Articles

I attended the IACCM first networking meeting in Sydney for 2012 this week and really enjoyed my experience. The IACCM pulled together two very different – but both equally valuable – speakers to kick-start the years networking events. Two different, but important, topics were addressed. Gary Trewin from Essential Utilities spoke about benchmarking in contracts; what works and what doesn’t, and the latest trends. Tony Hill from Blake Dawson provided us with an overview of the recent clean energy legislation and its implications for contracts and contract managers. Read more

The true meaning of a win-win settlement is a negotiated agreement where the agreement reached cannot be improved further by any discussions. So your outcome cannot be improved for your benefit, and similarly, the agreement for the other party cannot be improved further for their benefit either. By definition, there is no value left on the table and all creative options have been thoroughly explored and exploited. Read more

Alliance contracting and collaboration make the headlines at industry event Transfield Services was a major sponsor at the recent Contracting Excellence Summit held at the Radisson Hotel in Sydney. Held over three days, the summit saw Nicholas Yates, Chief Executive Infrastructure deliver a key speech on the changing marketplace from the perspective of a leading services supplier. Approximately 60 professionals from some of their clients including Sydney Water, Melbourne Water, Horizon Power, United Energy, Australian Rail Track Corporation, Department of Transport South Australia and Ergon, as well as potential clients such as Powercor and Main Roads Western Australia, attended the conference. Read more

Project Management Focus on Mining IQ Mining IQ recently interviewed Wayne Pearce and discussed his experience with respect to project management, leadership and teamwork and how that relates to high performance across larger scale and complex projects. Read more

Cost blow outs seem to be accepted as inevitable in mega projects around the world – and for any size mining project in fact. The scale and remoteness of many mining projects in feasibility and construction phases right now of course bring additional problems with them, including cost of workforce, supply of equipment, escalating materials cost, energy prices and sources. Read more

Alliance Contracting IQ recently interviewed David Long, formerly of Sutter Health Group, about his experience relating to relationship / relational contracting and integrated project delivery. In this honest and frank interview David shares his insights over a long and varied career applying this methodology and enjoying the benefits. Read more

This piece from Tim Cummins, President/CEO of IACCM is a response to the Contracting Excellence Summit’s “Asset owners need absolute certainty that contract selection is ‘best for project’ in current marketplace” piece by Jacqueline Bran, Director of Alliance Contracting IQ. In Cummins’ response, he concurs with Bran, and adds that there are a number of key principles contract owners should enforce. This piece was created for the Contracting Excellence Summit 2011 event, to be held in Sydney in November. For more information about this event, please visit www.ContractingExcellence.com.au, call 02 9229 1000 or email enquire@iqpc.com.au Read more

Asset owners need absolute certainty that contract selection is best for project in current marketplace Mining IQ and IQPC recently collaborated to research with 50+ asset owners (both public and private sector) to determine trends, challenges and opportunities with infrastructure investment for major and services projects nationally. What transpired from this in-depth industry research were a number of surprising and important trends that demand attention. The demand for infrastructure development exists across Australia, across both public and private sectors and currently involves projects valued at billions of dollars. However, a number of factors are currently influencing the funding and procurement of those projects and increasing pricing pressures significantly. Read more

COMPLEX projects with a high degree of ambiguity and unknown risk require highly skilled project managers accustomed to finessing “wicked” problems, according to a groundbreaking new research report into collaborative capability. Commissioned by the Alliancing Association of Australasia (AAA) and undertaken by Melbourne’s RMIT University and Victoria University, the recently released study found traditional infrastructure procurement methods and basic project management deal with “tame” problems but that much more was needed for “messier” problems (Hancock, 2010). Read more

COLLABORATIVE CONTRACTING LEADER SERIES: Insights from Main Roads Western Australia Alliance Contracting IQ recently had the pleasure of interviewing one of the industry's leading proponents and experts on collaborative means of contracting. Menno Henneveld is Managing Director of Main Roads for Main Roads Western Australia. He’s had a 38-year career in the water industry before his appointment as commissioner of Main Roads in December 2002. He has headed up the Main Roads Department in WA ever since. Menno was also previously chairman of Austroads and is currently chairman of the Austroads International Committee. In 2006, he was appointed Australia’s first delegate to the World Road Association, where he is a member of the executive committee and chairman of the communications and international relations commission. In addition, Menno is a fellow of Engineers Australia, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Customer Service Institute of Australia, and finally, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. So, it’s a real pleasure to have had the opportunity to talk frankly with Menno and to share some his thoughts on the collaborative contracting space. Read more

Alliance Contracting Excellence Awards 2011 Finalists Unveiled Sydney. Australia (11 April 2011) – IQPC’s Alliance Contracting Excellence Awards (ACE Awards), Australia’s most established awards recognising excellence in alliancing partnerships, unveiled its 2011 finalists today. The eight finalists will gather at the ACE Awards ceremony on the 17th May, where winners will be revealed by a panel of high profile judges, including representatives from Melbourne Water, VicRoads and State Water Corporation. Read more