Universal accessibility lift-retrofit projects, Hong Kong

The Highways Department (HyD) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China has used nine NEC contracts worth a combined HK$3,413 million (£347 million) to retrofit 250 barrier-free access facilities across 149 existing walkways as part of its Universal Accessibility programme - sharing early warnings, design innovations and lessons learned across all contracts to reduce peak labour demand by 30%, cut carbon dioxide emissions on the newest lifts by 60% and complete one section 11 months ahead of programme. The programme was highly commended for the 2024 NEC Martin Barnes Award for Recognising Project Excellence and Innovation.

Nine contracts, 149 walkways, one programme-level approach

The Universal Accessibility programme, launched in 2012, aims to retrofit step-free access in the form of lifts and ramps to nearly 400 existing public footbridges, elevated walkways and subways across Hong Kong. The nine contracts covered in this case study, all involving Mannings (Asia) Consultants Limited as NEC project manager delegate and supervisor, run from August 2019 to July 2026. Contract values range from HK$134 million for six footbridges with 11 lifts to HK$941 million for 31 footbridges with 47 lifts. Eight contractors are involved across the nine contracts, with Build King-Richwell Engineering Joint Venture holding two. The contracts use a mix of NEC3 ECC Option A and Option B and NEC4 ECC Option A and Option C, reflecting how the programme has evolved from NEC3 to NEC4 as new contracts have been let.

The key challenge on every contract is completing construction efficiently in limited spaces close to existing structures, with complicated interfacing issues, high probability of conflict with underground obstructions and uncharted utilities. Simon Ng, Mannings director, says all nine project teams embraced the NEC spirit of mutual trust and co-operation to achieve a high level of collaboration across the programme. To formalise this, HyD and Mannings Asia established a chief resident engineer's office to standardise and exchange design and contractual information, share experience from each contract, and use NEC early warning data as a predictive analysis tool to identify patterns, trends and potential risks before they materialise.

Cross-contract learning, MiC and a 60% carbon saving

The cross-contract approach has produced measurable results throughout. When one contract received enhanced maintenance requirements from the lift maintenance agent, these were immediately shared across all other teams for a coordinated response. When MTR Corporation commented on a works proposal within a railway protection zone on one contract, those comments were instantly circulated to all others for incorporation into similar submissions. The early warning system, used as a predictive tool at programme level rather than just within individual contracts, enabled the chief resident engineer's office to identify emerging risks across the entire portfolio and resolve them before they became issues on multiple sites simultaneously.

On two contracts, HyD piloted modular integrated construction for lift construction, combining it with NEC4 Option X22 on Early Contractor Involvement to allow contractors to contribute to buildability at design stage. Off-site assembly of lift shaft superstructures in a factory setting, running in parallel with on-site foundation works, shortened on-site commissioning by up to six months per lift. A resource allocation system developed through regular cross-programme meetings with contractors, subcontractors and HyD's project officers reduced peak labour demand by up to 30% - critical in a market with limited lift and steelwork subcontractor capacity. Energy-efficient designs developed on the more recent projects, including LED lighting, mechanical ventilation and efficient lift motor systems with standby mode, have cut carbon dioxide emissions on the newest lifts by around 60% compared with earlier installations.

By analysing and sharing historic project data, performance metrics and external factors, we used the NEC early warning system as a predictive analysis tool to identify patterns, trends and potential risks - enabling us to identify and resolve risks before they come into existence

Simon Ng, Joint Managing Director, Mannings (Asia) Consultants Ltd

Benefits of using NEC

• NEC's spirit of mutual trust and co-operation enabled a programme-level collaborative model across nine contracts and eight contractors, with a shared chief resident engineer's office standardising processes, sharing early warnings and distributing design improvements across all sites simultaneously.
• NEC early warning data, used as a predictive analysis tool at programme level, allowed the project management team to identify patterns, trends and risks across the entire portfolio before they materialised on individual contracts - a genuinely innovative application of the NEC process.
• NEC4 Option X22 on Early Contractor Involvement, combined with modular integrated construction, allowed contractors to optimise buildability at design stage, shortening on-site commissioning by up to six months per lift on the two pilot contracts.
• Cross-contract resource planning, enabled by the NEC collaborative framework, reduced peak labour demand by up to 30% across the programme in a constrained subcontractor market - a direct benefit of treating nine separate NEC contracts as a single coordinated programme.

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