DVSA

Quantity Surveying services for the delivery of vehicle testing and inspection sites

Following a framework agreement with the then Government department VOSA stretching over 7 years from 2003-2009, Hookway was approached by the newly formed Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to provide QS services for the delivery of 3 further vehicle testing and inspection sites. These were to be based in Chilcomb (South England), Elmswell (East England) and Glenluce (Scotland) and each site comprised of an office building and a large area of surfacing from 4000m² to 10,000m².

The challenge

 A traditional procurement route was used under the NEC 3 contract with activity schedule Option A. Project duties undertaken included:

• providing cost plans for the three sites whilst factoring in adjustments in respect of location
• updating cost plans as the designs developed  
• assessing tenders and producing the tender reports
• carrying out value engineering and reporting on post tender adjustments
• providing regular financial statements
• reporting on values of early warning notices (EWNs) and notifications of compensation events (NCEs)

Working together with the client and design team we were able to successfully negotiate agreeable contract sums for the three sites through value engineering workshops. As we were working across various regions of the UK it was important to recognise the variance in costs reflected by location factors for the repeated design. 

The result

The three sites have all been completed within budget and on programme with the end user being extremely satisfied with the final finish of the building which provides a comprehensive and comfortable working environment with a capacity for up to 10 people. In addition Hookway was part of the team that won the Constructing Excellence Integration and Collaborative Working Award in relation to the work done on the earlier DVSA projects.