Building supervision really matters

Following my own experience when trying to correct the mistakes made to my house during construction, I am not at all happy regarding the quality of the supervision of some consultants in the construction industry.

It seems that some want to collect the highest fees they can during design and the minimum during supervision. During supervision, the impression is that it is secondary and the service is not satisfactory. Unfortunately, this approach has prevailed for years.

Design is one thing and supervising the proper execution of the project is another. Following are some cautionary tales from my 42 years of experience.

During one project, the designer did not consult the public authorities about the size of waterpipes before them being installed along a public road in Pissouri. As a result, the pipes were the wrong size and the road had to be dug up again to install the correct pipes, costing €60,000 extra.

In a different case, a consultant’s analysis of an offer for a sewage station was completely wrong and when researching, my office found that the consultant’s recommendation cost €28,000 more. After discovering the issue, the consultant said he would re-examine it during the award!

Another consultant used the wrong sewer pipe slope and the system did not work.

A project to place turbines in a lake with specifications from foreign designers, used execution by local consultants, who recommended the wrong turbines resutlting in €21,000 in additional cost.

More recently, a case of land subsidence in the area of Limnes in Pissouri resulted in the state undertaking partial repair of a development project at a cost of several million. A geological study done in advance by the architect would have prevented this.

Despite the many incompetent professionals, however, there are at the same time also offices of mechanical and electrical consultants that ‘we take our hat off to’ for their professionalism.

One electromechanical consultant refused to supervise a contractor’s work because the quality was unacceptable.

In another case, after the award of tenders and after checking the equipment delivered to the construction site, which did not match the specifications of their manufacturer, the consultant rejected them all.

Another consultant director dismissed an employee who did not report regularly to supervision and undertook the detailed new inspection and supervision at his own expense.

The damage caused to public confidence by incompetent professionals has a negative effect on good advisors as well. There are buildings with serious structural problems resulting from serious negligence, both on the part of the contractor from poor execution, and on the part of the supervisor and the designer from poor supervision.

Contractors claim that certain engineers are their employees and that they own machines when they are not, in order to obtain a work permit from the Council for the Registration and Control of Contractors.

We are sounding the alarm so the public chooses their advisers carefully. We would like to recommend that you should be demanding, but on the other hand pay consultants correctly and on time.

Making the correct choice is a major prerequisite for good work, especially in electromechanical matters, as almost everything is buried in concrete and the verification of the error afterwards leads to increased costs for contractors and development entrepreneurs and certainly great damage to unsuspecting buyers.

Antonis Loizou & Associates EPE – Real Estate Appraisers & Development Project Managers, www.aloizou.com.cy, [email protected]