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Expertise

An orchestral conductor doesn’t have to be a distinguished composer or a virtuoso instrumentalist but he does need to be able to read the score. Likewise a manager or CEO for an integrated organisation such as ED&MFT doesn’t necessarily need to be an engineer, but it helps.

Unfortunately, in civil services both in India and the UK, departmental leaders rarely have outside professional experience of relevance to their responsibilities. Often a single person is burdened with a variety of responsibilities for which he doesn’t have the requisite technical knowledge.

In a set-up such as ED&MFT, the CEO has to coordinate:

• A department to seek projects from international or national tenders

• Contractors who might employ ED&MFT as a specialist consultant

• Allocating analysis teams (say for a group of motorway bridge projects or shipbuilding assignments) for preliminary cost estimates

• Preliminary design work in order to make estimated cost comparisons (say, looking at the advantages and disadvantages of concrete or steel for a particular building project, or between steel and aluminium composites for rolling stock or ships)

• Detailed analysis and design once the project is assigned. The CEO would have to organise smooth and consistent cooperation between the two teams

• Once engineering drawings are completed, the CEO must make sure the fabricating yard is not kept waiting. Reviewing progress is also important since if something fails then alternatives need to be brought in. Time is often of fundamental importance too, because there is frequently a limited ‘window’ – especially for offshore projects where jackets can only be towed to the site under the right weather conditions. For very large projects a management format named Programme Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) needs to be put into action.

• Beyond the factory gates, the CEO must ensure that ‘Method of Transport’ and ‘Method of Erection’ studies have been conducted and the safety aspects submitted to the general contractor

• Before commissioning, the CEO has to ensure that the structure is performing as expected when, for example, a service load is placed on the deck or in the railway coach. Think of the embarrassing problems of the Millennium Bridge or the Central Line in London.

• In Europe, consultants do not have limited responsibility. In England and Wales a charge of indirect manslaughter can be brought against the CEO and other executives after an accident. The CEO must thus be fully confident of the project’s safety.

• Maintenance of a structure is generally the client’s duty but the consultant must give him the specifications and ensure that maintenance is properly monitored for the first two years before final handover.

• Finally, the CEO should be familiar with international standard documents for contract management, as should the general contractor.