Transcript

Partnership-Risk Management

Narrator

At a cost of 4.2 billion pounds, Terminal 5 represents a huge programme of construction work.At the outset, BAA recognised that an infrastructure project of this scale and complexity represented a sizeable risk, it would inevitably be an uncertain environment so completing Terminal 5 on time, safely, to a high quality and within budget would require a fresh approach to project management.To enable all parties to work effectively together, applying best practice across the entire project, BAA established a contractual partnership with its key suppliers known as the T5 agreement. This contract is unique in construction.

Tony Douglas

The T5 agreement in principle is very simple. It acknowledges that BAA holds all the risk, all of the time, it acknowledges that BAA is both the clients, the project manager and at times also a team member and it acknowledges that we can only truly deliver a programme of this scale and this complexity with partners.

Narrator

With the burden of risk lifted, the many suppliers and contractors working on T5 are able to put their joint effort and energy into creating solutions.Risk is being effectively managed, enabling BAA and its suppliers to avoid the traditional UK construction culture of blame and litigation in the face of difficulties. This is a first in UK construction history.Under the T5 agreement, all parties work together as a single integrated team to make the best possible use of expertise and resources. A good example of how this has worked is the innovative design, fabrication and erection of the terminal roof. From the earliest stage architects and designers met regularly with fabricators and constructors, enable each to understand the other’s aspirations and requirements, nothing has been left to chance. The 22 abutments that support the roof are a good example, as they are particularly complex. So to ensure the best possible quality and safe efficient construction, a trial run was commissioned – at a cost of £4 million, one of the abutments was manufactured ahead of programme and then erected offsite in the Yorkshire countryside.One of the challenges was learning how to manage complex lifts within permitted heights so as not to interfere with airport radar. BAA and its partners learnt over 140 lessons from the exercise, designs were refined and construction methods modified before the structure was disassembled and transported to the T5 site at Heathrow where the same team would construct the entire roof. The expensive delays and modifications often incurred on major projects has been avoided as successive 2500 ton roof modules have been raised between the abutments.But the terminal roof is just one sub project within this massive undertaking.Terminal 5 has been broken down into 16 projects with over 170 sub projects. UK best practice is a minimum target to be improved upon wherever possible and key milestones have been set with incentive schemes to reward teamwork and achievement.Results of the pioneering T5 agreement won’t be fully recognised until the terminal opens in March 2008, but examples of its success are already visible.