CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AND LAW ( A STRATEGY FOR A WATER COMPANY ) Essay

CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AND LAW ( A STRATEGY FOR A WATER COMPANY ) Bonus to the writer - Essay Example In the traditional strategy, the design is conducted by a client that is different from the contractor in charge of constructing the project according to OGC (nd). Other variants of the management contracting strategy include design, manage and construct and construction management. The design and build strategy on the hand is where the consultant that designs a construction is also charged with the responsibility of actualizing it in reality. The other main strategy is the management strategy. This strategy involves contracting an organization to be in charge of ensuring that other contractors in a project deliver predefined goal effectively (OGC nd). The management contractor in most cases is separate from the consultant that completes the design of the construction. There are a number of factors that must be considered when selecting a contract strategy. The main factor involved in this respect include timing, variation, price certainty, competition, quality, complexity profession al responsibility, risk avoidance, and professional responsibility. ... 1. Bestwater Main Rehabilitation Contract Strategy Bestwater’s main rehabilitation project is aimed to replace small diameter water mains with MDPE pipes. The project however involves a lot of liaising with several authorities. The contract will involve a little of risk related to timely completion of the work as there is about five years to complete the tasks involved. The work involves general and specialized activities that may necessitate the contracting of different contractual partners to spread the risks involved as well as to achieve the best possible quality of service. Alternatives In order to accomplish this task, the company may opt to use the traditional and design and build contract strategies. The advantages associated with traditional contract strategy include the competitive tendering, cost certainty at the beginning of the construction process and the existence of clear lines of responsibility as noted by Engineering Construction EDC (1985). The strategy also makes it easy to change designs while making use of the best possible design and construction skills. This strategy can however make it difficult to complete the project in the shortest possible time since decision making is bound to be slow and convoluted. Furthermore, this strategic option requires good organizational interfaces which may not be very easy to achieve. On the other hand, design and build has high buildability levels making the project have short completion times. The company’s responsibility in the process is also reduced which makes the company bear less risks compared to the traditional strategy (Walker and Hampson 2002). The quality provided by this option may however not be as good as that offered by