More than 200 delegates attended this year’s NEC Asia Pacific Users’ Group Conference on 21 September at the Cordis Hotel in Hong Kong.
In his opening address, Mr C.K. Hon, the Hong Kong government’s permanent secretary for development (works) and chair of the NEC Asia Pacific Users’ Group, introduced ‘Construction 2.0’ – a government strategy for changing Hong Kong’s construction industry through innovation, professionalism, revitalisation and adoption of NEC.
Improving delivery
Mr Hon remarked on how much the industry had changed during his time as the NEC Asia Pacific Users’ Group chair and how instrumental NEC had been in improving Hong Kong’s infrastructure delivery. He noted the government and other key regional users have now started migrating from NEC3 to NEC4.
David Ferroussat, development procurement director of London’s Heathrow Airport followed with a keynote address highlighting how NEC helped to shape Heathrow’s contracting journey. John Kwong, head of the project cost management office at the Hong Kong Development Bureau, then gave an insightful presentation on delivering cost-effective public works projects through cost-based procurement.
Making NEC work
Mark van Kalles, Managing Director of Hargreaves Industrial Services HK Ltd reviewed how to make NEC work in Hong Kong. He and Neil van Kalles from Hargreaves Industrial Services, which won NEC Contractor of the Year 2018 for its outstanding maintenance work on Castle Peak power station, shared their practical experience of bringing world-class service quality through the collaborative ethos of NEC.
NEC4 Contract Board member Ian Heaphy then gave an update on the NEC4. Anthony Ip, senior project engineer of CLP Power HK told delegates about CLP’s partnering contract journey and Alpha Leung, principal corruption prevention office of the Independent Commission Against Construction, discussed integrity management in construction.
Successful performance
The morning session was rounded off by Vip Vyas, managing director of Distinctive Performance, and Ashley Calvert, senior manager of the Hong Kong Airport Authority, who spoke about ensuring successful performance on major projects.
Following the lunch break, four separate workshops were conducted, covering managing risk and liability with NEC4, the NEC4 Term Service Contract, the roles of project manager and supervisor, subcontracting and cost audits, and collaborative behaviours and soft skills.
The day was concluded with a presentation by Francis Leung on the Development Bureau’s NEC practice notes.
Sponsors
The conference was sponsored by Cemar, Hogan Lovells, Build IT, The Contracts Group, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Chun Wo, Contract Communicator Systems, Construction Industry Council Hong Kong, Institution of Civil Engineers, Society of Construction Law Hong Kong, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, The Association of Consulting Engineers of Hong Kong, Association of Landscape Consultants and the Hong Kong Construction Association.
For further information on future events, please visit neccontract.com/products/events.
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- Ivan Cheung
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