Lubbe Construction has been selected as the contractor for the Sarah Baartman Centre of Remembrance. Gauge is the Sustainability Consultant on the project being developed in Hankey in the Eastern Cape. For further details see sustainability.
A briefing was held with the Contractor on the design and construction management processes. The sustainability briefing included:
- Details: Care should be taken to understand and follow the detail of the design. Technologies and layouts used may not be conventional and should be fully understood before construction. Detailed aspects make a difference. For instance, building envelopes needed to be airtight to support passive environmental control, therefore wall and roof junctions and door and window jambs must be carefully constructed to avoid infiltration. Motion sensors needed to be correctly placed to ensure systems are on when required, and off, when not. The Contractor should remain in close contact with designers to ensure that construction matched design requirements.
- Local product and materials assessments: Local products and materials are specified for the building. The Contractor therefore needs to carry out an assessment of capacity and quality of local suppliers and manufacturers. Any limitations in capacity and quality should be addressed through interventions and planning. The Contractor should note local procurement requirements and plan for these.
- Local skills and SMME assessments: Construction should draw on local skills and SMMEs. The Contractor therefore needs to carry out an assessment of local capacity and ensure that appropriate skills and capacity for construction are in place. Project specific and generic training should be in place.
- Lead-in times: Small local building product manufacturers may not have the capacity to produce materials and components required for the building immediately and may need to gear up to this and stockpile products to ensure that requirements can be met. Similarly, there may not be a readily available local skills of an appropriate quantity and quality to meet the construction programme. The Contractor should identify lead-in times for materials and skills and account for this in training and procurement planning.
- Site planning: Additional requirements such as site plant rescue and protection processes, onsite recycling and training will have implications for site set up and planning. Sustainability requirements should be noted and integrated in site planning and establishment.
- Reporting: A range of reporting requirements are included in the project. These are linked to local materials and products, job creation, SMME support, waste recycling, and training. Templates provided can be modified if necessary, but effectively systems are expected to be in place and regular reporting will be required as per contract. The Contractor should understand sustainability objectives and related reporting requirements.