Partial supervision service

Once the contractor is selected for the construction works, the site works begin under the partial engineering supervision of the architecture firm, engineering office or real estate developers. The purpose of the partial engineering supervision is to ensure that the works being carried out are in accordance with the drawings and contract documents. All parts of construction including technical and financial.

The scope of supervision depends on the size and complexity of the project, as supervision is generally divided into two main types; Partial supervision and full supervision, the following is a description of the main activities that are included in the scope of partial supervision, as partial supervision will include some of these activities depending on the requirements of the project as well as the legal requirements for the size and location of the project.

The scope of partial engineering supervision mainly includes the following activities, where some of these activities are used when needed:

Resident engineers

These are engineers appointed by the supervising company to work full time on the construction site. These may include an architect, civil/structural engineer and/or electrical and mechanical engineer. These engineers are available during all contractor hours to continuously monitor and check the quality of works and general performance.

Site visits

These are periodic visits to the site by the design engineers to examine the works and determine whether the works are being carried out in accordance with the design intent. The purpose of these visits is also to address any technical issues that may arise at the site.

office meetings

The construction team including the owner, contractors, real estate developers and consultant will hold regular meetings on site and in the offices to discuss the partial engineering supervision work, the progress of the works and any issues that may arise. These meetings are well documented and are an integral part of the progress of the work.

Technical Support

During the works, there will be a constant flow of inquiries and requests for clarifications or additional details or any changes that may be required due to site conditions or any unforeseen issues, this will require the design team including architects, structural engineers, electromechanical and all partial engineering supervision team to make adjustments to their drawings Coming up with new solutions or details to ensure the works progress smoothly, this requires the design team to be on call throughout the construction process.

Review technical submissions

Contractors or real estate developers are required to submit certain drawings and documents prior to commencing any works to the supervision team to ensure that all materials and installations comply with specifications, the supervision team reviews such submissions in a timely manner and provides direction and feedback to the contractor.

Financial certificate

Partial engineering supervision will review all contractor invoices submitted in terms of quantities and percentages of completion to ensure that the amounts paid by customers are due correctly, also this is to ensure that the contractor on the other hand is paid in a timely manner so as not to cause any cash flow difficulties that may impede business progress.

Contract Management

Partial engineering supervision engineers are responsible for managing the implementation of the construction contract, and this requires the engineers to take an objective attitude towards all parties and make use of the project as their main priority.

Project management

The supervision team will manage the workflow in terms of ensuring that all parties receive the appropriate resources and perform in a timely manner and to the required quality and costs. This may involve managing multiple contractors, suppliers and client stakeholders and ensuring they are all aligned and the project is running smoothly.

Reporting and documentation

Correct and accurate documentation and reporting can make or break a project because there are dozens of entities and not hundreds of thousands of people involved in the implementation, having a proper communication plan and documentation standards is the only way to ensure consistency and quality. The brunt of this role falls to the responsibility of the supervision team as contract and project managers.

Inspections and testing

At various stages in the project, and most importantly at the end of the construction works, the supervision team inspects the works and performs or supervises the necessary technical tests to ensure that all structures and systems are installed and operating properly. This includes for example testing of concrete at each structural milestone, MEP testing of initial repairs and infrastructure, insulation and HVAC systems.

Once the construction work has been completed and major tests have been carried out, the project is ready for handover, and the handover process is discussed in the next and final part of this series.