Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Procurement Analysis Implementation

Procurement Analysis Implementation The development of procurement strategy follows the stages in the life of a project. Initially, a preliminary strategy is determined. It is based on a broad definition of objectives and is an essential step in establishing the way forward for the project. It encourages the client to consider strategy early. The preliminary procurement strategy is usually developed with help from the clients adviser and possibly other consultants. Procurement strategy development has three components: †¢ analysis assessing and setting the priorities of the project objectives and requirements; †¢ choice considering possible options, evaluating them and selecting the most appropriate; and †¢ implementation putting the chosen strategy into effect. During strategy preparation, it may be necessary to seek specialist advice from other consultants, for example, in relation to expected costs for the project. The adviser should advise the client on this. Specialist advice should besought when developing the strategy for novel or especially difficult projects. Until construction contracts are let, the client, with help from his adviser, must systematically ensure that the strategy is on course to meet the projects established objectives. This is important because objectives sometimes change. Procurement Methods There are various methods of procurement which can be broadly classified under the following headings: Traditional Design and Build Two Stage Tendering Public Private Partnerships / Private Finance Initiative Management Contracting Construction Management Framework Agreements Each method has different aspects of risk transfer and no one method can be classed as best overall. Traditional Procurement In this method the Contractor builds to a defined scope of works for a fixed price lump sum. The client retains the responsibility for the design and the project team. The contractor will be appointed normally following a tender process or negotiation and will sign up to a contract for the works. There are a number of standard forms of building contract available for this purpose. Design and Build Procurement The Client appoints a building contractor, as before standard forms of contract are available for this purpose to provide a completed building to an agreed cost and programme. The Contractor is responsible for design and construction. The Contractor can be chosen through a tender process or through negotiation. The Client can appoint a consultant to oversee the works. Maximum risk is transferred following this method of procurement, although a commercial response to design in order to address contract conditions can result. An alternative is to appoint a contractor when designs have been developed in order to retain control of the important elements of design and specification. The Design Team can then transfer their contractual obligations to the contractor and complete the designs on behalf of the Contractor. This process is called Novation. Two Stage Tender Procurement In this process, the Contractor is appointed on the basis of a first stage tender which determines the level of overhead and profit for each Contractor. The Contractor then works with the Project Team during the second stage to develop the designs and establish detailed costings for separate project work elements. This process will provide for a fixed price on a detailed design basis. The provider can then enter into a contract on this fixed price basis and also pursue the opportunity to novate the Design Team as with the Design and Build Procurement route as previously noted. This process requires a long second stage period in which to design and tender the different work elements and therefore a start on site would occur later than normal. Public Private Partnerships Public Private Partnerships (PPP), particularly Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) projects are created for the provision of services and not specifically for the exclusive provision of capital assets such as buildings. It is therefore preferable to investigate PPPs as soon as possible after a user need has been identified rather than leaving it until a conventional construction project has been selected as the solution. It should be noted that the tendering process in this procurement route is expensive and requires negotiation rather than competitive tendering. In comparison with other procurement routes the time from commencement of the project to attaining a start on site is substantially longer. Management Contracting This is a fast track strategy which overlaps the design and construction stages and allows early elements of the construction process to be commenced before design has been completed. The Management Contractor is engaged to manage the overall contract in return for a fee. The Management Contractor can therefore be appointed early in the design and can advise on buildability and programming. In addition to the contract with the Management Contractor, the contracts for the individual work packages are between the Management Contractor and the individual sub-contractors. A cost plan is utilised to control the development costs although actual costs cannot be obtained until the final work package has been awarded. Construction Management This is also a fast track strategy where individual elements of the project are let before the design of later work packages or elements have been completed. The provider will appoint a Construction Manager to manage the overall contract in return for a management fee as with Management Contracting. Also, as before, the project can benefit from early involvement of the Contractor. In this process the contracts for the sub-contractors are placed directly between the Client and the sub-contractor and the Client will need to have a high level of involvement during the design development and the construction phases of the work. As with Management Contracting, the final costs will only be known once the final work elements have been awarded. Framework Agreements Framework Agreements can be established with single suppliers or with a limited number of suppliers. Frameworks can allow suppliers to be brought together with the relevant expertise and experience which can result in savings to both parties where a number of projects are involved. These agreements can cover different forms of procurement including Design and Build, Traditional, etc. The LSC are currently developing framework agreements for consultancy services accross the country. These should be available for use by colleges by early 2008. Following on from this, the LSC will also be working on developing a contractors framework. London Heathrow Airport (LHA/EGLL) Terminal 5, United Kingdom Terminal 5 is one of Europes largest and most complex construction projects. With 16 major projects and over 147 sub-projects, it has encompassed a vast and hugely complex programme of works. Key Data Start Year September 2002 Project Type New terminal construction Location London, UK Contract Value  £4.2bn Completion Phase 1 April 2008Phase 2 2011 Key Players Sponsors BAA, private investment, HM Government Lead Architect Richard Rogers Partnership Strategic Planning and Design Services Halcrow Group Ltd Cost Consultant Services E C Harris Group Ltd Turner and Townsend Group Planning Supervisor Bovis Engineering Ltd Structural Tunnel and Rail Consultant Mott MacDonald Ltd Project Management and Support Services Parsons Brinkerhoff Ltd Civil construction infrastructure and logistics delivery Laing ORourke Civil Engineering Ltd Architectural station design consultant architectural production and brief development HOK International Ltd Construction management Mace Ltd Technical features: In addition to the main terminal building, Terminal 5 also consists of two satellite buildings (the second of which will be completed by 2010), 60 aircraft stands, a new air traffic control tower, a 4,000 space multi storey car park, the creation of a new spur road from the M25, a 600 bed hotel, the diversion of two rivers and over 13 kilometres of bored tunnel, including extensions to the Heathrow Express and Piccadilly Line services. This work encompasses a multitude of construction related skills including civil engineering, building, highway engineering, mechanical  and  electrical engineering, tunnelling, railway engineering, specialist systems technology and project logistics management. The Stages of Construction: Stage1: Site preparation and enabling words Firstly the 260 hectare site was surveyed and excavated by archaeologists.   Preparation for construction then involved levelling the site, removing the sludge lagoons and building temporary facilities including roads, offices and logistics centres. Stage 2: Groundworks substructures This phase included the earthworks and the construction of the foundations and substructures for the terminal basements. It also included building the drainage systems and the rail tunnels.  Ã‚   A total of 9 million cubic meters of earth will have been excavated during the earthworks phase. A proportion of this earth was used to create the embankments for the M25 spur road and landscape the Colne Valley, while the rest is used to backfill the main site. Stage 3: Major structures This phase included erecting the huge free standing roof structure of the main terminal building (T5A), and its interior superstructure. It also included the superstructure and roof of the first satellite (T5B) as well as the multi-storey car park and ancillary buildings such as the energy centre. Stage 4: Fit out This involved the fit out of the buildings interiors including, the building services modules (ie, power, heating and ventilation systems), the baggage system, the track transit system (people mover) and specialist electronic systems.   It also included the fixtures and fittings and the retail areas. Stage 5: Implementation of operational readiness Operational readiness is necessary to ensure that Terminal 5s infrastructure and systems are fully complete and tested, that staff working in the terminal are properly trained and that all the necessary operational procedures for Terminal 5s opening day on 27 March 2008 are in place. Phase 2: Construction for the basements for the second satellite building (T5C) and additional aircraft stands commenced in 2006.   However, the main building structure will not be completed until 2010. Procurement Strategy Adopted T5 Agreement From the outset BAA recognised that the risk associated with such a huge and complex infrastructure project required a fresh approach to construction management.  Research conducted by BAA into major construction projects highlighted two key areas that seemed to undermine progress; cultural confusion and the reluctance to acknowledge risk.In a move to prevent Terminal 5 from suffering from costly delays and budget over-runs, BAA developed a unique and bespoke commercial partnering agreement with contractors and suppliers called The Terminal 5 agreement.  A contract based on relations and behaviours, it was designed to expose risk rather than transfer it to other parties. Advantages: a)UK construction best practice is expected as a minimum standard on, and in light of this the project has had to ensure key milestones are met on time, on cost and to high quality and safety standards. b)An incentive scheme encourages teams to work together in order to find the most efficient way of achieving these milestones. c)Through the agreement BAA accepts that it carries all of the risk for the construction project. d) Focus on managing out the cause of problems, not the effects if they happen e) Work in truly integrated teams in a successful, if uncertain environment f) Focus on proactively managing risk rather than avoiding litigation. g)With the burden of accountability lifted, those working on T5 can do so innovatively and positively. While traditional arrangements can result in a highly unproductive culture of blame and confrontation if something goes wrong, h)Under the T5 Agreement a premium is placed on delivering solutions and results. I)Many of the suppliers involved in Terminal 5 were brought on-board at the earliest stages of the planning process. This enabled completely integrated expert teams to work together to identify potential problems and issues before designs were finalised and fabrication and construction began. As a result the teams of suppliers and consultants are in a position to add value whilst designing safe solutions within the time, quality, cost and safety targets. j)UK construction best practice performance on Terminal 5 is expected as a minimum standard. In light of this, the project has to ensure key milestones are met on time, on cost and to high quality and safety standards. k) BAA only has a direct contractual relationship with ‘First Tier suppliers, of which there are around 60. It is the First Tier suppliers who are responsible for the appointment and management of ‘Second Tiersuppliers or subcontractors. In doing so they too are expected to operate within the spirit of the T5 Agreement. The English national stadium project at Wembley Key Facts about Wembley: The stadium will be used primarily for football and rugby league but will also, after adaptation, be capable of hosting major international athletics events. ! The project is expected to cost  £757 million and is scheduled for completion early in 2006. ! The Football Association is contributing  £148 million to the project and commercial lenders have provided debt facilities of  £433 million. ! The public sector funders are providing  £161 million ( £120 million of lottery money from Sport England,  £20 million from the Department for CultureMedia and Sport and  £21 million from the London Development Agency) to the project. ! The stadium will be owned and operated by Wembley National Stadium Limited,a wholly owned subsidiary of the Football Association. ! Profits from the operation of the stadium will be used by the Football Association in accordance with its objects for the benefit of football. ! Starting five years after the stadium opens, Wembley National Stadium Limited will donate one per cent of its turnover each year for distribution to sports education and other projects. Key Features: With 90,000 seats, the new Wembley is the largest stadium in the world with every seat under cover. This capacity is separated into 3 tiers of seating, with the lower tier holding 34,303 spectators, the middle one 16,932 and the upper one 39,165[14] The stadium contains 2,618 toilets, more than any other venue in the world.[15] The stadium has a circumference of 1  km (0.6  mi).[2] At its peak, there were more than 3,500 construction workers on site.[16] 4,000 separate piles form the foundations of the new stadium,[2] the deepest of which is 35  m (115  ft).[2] There are 56 km (35 miles) of heavy-duty power cables in the stadium.[2] 90,000  m ³ (120,000  cu  yds) of concrete and 23,000 tonnes (25,000 short tons) of steel were used in the construction of the new stadium.[2] The total length of the escalators is 400  m ( ¼Ã‚  mi).[2] The Wembley Arch has a diameter greater than that of a cross-channel train.[17][18]

Monday, January 20, 2020

technology Essay -- essays research papers

THURSDAY, July 21 (HealthDay News) -- Following surgery, a single dose of the cancer drug carboplatin is just as effective, and less toxic, than the standard three weeks of radiation therapy traditionally used to fight stage 1 seminoma, a form of testicular cancer, British researchers report. In addition, treatment with carboplatin results in the development of fewer new seminomas compared with traditional radiation therapy, according to the report in the July 23 issue of The Lancet. For the past half-century, the standard care for seminoma has been to remove the cancerous testicle, usually followed by three weeks of radiotherapy. However, the researchers point to previous studies that found that patients followed for up to 30 years post-treatment still faced an increased risk of cancer in other organs, as well as heart disease. Patients may finally have a new option, however. "We have defined a new standard for patients with testicular cancer," said lead author Dr. Tim Oliver, a professor of medical oncology at St. Bartholomew's and The London School of Medicine. "It's proven to be as safe as radiation, and it's less toxic." In their study, Oliver and colleagues randomly assigned nearly 1,500 patients with stage 1 seminoma to a single course of post-surgery carboplatin or radiation therapy. After three years of follow-up, they report that survival without relapse was similar in both groups -- 94.8 percent among those who received carboplatin compare...

Sunday, January 12, 2020

How does Steinbeck make Lennie a sympathetic character? Essay

In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, John Steinbeck deliberately creates and describes the character of Lennie and the events that surround him in the aim of evoking the reader’s sympathy towards him. It is obvious from the beginning of the novel that Lennie is in some way mentally disabled, and has the mind and actions of a child, the first time that a character mentions this is Slim, who remarks that Lennie is ‘Jes like a kid’, Curley’s wife also point out that he is ‘jus’ like a big baby’. It is obvious to the reader of Lennie’s mental ability by the way he speaks, as he has a definite speech impediment. By having Lennie be described as like a child and by his actions being like a child, it effectively creates sympathy for the character from the readers. This is because it is always easy for a reader to feel sympathetic towards a person with mental difficulties as you can understand how challenging it must be in their situation. The events which occur around Lennie are a main factor in creating sympathy for him. The first incident when the reader feels extremely sympathetic towards Lennie is when he is petting a dead mouse and George takes it off him, at which point Lennie starts to cry ‘He heard Lennie’s whimpering cry and wheeled about. â€Å"Blubberin’ like a baby? Jesus Christ! A big guy like you’. This highlights Lennie’s immaturity and his childlike characteristics, it is like a young child being scolded and having something taken off them and then starting to cry, this is how Lennie reacts to this situation. Often in the book George will say to Lennie ‘Good Boy’, this further shows the childlike character Lennie is, as it has George talking down to Lennie and comforting him, the way a child needs comforting. Early on in the book, Lennie’s pathetic yet amusing attempts at proving to George that he could survive living on his own shows what a sadly hopeless character he is, ‘if you don’t want me, you only jus’ got to say so, and I’ll go off in those hills right there – and live by myself’. We know for a fact that Lennie would be completely incapable of surviving on his own let alone surviving in the mountains, the effect this exchange has on the reader one again points to Lennie’s hopelessness and adds to the sympathy you feel towards him. Further on, Lennie is mistakenly taken to be laughing at Curley and Curley begins to punch him to which Lennie only reacts when ordered to by George. Lennie does not realise his own strength and crushes Curley’s hand, which was an unintentional way of getting him to stop. After this incident Lennie is described as ‘crouched fearfully against the wall’ and he cries how he ‘didn’t wanta hurt him’. Just after he has broken Curley’s hand you would not feel any sympathy towards Lennie, it is not until he shows his regret and remorse about the incident that it shows his timid and childlike side again. No sympathy is felt towards Curley during this, because of the dislike built up against his character by this point even though he is the one seriously injured, all the sympathy is felt towards Lennie by the characters and the readers alike. After the encounter and being comforted by George, Lennie exclaims ‘I can still tend the rabbits, George?’ it shows how easily satisfied Lennie is and also how easy it is for him to forget major occurrences and get over them. When Lennie is given one of Slim’s pups it is a dream come true for him, George describes how ‘it was a hell of a lot to him. Jesus Christ, I don’t know how we’re gonna get him to sleep in here’. This shows Lennie’s low mentality and how such a small thing can bring so much pleasure to him, the reader feels a certain sympathy for Lennie at this point for his childlike mentality. Towards the end of the book, Lennie accidentally kills the puppy which was given to him, by stroking it too hard. Initially he reacts to this by getting upset and crying ‘why do you got to get killed?’ this highlights his lack of knowledge and understanding with the concept of death, the reader feels sympathy towards the sorry state he is. However, Lennie then begins to get frustrated and angry about it and hurls the puppy away, he worries that by what he has done George will not let him ‘tend the rabbits’. At this point the sympathy towards Lennie stops, as this part shows his aggressive and selfish side as he is worrying for himself. The situation soon becomes much more serious however, when Lennie goes on to accidentally kill Curley’s wife by breaking her neck whilst stroking her hair. This time Lennie realises more the serious implications of his actions and leaves the ranch to hide in the place where he was instructed to by George. In my opinion, by this point sympathy towards Lennie has all but stopped, even though he killed Curley’s wife by accident he did it by viciously holding his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming, as he felt that him being able to ‘tend the rabbits’ would be jeopardised. This is Lennie once again looking out for himself. The sympathy felt towards Lennie is however regained, by the end of the book. Lennie is deeply remorseful about his actions and understand the burden he must be for George ‘I won’t be no more trouble to George’, and how what he does affects everyone else. In this final part Lennie is more childlike than ever, he cries and worries and calls for George like a child for its parent. George finally shoots Lennie and kills him, believing it is the best for Lennie and everyone else, a sort of mercy killing. However, you do not feel deep sympathy towards Lennie at this point as in a way he is free now of his mental burden, in my opinion I am glad that this was what happened to Lennie as his shackles have been cut loose and he nor anyone else has to suffer.

Friday, January 3, 2020

The Social Contract Account Of Justice By John Rawls

Rawls Paper The original position is a major theme in the social contract account of justice by John Rawls. By design, it should be a fair point of view for any person desiring to be impartial in their reasoning, regarding the basic principles of justice (Anderson et al. 2014). When a person adopts this point of view, they imagine themselves in a position of equal persons who are committed to the principles of political and social justice. One of its distinguishing features is the veil of ignorance. In this paper, the case of a defendant found guilty of second-degree murder is presented. A stakeholder’s position is first given on the matter. It is followed by the revised position under the veil of ignorance. It also contains a discussion of the ways in which stances have changed from the assigned identity’s perspective to the Rawl’s veil of significance perspective. Introduction to the concepts The original position is a situation that occurs hypothetically. 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