From Specification to Site

BRENDAN:

G’day, everybody, and thank you very much for joining us today on MARKHAM's latest webinar: Specification to Site, a journey through the early contractor experience; and early collaboration, improving project outcomes. We very much appreciate you joining us. And without further ado, I'll share the slide deck and we’ll introduce the team members. Thank you very much.

So with us today we’ve Henry Mitchell, who some of you might have seen from previous events; and Wade Lanham, likewise. Henry's in the New Zealand office; and Wade is in the Australian office in Wollongong. They’ll introduce themselves as they join the conversation. I'd like to draw your attention to the Q&A and Comments buttons at the bottom of your window.

We would really like some interaction on this event, so we'd be very glad to hear your questions or comments as we go along. The agenda for the event - there’s three main topics, they’re all fairly simple. [1] The challenges of the pre-construction phase, because that's what this is really all about. We're going to talk some more about [2] value engineering, as a follow on, you might say, from our previous webinar; and we’ll have a discussion around [3] end-to-end service and performance warranties.

So I think Henry was going to take us on to the next phase.

HENRY:

Yes, thanks Brendo. And hello and welcome to everybody out there joining, thanks for joining. My name's Henry Mitchell, I’ve been with MARKHAM for about 13 years now. Normally work in major projects. And yes, it's a passion of mine, this early stage, pre-construction, ECI, whatever you like to call it.

But, yes, we were going to... Were you going to share a couple quick poll, Brendo? - just about, What's the biggest challenge... We're real keen to get some feedback from you guys on this screen, What is the biggest challenge in precon, from what you see? So we can make this a bit more relevant to you guys.

BRENDAN:

Let's do that. Can you see that on the screen? Or otherwise it will be visible in the polls button on the bottom of your tool... on the bottom right of the toolbar.

The question is, What's your biggest challenge in the pre-construction phase? And we've got these five options, the same as we've got on the slide deck here. Or is there something else? We'd like to know if there's something that we've overlooked or missed. So if you would like to put your results in there… A few coming in. Thank you very much. Yes OK. OK. So are you seeing those results, Henry?

HENRY:

No, I’m not, sorry.

BRENDAN:

So we've got about two-thirds are coming in at “owner's expectations”. And a third coming in as “incomplete or evolving designs”. Yes. I think it’s...

HENRY:

Interesting that those two have come in. Obviously, yes, owners’ expectations is a bit one, to... managing those expectations.

See, obviously we've got ambitious goals and programs from owners. But it's hard, you know, when these aren’t managed, obviously there’s major misalignment that can lead to disputes as such. And so that's why we get involved - we’ll talk a little bit more further down - but getting involved as early as possible, having those discussions, is something we can help you out with. Some of the other things... Obviously, evolving designs is another big challenge out there that we all know about. So, wanting pricing before the design is fully complete. So we can work through some things there. Obviously that's a risk of budget over-run and scope-creep later on in the project. Then we're talking about an accurate costing; so it’s misalignment, misalignment from the start. So there's a lot of challenges out there as such, and we are familiar with quite a few of them and real keen to share our experiences on projects and work on that. But just probably next slide, Brendan.

So just a quick case study here. And keep firing your questions here as well to the Q&A button down the bottom there. But this was... We've done a number of data centres in New Zealand and Australia. And a big challenge for them was, getting away from painting all the concrete. Obviously, there's time there, and as we know, that concrete can always dust, as long as CO₂ can get into it. We've got hundreds of millions of dollars of server and computer gear inside these big data centres, so dusting is a major challenge. So it’s something we talk about very early on and come up with a system; and then obviously work with designers and collaborate with the construction firms to get a more cost-effective outcome that's in there for the lifetime the structure.

WADE:

Yes, I think that's the key, isn't it, Henry? - trying to come up with something that's going to work for the lifetime of the building. And with data centres in particular, they're quite a unique challenge there.

HENRY:

Yes, 100%. And so with MARKHAM, we've got a staff of about 70. So there's a lot of experience. We’ve been on the road for 30-odd years. And when we put our heads together, across Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, the United Kingdom, with our partners there, we can come up with a lot of cross-knowledge that we can give to these projects that come off the ground.

We can foresee some of these things that you guys... not that you don't see them, but you're getting ... when you’ve got an owner or a client that's really wanting to push certain aspects, some of these other topics get lost. But that’s a little bit about the case study and the data centre. Next slide there. I’ll hand this one on to you, Wade.

WADE:

Yes, thanks. I'll formally introduce myself. So I'm Wade Lanham. I’ve been with MARKHAM a bit over seven years now. Look after Australian projects. But again, like Henry said, we're all pretty well connected. So when it comes down to a unique project, there’s quite a lot of input from around the world.

Value engineering is something that I'm particularly interested in. I think a lot of, I guess, Australian projects, more than we've seen in other places, tend to go down to more a D&C or value engineering platform. And it's quite often taken in traditional methods, you know. Things like curing you'll get packaged with the concreter. Sealing goes in with the painter; waterproofing with a waterproofing package.

But quite often - and especially with our approach - there's a much more holistic approach that comes to that. So we might be able to look at all those aspects in one small area. That'll certainly save a lot of time, a lot of money. It saves a lot of the discrepancies in designs, and incompatibility issues, that you get along the way as well.

It also stops a lot of the delays. You know, you might get something done at the start of a project that gets to the end of the project, and then that person has a different view of what they want to do or how they want to do it. Or... Yes, I don't agree with the way you've already done things.

So we like to look at the holistic view from start to finish on a project, and tie into a lot of those trades, a lot of those different procedures, that would normally be another person's problem or that person's problem, we like to take that on board, and work out a design that's going to work from the start of that project right through to the end.

And that's not just during construction as well. That might be from early design discussions in the expectations, to the reality that comes out of the back end. We like to simplify that and keep it all in one. Keep it simple for everyone to understand. And that really, really does come out with a value as a dollar sign at the end.

HENRY:

Do you think, Wade, it's a little bit like, we're acting as... we are the technical and delivery partner. So we’re going on a journey with you guys from the very start, with our design crew that can work for design, all that sort of thing, not just a product supplier. So we're not just someone that sells product off the shelf. We work through everything on that, don’t we?

WADE:

Correct. We're actually very tight knit. And that goes right through to the installers on site. I've just had an ECI meeting before this one, and we had Lance, one of our applicators, in the meeting. So we really understand what that client expects from the start and how that's delivered on site in the end. It really makes a big difference. Next slide there, Brendan.

So this is quite a unique one. And we we've been doing a lot more of this lately. So again, we were involved very early on this project and had just recently been involved with a bit of the handover stuff on this project as well. This is something that's coming more into the value management side of things where we're looking at, What's the requirement of the building? What is actually needed? Is there a more efficient way of doing things that simplifies the process and gets a better outcome for everyone in the end? So, this is a basement on the Brisbane River. It's well below the water table. We looked at the design in the building and the traditional methods that they were looking at using for waterproofing.

And although those would have worked, again, it was a multi-trade approach with possible incompatibilities between different scenarios; and different people wanting to take different responsibility for certain areas. So we managed to come up with a simplified system. It was an integral system that was installed at the time of the concrete pour. So you're effectively got a waterproof basement at the time of concrete pour from day one.

And that worked really, really well. It saved a lot of time in the basement. Quite a high end project. So the risk was quite high, being the location and the clientele. But that's come out really, really successful, that project. And it actually saved them a huge amount of time off the construction timeline as well. Just having a process that was already in as they were constructing the building, saved them a lot of time and money as well. Sorry Brendo, just jump to the next one.

So end-to-end performance warranty. So I'll just talk to the warranty side of things at the moment. I briefly described the service side of things. But in terms of what we do warranty-wise, so our warranties are all performance-based warranties. It's not just a product supply warranty or an install warranty. It actually incorporates everything.

So again, we'll get early involved with the design to ensure that what we promised we will deliver, and that that is warranted. So from the design side of things, handed over to the project side of things, is very, very detailed; and the QA that comes through with our system is extremely in-depth. It's easy to follow, so everyone knows what's been involved the whole process.

So, yes, it's very project-specific warranties based on the requirements of that project. So, yes, it won't just cover a single product that we've supplied. It will support the performance. So if that is about waterproofing a basement or if it's about even something as simple as curing and sealing concrete or the concrete not dusting, that will be covered under a warranty.

Next slide please, Brendo. This is another one. This is one that - if you've been on previous webinars before, you may have seen this - we bring this up quite a lot. This project was quite significant in terms of what we did in design. It was one of our first involvements with this type of project, and now we do a lot of this type of thing.

So this was a really unique project in that it's an extremely large, busy shopping centre, with a rooftop car park over retail. And so this doesn't just have to be over retail. We’ve been doing quite a lot of this in a multi-level warehouse and things like that at the moment where loading docks and carparks are actually on top of the occupied premises.

So it's very hard to implement a traditional membrane in those sorts of scenarios. You've got a lot of traffic. You've got UV exposure. You've got the public using that space ‘without care’ type of thing. So you really need to come up with a robust solution, that also is not going to break the bank. Obviously a trafficable membrane can get extremely expensive and have ongoing maintenance, etc.

So the system we came up here is, again, a fully integrated system into the concrete itself. So that is a fully watertight rooftop structure, with retail space underneath and a fully operational carpark above. That's the system that we've put into that project that has no maintenance whatsoever.

So the client can almost set-and-forget it was done as they build the project; and it's there for the lifetime of the project. So there were quite a lot of expectations in regards to warranty and service life in this project. And that's something that, again, we can meet quite easily with this type of system.

Next slide please, Brendan.

HENRY:

Thanks, Wade. Yes, that's a good overview.

So “early contract involvement” is sort of just summing up what we've covered on a number of different topics and projects so far. But it really sums up the end-to-end service that MARKHAM can offer from design through to installation.

By being part of the journey early on, we’re a single point of contact. We help with obviously speeding up the project delivery. We've got different systems. You can... When we install a lot of our systems at curing time, you're obviously getting extra benefits further down the line. Anti-dusting for a car park, or moisture control under floor coverings, or waterproofing for a basement.

So there's a whole lot of different things you’re getting there. And also cost certainty. So we can talk... obviously bringing us on early, bringing MARKHAM on early, we’re giving you cost certainty. Being the manufacturer and the supplier of these products also helps there. The risk management.

So we're currently working on the biggest project in New Zealand at the moment, the Dunedin Hospital, and that's been a six year project that we've been working on. We're just delivering it now. And so risk management is huge for a waterproofing project like that. Right through to the ITPs and the QA and everything in the construction phase; but also covering them off early on. And obviously design and direction was a big one on that.

So working with designers, working with engineers, facade engineers, council compliance, there's a whole lot of stuff through them. And we can just help you through that journey, off what we've learned in the past. And obviously by putting those things together, you get a stronger client experience.

But I guess to top it off, it's about helping you guys bid right, and help you win the project really, by giving you VE experiences, giving you that ECI, getting in at precon stage. We can help with, as we've said, ECI, precon, VE, design, shared performance outcomes. All topping it off with, really, a well robust performance warranty of 25 years plus for a waterproofing job. That's not just another pail of product.

If there's an issue, well, we’ve been around for 30 years, so we want to stick with you, obviously by dotting those i’s and crossing the t’s through the whole ECI process, precon, design. We can give you those warranties because what we've put into one big basket - there’s nobody else out there. But that's sort of a bit of an overview of what we've done. I don't know if you're going to add anything more to that, Wade?

WADE:

No, I think that probably the only thing I was going to add is going back to that, “meeting owner's expectations”. You know, a lot of cases being that that process is so streamlined and they don't have to keep going back with variations or design changes and things like that.

The owner's expectations actually get met. And because we have an idea of what this is going to cost at the start of the project, the owner's expectations in terms of cost is also one that gets met. I think that's one that's really hard to meet with the owner's expectation, is the cost. Obviously they want the building to do this, this, this and this, and the budget is always much lower than that cost.

So if we can come up with a suitable solution that’s cost effective at the start, that's what they're going to get at the end. There's no mucking around through the process and changing in designs and things like that to make that happen.

HENRY:

100%. I think there's a couple of questions coming through. Do you want to talk to that, Wade?

BRENDAN:

Yes, I’ll just de-share the screen so that we’ve got ...

WADE:

So the first one I've got is actually a really good question. [Ivan –] I probably didn't explain it well enough when I was in there, but it's, [Ivan –] What do you mean by performance warranty? And what does your performance warranty cover? So yes, that's a really good question. So in a lot of situations, let's just talk waterproofing, for instance, where you have a product supplier who supplies a product. That will have a product warranty, needs to do X, do this, etc. Then you'll have an installer who will then come in and install that for you; he puts in his install warranty.

If you have a leak in the basement, the first thing that goes wrong is the installer blames the product. The product supplier blames the installer. And nothing gets resolved. It then becomes back onto the builder to cough up the cost for that going wrong, when it could have been a simple fix, With our systems, for one we’re both the supplier and installer; but it's also a performance warranty, so we're not just going to say it doesn't work because of this or didn't work because of that.

If we have promised you a warranted waterproof basement, that's what you're going to get. And it doesn't matter how we need to resolve that, but the warranty is based on that being waterproof. Rather than saying this product meets this and the install met that, so therefore there's no issue - we will make sure that you have a waterproof basement.

So, yes, our performance [warranty] essentially covers any benefit or claim that our products or services have is warranted. So if that's dusting of a car park, we cover that that will not be dusty, etc. So yes, it's much more comprehensive warranty where it's a warranty based against claims rather than warranty based around a product being supplied and an install done correctly, so to speak.

Feel free to fire more questions. That was a really good one. Henry, do you want to take that next one?

HENRY:

Yes, so someone's asked the question, [Ivan –] You mentioned holistic approach in design.  What do you mean by that? So yes. Well, it's working right through and getting an understand at ECI stage about, I guess, the end result of your project.

So what you need, what the outcome is, what the key drivers are. And then working to a design specification, either working with the D&C designers or the architects or the engineers; and just looking at the whole project. So, we can give a design for waterproofing, but also not just an admixture. We look after the gasket, we look after detailing, we look after curing, we head to the ready mix plant to make sure they've got everything there.

So it's about getting the design right. So then we can follow through with the QA and the ITPs and all that sort of thing. Has that covered it?

WADE:

Yes, I think it's like that for, like a basement situation where something like the wall type won’t suit the waterproofing that trying to be designed, and we can come up with some better solutions around there. If you, you know, use this type of wall instead of that type of wall, we can get a much more effective system.

So different things like that. Conventionally poured slabs vs post-tensioned slabs; different little things that will also get your performance gain as well. And obviously aid with what we're trying to do as well. And bring on SMEs and specialists people that we can work along right alongside that. We not might not be the absolute ideal specialists of that, but incorporated into a design to add on.

So you get QA and all that sort of thing and check it out. Getting the right consultants on board to help the design of the things as well. Like we were involved quite a lot with different engineers and things like waterproofing, consultants that can help advise to make sure that the solutions that we put forward and the changes to the building, it's going to benefit everyone along the way as well.

BRENDAN:

Could I just bring in something which I think Christine mentioned in the last webinar last month? As to that, when we get involved with the design, it's not unusual to actually go to the end of our own process and bring in our ops team and say, Is this possible? Is this actually buildable?

WADE:

Yes. Correct. Correct. Yes, like I mentioned before, people on the ground in a very early meeting. The project not starting construction until April next year. And we already had the operations team involved ensuring that what we're discussing today is relevant to what they're going to be doing next year. So that we all understand what the expectations are from the client at the start to what's going to happen at the end.

So, yes, absolutely.

HENRY:

100%. Well, that's good. If there's any other questions fire them through. Otherwise, yes.

BRENDAN:

What we'll do is we'll send you a follow-up email and we'll have Henry and Wade’s contact details on it. I'll put a link to a couple of those projects that were mentioned as the case studies, Hopefully, that will stimulate some interest to see the relevance for your own projects.

WADE:

Yes. And if you’ve got a project or scenario out there that you even just want us to hypothetically look over and put up some suggestions on what we would do in that situation, just to show you in practice how that would work, you're more than welcome to follow up with myself or Henry. We’re more than happy to get involved.

BRENDAN:

Okay. That's very good. Very much appreciate everybody's time. It's been good. And I hope we can catch up with you again in a future event. Nothing more... So no more events now until 2026 I'm sorry! But we'll get details out to you when they're about to happen. [Mark – OK. Thanks.] And yes, thanks very much, Mark.

HENRY:

Thanks for your time.

BRENDAN:

Very good.

WADE:

Thank you!