation date in mind and knowing we had several weeks work to complete once the building was watertight, it was in our interest to ensure that the cladding installation was carried out to programme to avoid any liquidated damages. However, the combined impacts of both Brexit and Covid caused a substantial delay to the supply of the polycarbonate sheet cladding, which originates in Germany. This, in turn, meant that the prebooked installation date with the specialist cladding installer was missed and their availability post-delivery would not have met the required dates in the programme.
To overcome this issue, we enrolled a section of our subcontractor workforce on a course to learn the installation techniques for the cladding being supplied. When the cladding arrived from Germany, we took the lead role in the full installation process.
Progress.
The project completed on time and on budget ready for the fixed tenant occupation date.
