The Bridge Between Contractors And Consultants

For the past five years, I have been working as an employee of EIC Activities (a member of the CIMIC Group) as an in- housegeotechnicalengineeringadvisorprovidingtechnicalsupporttoCIMICGroupcompanies. Thisisanon-traditional role for a design engineer in the Australian civil infrastructure industry, as most design engineers work for consulting firms operating independently from construction companies and are engaged in project-specific contracts. Being in this unique role has allowed me to understand the operations of contractors, while building upon my technical skills acquired in the previous stage of my career as a geotechnical engineer in a more traditional role within a consulting firm. The perspectives I have gained from both forms of engagement have allowed me to effectively form a bridge between contractors and consultants.

One of the primary objectives of my current role is to contribute to creating value and minimising risk on projects and tenders. This objective influences the behaviours and approaches I take in my role. Using a number of case studies, this paper will discuss some of the actions and mindset my colleagues and I have adopted to fulfil this objective whilst bridging the contractor-consultant gap.

Innovation projects take place in addition to our existing project commitments to advance our knowledge in the pursuit of value creation and risk minimisation in the long term. Some innovation projects involve funded partnerships with universities to undertake research into challenges on construction projects. Such collaborations facilitate much needed dialogue between universities and the industry, and further cements our role as a bridge, in this case, between construction and academia.