Dispute Resolution Under The Principal Irish Forms Of Building Contract, Tony Cunningham

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The construction industry is known to be litigious (Latham, 1994). This is hardly surprising given the industry’s fragmented nature in which project teams comprising an extensive network of employers, designers and constructors are brought together to deliver once-off projects, following which, the organisation is almost always disbanded. The short term objectives of the various groupings are often competing and occasionally incompatible. For example, many employers will wish to minimise costs in developing a project, designers may resist pressures on budgets in order to safeguard their ‘brand’, and the commercial imperative of maximising profit will drive contractors towards charging what the …

Risk Allocation Under The Principal ‘Traditional’ Irish Forms Of Building Contract, Tony Cunningham

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Construction projects are risky ventures. Risks are inevitable and cannot be entirely eliminated but they can be transferred through appropriate wording in the clauses of a contract. Construction contracts allocate particular risks between the parties in order to identify who bears the cost if a particular risk comes to pass.

This study examines how contractual risks are allocated to the contracting parties under the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland Form, 2012 version, where quantities form part of the contract, commonly known as ‘the Yellow Form’, and the Public Works Contract PW CF1 Form v 1.10, 2014 where the design …

Cost Control During The Pre-Contract Stage Of A Building Project – An Introduction, Tony Cunningham

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Cost overruns are commonplace on construction projects.

One of the most important tasks carried out by quantity surveyors (QS) involves providing advice to clients and design team colleagues to enable the design to be finalised within the approved budget. This financial management process is referred to as cost control. Cost control seeks to deliver a high degree of cost certainty during the various stages of the building project in order that the project can be completed within budget. Successful projects are those which are delivered to the required quality standards, on time, and within budget. Effective cost management therefore is …

Tender Documentation For Construction Projects - An Overview, Tony Cunningham

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The tender documents form the basis of the contractor’s offer to construct the works. The tender documents are the means by which the employer’s design and/or works requirements are communicated to the tendering contractors. These inform the contractor of the scope and detail of the project, the conditions under which the work will be executed, and they identify the rights and obligations of the various participants under the proposed contract. The tender documents enable contractors to price the works requirements and submit an offer (bid) which, if accepted by the employer becomes a binding contract. Some of the tender documents …

Appointing Main Contractors For Construction Work In The Republic Of Ireland. – An Overview., Tony Cunningham

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This study examines the various options available for a client to appoint a contractor. The study investigates open tendering, selective tendering, prequalification, two stage selective tendering, competitive dialogue, negotiation and serial tendering. In most building contracts the contractor is selected on the basis of competitive tendering. The price which the contractor quotes for the job is heavily influenced by both the amount and intensity of the competition. Even in the case of negotiated tenders there is implicit competition, as the employer can break off negotiations. If there is no competition the contractor can, in effect, ‘name his price’. This study …

Payment Arrangements In The Irish Construction Industry - An Overview, Tony Cunningham

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The payment arrangements adopted on a contract directly affect the level of risk borne by the client and the contractor. This study has examined various approaches used to pay for building construction work and explains the circumstances in which they used. Most substantial building contracts in Ireland are entered into by way of lump sum arrangements based on either detailed works requirements, bills of quantities or contractor’s proposals; the contractor quotes a price ‘up front’ under these arrangements. Occasionally, measurement approaches may be used where the extent of the works are established in-situ and valued in accordance with tendered rates. …

Composing Descriptions For Bills Of Quantities In Accordance With Arm 4 – Worked Examples, Tony Cunningham

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Two basic skills are at the heart of the measurement process: quantification and description. Descriptions answer the question, what is it? This paper examines the process of composing descriptions for bills of quantities measured in accordance with the ARM4 (Agreed Rules of Measurement). This process involves ‘translating’ design information contained in models, drawings and specifications into bill descriptions in order to enable tendering contractors to accurately price the work. The quantity surveyor’s task is to effectively communicate the cost significant information so that the estimator can visualise what is being described.

Descriptions contained in bills of quantities measured in accordance …

Measuring Building Perimeters And Centrelines - Worked Examples, Tony Cunningham

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Quantity surveyors are expected to be able to measure the perimeters of buildings as part of their routine practice. Building perimeter measurements are very useful in finding out the overall lengths of foundations, external walls, external wall finishes and associated items. One of the earliest difficulties faced by quantity surveying and construction management students, is mastering the technique of calculating perimeters of awkwardly shaped building plans. The student is typically required to calculate a perimeter and adjust this to derive the centrelines of various elements in the associated construction details. In this paper, the author aims to explain these processes, …

Greater Drogheda: Emerging Demographic Evidence Base For Ireland’S Sixth City., Brian Hughes

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With Ireland’s strong economic recovery and the gradual revival of its construction industry, the future potential status and growth of its provincial cities in general for Drogheda, and the near 80,000 population of the Greater Drogheda Area (GDrA), is viewed as having been portrayed in an underwhelming way in the withdrawn National Spatial Strategy (NSS). Drogheda straddles both Louth and Meath counties, thereby presenting historic governance issues. Its impressive growth since 1996, in becoming Ireland’s largest town, has required several county boundary adjustments. This divided governance has inhibited its commercial growth. The purpose of this Paper is to have GDrA’s …

Arm4 - A Working Guide - Section B - Preliminaries, Tony Cunningham

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This paper is a companion to Section B – Preliminaries of the Agreed Rules of Measurement 4^th Edition (2009) and is provided as a guide to help better understanding of ARM and to clarify its contents. It is hoped that it may remove some of the disagreements which can arise on construction projects due to differences of interpretation. The paper follows ARM sequence, stating the rules first and following these with notes and commentary on the individual rules.

Because contractual terms and arrangements are a central concern of the preliminaries bill, this paper has been written with a particular …

Arm4:A Working Guide:Section A:General Rules, Tony Cunningham

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This paper is a companion to Section A – General Rules of the Agreed Rules of Measurement 4^th Edition (2009) and is provided as a guide to help better understanding of ARM4 and to clarify its contents. It is hoped that it may remove some of the disagreements which can arise on construction projects due to differences of interpretation.

The paper follows the ARM sequence, stating the rules first and following these with notes and commentaries on the various provisions. Some items contained within the ARM are self-explanatory, and therefore require no further comment. Explanations are generally by text …

Measuring Timber Pitched Roofs In Accordance With Arm4, Tony Cunningham

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Measuring Timber Pitched Roofs in Accordance with ARM4

Abstract

Timber pitched roofs are the dominant form of domestic roof construction in the Republic of Ireland. This worked example demonstrates the principles and techniques involved in measuring a very simple roof structure design in accordance with the principles of the Agreed Rules of Measurement (ARM4 – 2009). The worked example, nevertheless demonstrates a number of important techniques commonly used in measuring roof structures. The demonstration is addressed to Irish students of quantity surveying related disciplines at foundation level.

Recent Demographic Growth In Ireland: Implications For Future Spatial Planning And Housing Provision., Brian Hughes

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The recent publication of Ireland’s Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government’s ‘non-statutory’ Planning Policy Statement (PPS) of end January 2015, heralds the prospect of the replacement of the National Spatial Strategy (2002-2020) with a National Planning Framework (NPF). The PPS emphasises that future Planning Strategy should be both evidence-based and plan-led. As a contribution to such aspirations, this Paper presents a demographic approach applied to the spatial context for current housing needs and points to compelling reasons for developing Ireland’s cities whilst curtailing the ongoing proliferation of villages, small towns and one-off housing, and for services provision, infrastructural …

Why Balanced Regional Development Should Be Replaced By Urban Agglomeration Initiatives In Ireland’S Reconfigured National Spatial And Economic Strategy, Brian Hughes

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In 2003, Eoin O Leary of NUIC published the first in what has since become an extensive literature criticising the 2002-2020 National Spatial Strategy’s core ‘distributive’ strategy, that of Balanced Regional Development (BRD). It is therefore disturbing, despite the strategy’s obvious failures and the government’s 2013 withdrawn of this discredited NSS, that some Opposition politicians continue to persist in articulating BRD in a politically opportunistically way, such as was emphasised a number of times by Eamon O’Cuiv T.D. on the Claire Byrne TV Show on RTE 1, Monday 9th March. That programme with its Live Audience, was broadcast immediately after …