6df72d91-baa2-42f7-a44e-3084de465c50

MIDDLE EAST NEWS UPDATE | 04BIG PICTURE | 07

COMMENT | 14ANALYSIS | 18

PRODUCTS | 46THE LAST WORD | 48

An ITP Business Publication | April 2011 Vol. 6 Issue 4Essential information for mechanical, electrical, plumbing and HVAC professionals An ITP Business Publication | July 2013 Vol. 8 Issue 07

The industry knows that BIM is its future, so why is it clinging to the past?

ALSO: COMMISSIONING – WHY THE REGION FAILS THE TEST

QATARFOCUS

Taking the temperature of

the GCC hotspot

Armed and Ambitious

AE Arma Elektropanç’sBurak Kizilhan

BIG INTERVIEW

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www.constructionweekonline.com July 2013 | MEP Middle East 1

VOLUME 8 ISSUE 07

CONTENTS04 NEWS

Qatar Rail awards $8.2bn of contracts for Doha metro

08 NEWS UPDATE Emaar forms JV with Meraas to build MBR City project

14 COMMENT Paul Tyrrell on the importance of integrated design

18 ANALYSIS Is enough being done to protect workers from extreme heat?

46 PRODUCT FOCUS Check out the latest MEP related products in the market 48 THE LAST WORD Ian Haupfleisch from CCS Gulf on costing software

COMMISSIONINGKirk Rosenbaum of KEO on where the region is going wrong.

BIG INTERVIEWAE Arma-Elektropanç’s Burak Kizilhan on the contractor’s plan of attack.

20 28

BIM MEP Middle East looks at the obstacles to the industry realising Building Information Modelling’s (BIM) full potential and what can be done to overcome these.

QATAR FOCUSThe GCC’s hotspot seems to promise much for the industry, but what is the reality for those with firsthand knowledge of the market?

22

40

30

34

22

EDITOR’S NOTE

www.constructionweekonline.com 2 MEP Middle East | July 2013

The hot topicIt’s that time of year again. The north-

ern hemisphere is making its an-nual tilt at The Sun and, as if it was

needed, this part of the world begins to bake that bit quicker. As a man from an island the Romans called Hibernia, which means “the land of winter”, I’m not built for this climate. I love the Sun, but the Sun don’t love me. My survival in the Middle East is largely due to my staying

indoors, cooled by the MEP wonder of air conditioning. I am among the fortunate who can earn their beans sat in an

office and, looking out of my window, it’s easy to forget the bru-tality of conditions beyond the pane. The steamy soup of heat that awaits us at this time of year when we leave the comfort of our buildings is something that continues to surprise me – no matter how much I prime myself for it. It only takes five minutes until I know it is time to get back indoors, before I melt.

In such circumstances, the thought of those who have little option but to remain in such conditions occasionally strikes me. A construction site is never too far away from any of us in this part of the world, and none of us is blind to the armies of men who slog daily in often hellish conditions. Granted, midday work bans are now an annual feature in the region, but there is surely still room for improvement.

Saudi Arabia, where temperatures in June reached 50C, will only bring in work restrictions from July 1. The Kingdom was also the last of the GCC states to bring in a midday work ban when it made the move in 2011, suggesting something of an inherent reluctance to heed calls for improved working condi-tions. In the UAE, a total of 166 companies were fined for vio-lating the ban in 2012 which, while perhaps indicating that the level of policing is adequate, may also show that there is room for the deterrent to be more severe.

This issue’s news analysis piece looks at a survey by Dulsco which reveals that the level of awareness among Dubai workers of the health risks posed by working in extremely hot condi-tions is still far below what it should be. Figures have improved from 2012, but it shows that still not enough is being done by employers to educate their workforce and protect them from the dangers they face – only 36% reported learning about health risks posed by working outdoors in heat from their paymasters.

Speaking from personal experience, too much time in the sun isn’t just a matter of discomfort; it’s a critical matter of health with the potential to cause serious illness, both acute and termi-nal. I know that the industry already does a lot of good work on improving the living and working conditions of its most vulner-able employees, but it would be great to see MEP contractors take a lead on this issue and show the rest of the construction sector what it means to care for its most valuable resource.

Cathal McElroy ([email protected])

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NEWS UPDATE

4 MEP Middle East | July 2013 www.constructionweekonline.com

Qatar Rail has formally announced the winners of contracts worth a combined $8.2bn (QAR 29.9bn) for the first phase of the Doha Metro.

The organisation said that the award of the four phase one con-tracts – Red Line North (RLN), Red Line South (RLS), the Green Line (GRN) and the Major Stations (MS) – marks a “key milestone” in the project’s development.

The Red Line North contract has gone to a consortium led by Italian firm Impregilo alongside South Korea’s SK Engi-neering Construction Co and Galfar Al Misnad En-gineering Contracting.

The Red Line South deal was won by a QDVC-led consortium including GS Engineering & Con-struction and Al-Dar-wish Engineering.

City stations has been awarded to a consortia led by Samsung CT Cor-poration with Spain’s Obrascon Huarte Lain S.A. (OHL) and Qatar Building Company.

In a statement, Qatar Rail said that it planned to start construction by the end of the year, so that

work will complete on schedule by 2019.

“This is a big step to-wards putting Qatar Rail into operations and mov-ing forward with the work ahead of us as we build the future of Qatar,” it added.

“Qatar Rail is commit-ted to achieving the high-est international standards in creating this signature project in national devel-opment that will become an international legacy for Qatar for generations to come.”

It added that there were high levels of competi-tion for the work, which meant the bidding process was competitive.

Formal announcement of winners for Red Line North, Red Line South, Green Line and Major Stations contracts sees broad spectrum of international construction firms awarded

Qatar Rail is aiming to have the projects complete by 2019.

The Red Line North contract covers the de-sign and construction of 13km of twin-bored tunnels and seven under-ground stations between Msheireb and Doha Golf Course via West Bay.

Red Line South will see six underground sta-tions being built between Msheireb and the new Sheikh Hamad Interna-tional Airport.

Meanwhile, the eight-station Green Line con-tract will link Msheireb to the Al Rayyan Sta-dium, with its 16.6km-long twin-bored tunnel designed to be built at an average of 20 metres.

Qatar Rail announces $8.2bn of deals for Doha Metro first phase

10%:Q1 increase

in pre-tax profits

FAIR SHAREPROFIT AND PAYOUT

HYDER CONSULTING: LAST 12 MONTHS TRADING

HYDER CONSULTING 2013: Q1 results

$467.5M:Q1 revenue 8%:

Q1 increase in revenue

$37.3M:Q1 pre-tax profit

The Green Line project has been awarded to the consortium that is already carrying out the enabling works on that section of the metro – Austrian contrac-tor Porr, Qatar’s HBK and Saudi Binladin Group.

Meanwhile, the Major Stations contract for the Msheireb and Education

This is a big step towards putting Qatar Rail into operations and moving forward with the work ahead of us.“

www.constructionweekonline.com

NEWS UPDATE

July 2013 | MEP Middle East 5

Khaldoun Tabari, CEO of Drake & Scull International. Subramanya Rao, divisional manager of Al-Futtaim FM.

TENDER

CONTRACT

Drake & Scull International (DSI) has announced that it has won a $43m (AED187m) contract from Arabtec to carry out the MEP works on the St Regis Hotels and Residences project in the Jordanian capital of Amman.

The main contract for the resort, the first St Re-gis properties in Jordan, was awarded to contrac-tor Arabtec earlier this week under a $197m (AED 723.6m) deal.

The St Regis Hotel & Residences proj-ect is a series of three 17-storey towers. DSI said it has “extensive” experience of the hospital-ity sector having worked on projects such as the Bay-nunah Tower in Abu Dhabi, the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai and on several projects in Egypt.

CEO Khaldoun Tabari said: “Winning this con-tract is a major step forward towards strengthen-ing our presence in Jordan where the King Hus-sein Medical City was one of our key breakthroughs. The new contract underscores our successful his-tory in offering specialized MEP services and re-inforces our position as the preferred provider of integrated engineering services across the regional hospitality sector.

Kuwait has invited bids for the construction of a 70MW (megawatts) solar farm which will combine photovoltaic, solar thermal and wind source technology, the supervisor of the project has told AFP (Agence France-Presse).

Thirty-seven consortia out of 107 are pre-qualified to bid, said Salem Al-Hajraf, head of energy research at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. The project will see 50MW produced from solar thermal sources and 10 each from photovoltaic and wind sources. Two more phases are planned for the site, with the second producing 930MW and the third 1,000MW by the time they are complete in 2030, he added.

These additional phases will be offered to investors on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis for 25 years, during which the government pledges to buy all output.

CONTRACT

Al-Futtaim Engineering has announced the signing of two contracts with the Ministry of Public Works to provide MEP and civil maintenance work to over 500 buildings across the UAE.

The two-year, multi-million dirham contracts will see the Al-Futtaim company’s Facilities Management division maintain 334 buildings in the Eastern and Northern Emirates and 189 buildings in Dubai and Ajman. The buildings are a mix of schools, mosques, healthcare centres and hospitals.

Subramanya Rao, divisional manager of Al-Futtaim Engineering Facilities Management said: “We are extremely pleased to be working with the Ministry of Public Works on these major projects. These con-tracts, in addition to adding to our existing list of gov-ernment clients, reinforce Al-Futtaim Engineering’s reputation as a trusted partner in providing high qual-ity services to all our customers.”

Headquartered in Dubai, Al-Futtaim Engineer-ing’s Facilities Management division has worked on projects for a variety of public bodies, including the Ministry of Education, Government of Sharjah, Dubai Municipality, and several major UAE companies.

Kuwait puts solar farm out to tender

DSI wins $43m St Regis Amman deal

Al-Futtaim wins UAE maintenance deals

NICKEL

STEEL

COPPER

METALS PRICES

Source: London Metal ExchangePrices per tonne

$13014 June

$13321 May

$7,04414 June

$7,38321 May

$14,22514 June

$15,03021 May

NEWS UPDATE


AL BANDARY REAL ESTATE UNVEILS FOUR NEW PROJECTS AT CITYSCAPE QATAR

Al Bandary Real Estate has an-nounced the launch of four new projects at Cityscape Qatar.The Doha-based company did not

put a value on any of the projects, but said that they include “world class” leisure facilities and are avail-able for purchase by Qataris, GCC Nationals and expats.

The firm has announced plans for a 30-storey mixed-use tower in Doha’s Diplomatic Area which it has la-belled Al Bandary Tower. It will also develop a new business centre at Al Waab City providing commercial, residential and retail space within a building complex at Al Waab City on the southern side of Doha.

The third project is a new villa complex called Al Kheesa Gate Vil-las, while the remaining project is a new hypermarket called Al Kheesa Hypermarket that will be built front-ing Al Shamal Road.Al Bandary Group said that it

would take charge of building the projects.

PROJECT

Barwa Real Estate Group has confirmed the launch of its new Oryx Island scheme at Cityscape Qatar.

The project, which will reportedly cost around $5.5bn (QAR 20bn) to build, will be a pedestrianised tourist island that will house five temporary floating hotels to ac-commodate tourists during Qatar’s 2022 World Cup, as well as an aqua park and luxury villas.

The floating hotels can accommodate up to 25,000 fans.

The developer also announced the Gulf Resort – a 250-hectare development built around a natural harbour that will include three hotels and a shopping mall, as well as mew 176,000m² residential develop-ment with over 1,000 apartments known as Dara which will be built at the Fox Hills site within the new Lusail city.

Barwas’s CEO Abdulla Abdulaziz Al Subaie said: “As a diversified real es-tate development and investment hold-ing company, Barwa has a solid track record in delivering the complete suite of real estate solutions and sustainable returns to its customers, partners and other stakeholders.

“We are therefore overwhelmed by the positive response we have received at the first day of Cityscape, which we consider a testament to the leading role Barwa con-tinues to play in Qatar’s development.”

Barwa reveals $5.5bn Oryx Island floating hotels plan

Arabtec wins $220m deal to build 5* hotel in Dubai

CONTRACT

Arabtec has been awarded the main $220m (AED 810m) con-struction contract for a 5-star hotel and serviced apartments tower located in the Business Bay district of Dubai.

The project is set to start in second quarter of 2013 and last 24-months. With a built-up area of 125,000m², the project encompasses two towers with 447 rooms and 136 serviced apartments.

Commenting on the award, Hasan Abdullah Ismaik, man-aging director and CEO of Arabtec, said: “We are pleased to have been awarded a prestigious project of this nature with a distinctive design. This new landmark is expected to play a vital role in supporting the local tourism and hospitality sec-tor, which continues to grow in line with the UAE vision and economic goals.”

He added: “The company is in a very strong position to le-verage an extended period of increased activity across the re-gion. With an enhanced senior leadership team, armed with solid financial and risk management capabilities, we are forg-ing ahead with our growth strategy aimed at maintaining the development of existing businesses and expansion into higher-margin areas of construction.”

“Our recently announced dividend policy, which targets a dividend pay-out of at least 10% per annum of our total share capital, aims to provide our shareholders with a regular return on their investment as they participate in our growth. We are now starting work on several major projects, so the company should see a positive impact on earnings towards the end of the year,” he concluded.

The planned dividend payout of at least 10% per annum of its total share capital is expected to take effect from 2013, subject to shareholder approval at its next annual general meeting.

Arabtec recently reported a 20% rise in first quarter 2013 revenue to $421m (AED 1.55bn), and the company’s growing portfolio comprises a variety of landmark developments such as the Abu Dhabi Airport Midfield Terminal, Fairmont Abu Dhabi and the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum.

Serviced apartments tower also set for Business Bay district

Hasan Abdullah Ismaik, Arabtec CEO.

We are now starting work on several major projects, so the company should see a positive impact on earnings towards the end of the year.“


NEWS UPDATE


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PROJECT: Assila TowersLOCATION: Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaMAIN CONTRACTOR: Al Saad General ContractingMEP CONTRACTOR: Drake & Scull InternationalCLIENT: Amias Real Estate

Rising out of the fashionable Tahlia Street district in Jeddah, near the Corniche and a 20-minute drive from the airport, the Assila Towers are set to become a Jeddah landmark. A 5-star hotel operated by Rocco Forte, it has a distinctive design and eye-catching metallic exterior. The total contract value of the project, including the substructure, is around $133 million (SAR 500m), with Drake & Scull International (DSI) signing a $38m contract for the tower’s MEP project.

BIGPICTURE

NEWS UPDATE


“Ten years ago a AED 20m job would have been divided among contractors. Now there’s no job un-der AED 100m.”WILLIAM HADDAD,chairman, MACE Contracting Co.

AM HADDAD,man, MACEacting Co.

“40% of carbon emissions come from buildings, so it’s incumbent on people who look after buildings to really make a dif-ference in the world.”BEN CHURCHILL,MD, Emrill Services

nce in world.”

CHILL,Services

PROJECT

Two leading Dubai-based real estate developers have formed a joint venture to build a huge residential and commercial area near the emirate’s Downtown area as part of the first phase of the Mohammed Bin Rashid City project.

The Emirates Hills development by Emmar Properties and Meraas Holdings will feature a series of neighbourhoods set around an 18-hole golf course on 11 million m ² area of land by the junction of Umm Al Sequim Road and Al Khail Road.

Featuring vast stretches of landscaped parks and gardens, walkways and extensive open areas, Dubai Hills Estate will also have high-end retail centres and leisure amenities as well as educational institutions, healthcare facilities and mosques.

Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, said: “MBR City is redefining the concept of urban development with a firm focus on the emerging needs of the city, as Dubai further underlines its position as a global business and leisure hub. Our plan is to work with Meraas to build a new world-class community that will appeal to discerning customers.”

The announcement followed shortly after it was revealed that Emaar is in the final stages of negotiations with Dubai Holding to develop a new 6.5 million m2 urban district near Dubai Creek at Ras Al Khor. To be known as Dubai Creek Harbour, Emaar says it will offer a mix of cultural, commercial, retail, technology, educational, healthcare, sporting and entertainment attractions.

Developers to link up for first phase of Mohammed Bin Rashid development

Emaar & Meraas form MBR City JV

CONTRACT

A joint venture between M+W Group and Commodore Contracting have been awarded a contract by Khazna Data Center Limited, a local provider of data centre infrastructure, to design and build the largest commercial data centre project in the UAE.

The contract includes engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of two data centres in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, built to green building regulations and environmentally sustainable energy ratings, and providing a total of 12 independent data centre modules.

The Dubai facility will occupy a 34,000m² site, while the Abu Dhabi facility will occupy a 40,000m² site. The centres themselves, scheduled for completion by December 2013, will the largest data centres in the UAE, each occupying an area of 13,000m², and with 2,400m² of white space.

Juergen Wild, CEO of M+W, said: “We are pleased to be selected as the EPC partner for the largest datacenter currently being built in the Middle East using our global project experience.”

Saeed Basweidan, CEO of Khazna, added: “We realise the importance of technological advancement and reliability in meeting customer needs. Introducing the largest facilities in the region will help us position ourselves as a key provider of wholesale space.”Emirates Hills will be part of MBR city.

M+W joins up with Commodore for EPC deal

“Black mould is not taken that seriously, so you can see why one in five people in the Emirates suf-fer from breath-ing prob-lems.”JAMES SINGLETARY,director, R Squared

“Things are not that fantastic in Iraq… but get there first and you will have better chances in future.”DR SALEH MUHAMM AL-MUTLAQDeputy Prime Minister of Iraq

ure.EH

MM AL-QPrime r of Iraq

prob-s.”SINGLETARY,RRR Squared

2013 CALENDAR

EVENTS

AWARDS

SEPTEMBER

Leaders in Construction UAE Date: 17 SeptemberPlace: Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai

OCTOBER

Leaders in Construction KSADate: 1 OctoberPlace: Radisson Blu Hotel Riyadh

NOVEMBER

Building SustainabilityDate: 13 NovemberPlace: Westin Golf Resort, Abu Dhabi

Big 5 DubaiDate: 25-28 NovemberPlace: Dubai World Trade Centre

SEPTEMBER

Construction Week Awards KuwaitDate: Tuesday 17 SeptemberPlace: TBA

Construction Week Awards QatarDate: 25 SeptemberPlace: TBA, Doha

NOVEMBER

MEP Awards Date: Wednesday 20 NovemberPlace: Fairmont, The Palm, Dubai

Middle East Architect AwardsDate: Tuesday 5 NovemberPlace: Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai

DECEMBER

Construction Week Awards KSADate: Tuesday 3 DecemberPlace: TBA

Construction Week AwardsDate: Wednesday 11 DecemberPlace: TBA

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NEWS UPDATE


SOLAR

The solar industry is set for a rebound, according to Lux Research’s Solar Systems Intelligence and Solar Components Intelligence teams.

The firm’s report said the industry’s turnaround is due to a number of factors which are reversing its downward momentum.

Analysis of solar mar-ket economics by Lux suggests that margins should recover as the cur-rent oversupply issues dogging the market will be rectified by 2015.

Due to the bankrupt-cies of uncompetitive players, and underlying financial constraints pre-venting capacity expan-sion, overall module ca-pacity will decrease to 58 GW in 2015.

Meanwhile, the growth of new markets like China will lead to global demand increasing from 31GW in 2012 to 52GW in 2015.

In combination these will lead to module over-supply of only 12% - down from 100% in 2012. As a result, module mar-gins will recover up to 10% from their near-zero averages today.

This follows two years in which overcapacity and poor margins have bank-rupted a multitude of so-lar suppliers and forced corporate investors out of the market. Lux’s analysis suggests that

Global demand for solar modules is expected to increase from 30GW in 2012 to 50GW in 2015 due to demand from new markets like China.

photovoltaic/thermal co-generation systems from the likes of IBM, to coat-ings for higher-quality, longer-lasting modules – a major focus in light of recent allegations of defective products.

The market is also said to have changed drasti-cally over a short span of time with large, dominant manufacturers having risen at a time when oth-ers have fallen spectacu-larly as a result of steep cost reductions.

Moreover, correspond-ing incentive reduc-tions by governments have forced developers to quickly adapt busi-ness models and find new markets.

New research predicts strong resurgence in solar marketLux Research’s analysis suggests recovery of margins as oversupply issues are rectified due to bankruptcy of uncompetitive firms and financial constraints preventing capacity expansion

corporate investors have recognised the coming resurgence and formed partnerships in strategic areas like system deploy-ment or the balance of systems technologies.

Others will race to form partnerships and make acquisitions in 2015, driv-ing up the cost of entry. Those that choose to slow-play the market will risk finding themselves on the outside looking in, it warned.

Analysis of solar market economics by Lux suggests that margins should recover as the current oversupply issues dogging the market will be rectified by 2015.“

Major players are also expected to re-enter the market. Some early mov-ers like BASF and John-son Controls have already made strategic moves to enter by leveraging exist-ing technologies or mar-ket platforms, while ABB recently made a billion-dollar acquisition of a ma-jor solar inverter supplier.

Furthermore, compa-nies are seeking differ-entiated technologies to position for growth. As

the surviving supply land-scape becomes clearer, some are ensuring their positions in the market for the long-term by in-vesting in technologies to increase performance, lower costs, improve product quality and en-able new features.

Areas of investment range from high-efficien-cy crystalline silicon cell technologies, such as First Solar’s acquisition of Tetrasun, to hybrid

HVAC NEWS


DISTRICT COOLING

Dubai-based district cooling firm Empower has said that it anticipates saving 350 mega-watts (MW) of energy by the end of 2013.

According to the company, district cooling systems can help save up to 50% of total power consumption compared with conventional cooling which has allowed them to record a power saving of 320MW through 2012.

Empower CEO, Ahmad Bin Shafar, said: “District cooling systems have many benefits and they are very efficient in power consumption, which is absolutely crucial in this region.”

The firm has said that it now has 400,000RT (refrigeration tonnes) of cooling capacity and had connected a total of 320 buildings by the end of 2012. Customers of the firm, both corporate and individual, rose to 21,000 through last year.

“With Dubai’s population rising each year and billions of dirhams worth of new projects in the pipeline across the emir-

ate, Empower can help accommodate the future district cooling demand of a wide variety of consumers while contributing to the same economic growth of Dubai,” Bin Shafar added.

In the Middle East region, air condition-ing accounts for around 70% of total power

consumption. Dubai’s own energy consump-tion has been rising rapidly – recording a 7.1% average increase through the first quarter of 2013 on the same period last year. Demand on the grid through January of this year rose to 2,142GW, from 2,009GW last year.

Empower aims for 350MW district cooling energy saving by year-end

DC provider says method reduces customer power consumption by up to 50%

Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, says district cooling systems have many benefits and can reduce power consumption.

With Dubai’s population rising each year and billions of dirhams worth of new projects in the pipeline across the emirate, Empower can help accommodate the future district cooling demand of a wide variety of consumers while contributing to the same economic growth of Dubai.“

FINANCE

Palm Utilities, the Dubai World sub-sidiary that provides district cooling services to Nakheel developments in communities like Palm Jumeirah, Discovery Gardens, Ibn Battuta Mall and Jumeirah Village, has reported a 32% increase in net profit for 2012 to $44.7m (AED 164m).

The company said that revenues also increased by 10% to $153.6m (AED 564m).

It pointed to the double-digit growth in Dubai’s tourism figures and a recovery of its construction sector – fuelled by a 5% population growth to 2.1m – as factors in its improved performance.

“The tourism and real estate sectors have seen remarkable improvements in Dubai, with high occupancy rates in hotels, and residential and commercial units,” said CEO Marwan Al Naqi.

This has contributed towards a 17% increase in demand for its services in 2012, he added.

“These excellent results are, by far, the highest for us, representing yet another record for the company since its establishment in Dubai.”

He said the improved profit perfor-mance was also due to a 7% reduction in operating profits, which he credited to greater efficiency levels.

Palm Utilities sees growth of 32% in annual profit


HVAC NEWS


Zamil secures$54m HVAC power plant deal

Zamil will carry out the supply, installation, testing and commissioning of HVAC and control systems at the SWCC plant.

Company to provide HVAC and control systems to SWCC’s Ras Al Khair plant

CONTRACT

Saudi Arabian conglomerate Zamil Industrial Investment has announced that it has landed a $54.1m contract from SEPCO Electrical Power Construction Corp – an affiliate of China’s Power Construction Corp – to deliver HVAC systems and control works for the new Ras Al Khair power plant.

The plant, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corp (SWCC), is being built in the new industrial city of Ras Al-Khair in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia, which is already home to one of the world’s biggest integrated aluminium complexes.

Zamil Industrial said that its subsidiary, Zamil Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Systems, signed the con-tract for the 30-month deal last week. Work is set to start

immediately and will conclude by the fourth quarter of 2015.

The deal involves the supply, instal-lation, testing and commissioning of 29 plant buildings, 17 non-plant build-ings and a chiller plant.

Osama Bunyan, chief operating officer of Zamil Industrial, said: “We are honored to secure this agreement as the provider of EPC services and

mechanical works for HVAC systems and equipment for the Ras Al-Khair power plant.

“Our company’s capability to meet the client’s stringent specifications and requirements of this prestigious project, along with our capacity to provide the highest quality systems and services available, contributed to the selection process.”


COMMENT

Paul Tyrell on improving energy efficiency through integrated design and architecture

During the recent MEP Middle East Conference in Doha I was fortunate to participate on-stage for the panel discussion,“Improving Energy Efficiency through Integrated Design and Architecture”, a sub-

ject close to my heart as an architectural-oriented head of a multi-discipline design team.

Energy efficiency is on everyone’s agenda these days, for sustainability goals and economic reasons alike. The MEP in-dustry has made huge technological advances in recent years in the pursuit of delivering services to buildings for less energy cost, and the modern developer has an extensive toolbox of op-tions to improve the amount of energy consumed by their pro-jects, while at the same time reducing their running costs and the carbon footprints of their developments.

That said, the planning for energy efficiency starts long before the MEP specifications are thought about – by the ar-chitect making those big decisions during the concept design phase of the project. A good architect will consider energy con-servation in site selection, building location, building orienta-tion, building massing, fenestration, shading, major materials and so forth. These design routes can lead to significant reduc-tions in the potential energy required to service the building.

To give an example, in this region a large percentage of a building’s energy uptake is expended on cooling and ventila-tion. Therefore it is critical for the architect to carefully con-sider the orientation of glazing and overall glazing areas to minimise the impact of solar gain on the building interiors. External shading devices to shield glazing from direct sunlight can assist with this. To do this, architects will use their expe-rience and will call in expert opinion from building services engineers. Which leads into the importance of establishing an integrated design team at the earliest stages to enable those yes/no/try again processes to be run before a final concept is presented to a client.

I say “before” presentation to a client because the reality is, once a concept has reached the stage of acceptance by a client and cleared for further development, it is much, much more difficult to change those big decisions. Indeed, those changes become exponentially more difficult as the design develops through its various phases.

Integrated design is clearly good practice for all projects, to create truly coordinated and buildable designs, but is essential for those projects which aim to be sustainable and energy efficient. This approach is re-inforced by rating systems such as GSAS/QSAS and LEED which rigorously encour-age integrated design as a basic tenet for a successful certification route. A fully inte-grated and committed team of all disciplines working together from the concept stage of a project cannot only set the design perfor-mance goals, but also lay down a detailed road map to how they are achieved.

It is common in the region for consultant offices to be multi-disciplinary, in contrast to many countries where single-discipline offic-es are typical. You could argue therefore that offices locally have the necessary resources and expertise in-house to successfully inte-grate their designs, and this is true, but this is not always happening. Maybe with a lack of the contractual and reputational obliga-tions which collaborating single-discipline offices experience, multi-discipline offices do not always have the same incentives, pos-itive and negative, to integrate their design talent early in the process.

With the increasing mandatory nature of GSAS/QSAS in Qatar, like Estidama in the UAE, both single and multi-discipline consultants will naturally become more and more used to starting design integration ear-lier in the process. This can only spell good news for the success of energy efficiency in new buildings.

Paul Tyrrell GSAS/QSAS CGPTechnical/Design ManagerAl Hamad Engineering WLL

A waste of energy

For projects contact: 055 4070799


COMMENT

Oscar Wendel on why the extent of US intelligencesurveillance might be a good thing

The extent of the US communications surveillance around the world was recently revealed by the whistle-blower Edward Snowden. To my shame, I felt relieved to know about the extent of surveillance. Not so much

because it likely makes the world safer. It is more that I have always tapped inspiration from assuming that maybe intelligence analysts listen in to my email and phone conversations.

Let me explain, compare how demoralising it is to write a blog and seeing that the counter is not moving much from approxi-mately zero readers. My fear of being exposed to this feeling is why I don’t blog! Instead, I have since long found comfort in that there is at least a theoretical chance that I have an audience among the US intelligence community. Who knows, maybe even a whole team interpreting and debating my thoughts and ideas. This gives me the impetus to want to write better and to surround myself with interesting people in exciting places. My only real concern is that anyone would access the list of most played tracks on my iPod. Let me be upfront about that, it is due to some kind of software bug that Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler shows up there!

But seriously, let’s question what it is we risk from this sur-veillance that has become such a big deal. What is it about this that is even new? A vast majority of the world’s urban population already trust for-profit companies like Facebook, Google and Ap-ple to mine and archive most of what we do on the internet – even to keep track of our physical whereabouts. On top of that, practi-cally every laptop has a video camera pointed straight at us and I can only assume these companies could activate remotely if they wanted to. Of all organisations that are able to monitor me on a daily basis, I distrust the US government the least.

Nonetheless, I am not enthusiastic about any government spy-ing on me. Yet, my point is that I don’t think it’s a big deal at all. In fact, besides reducing terrorism, I can see more value in the countless other positive externalities.

If a so called Big Brother society happens, what would in fact be the logical conclusions of the consequences? First, consider the benefits to our civil liberties. How much easier it is to prove people innocent, disprove false accusations and to hold public of-ficials accountable. Like the former head of the CIA that stepped down after an investigation uncovered his inappropriate emails with married women.

The mere awareness of surveillance exist-ing automatically reduces asocial and im-moral behaviours. If nothing less, it makes us want to be better. No doubt, the Heisenberg Effect, stating that a subject changes merely by being observed, must also apply here. And lastly, think of the job opportunities created with operators, analysts, and software and hardware developers to MEP contractors. This is serious benefit in the equation and considering the socio-economic benefits it would have as well as other industrial appli-cations, government investment would likely prove to pay for itself!

As for privacy, there really are none to wor-ry about. If this work is being overseen and carried out by US government employees and their over-priced consultants, does anyone seriously believe that anything is actually get-ting done anyway?

This is the same government that needed several months to count the ballots of their presidential election in 2000. By hand no less! Or take the Securities and Exchange Commis-sion (SEC) that were, over the years, unable to even remotely catch on to mega-scams like Enron, Bernie Madoff, andGoldman Sachs – to name a few.

What I ultimately believe is the sore toe here is that the NSA was dishonest to the pub-lic. In politics, from Watergate to Lewinsky, it is the cover-up that is the Achilles heel and not that which is being covered up.

In the end, let me share one of my father’s sayings with you of which we can all do well to be reminded. “Don’t worry about what people think of you. They don’t.”

Oscar Wendel is the Conference Manager of Construction Week.

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NEWS ANALYSIS


With midday work bans coming in across the region, MEP Middle East looks at workers’ awareness of the health

risks posed by working in extremely hot conditions

ties during the break.The announcement of the UAE’s now an-

nual restriction was closely followed by Sau-di Arabia, where temperatures reached 50 degrees Celsius in June, and where the ban takes effect from July 1. According to the Kingdom’s Ministry of Labour, the ban will be in place between midday and 3pm during the summer months and will see violating individuals and companies fined up to SAR 10,000 ($2,675) on each occasion.

Oman’s midday work ban will be in place throughout June, July and August – with Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait having made similar arrangements.

While the imposition of such restrictions in the region over the last few years has gone some way to placating calls for im-proved working conditions for labourers, a recent survey has found that not enough is being done by employers to educate their workforce on the risks posed by working in extremely hot conditions, and measures they should take to minimise the threat.

UAE-based company Dulsco, which pro-vides human resources services, conducted the survey of 700 workers during an annual summer medical camp backed by the Dubai Health Authority, and found that almost two-thirds of blue-collar workers in Dubai claim they are not regularly trained by their employers about heat-related health issues despite working outdoors.

Only 36% reported learning about health issues posed by working outdoors in heat from their employers, while 24% relied on general knowledge or experience, and a fur-

T he end of May heard the UAE Minis-try of Labour announce that outdoor labourers, such as those on construc-tion sites, would be given a manda-

tory two-and-a-half hour break from 12.30pm to 3pm be tween June 15 and September 15 so as to avoid the the most extreme heat of the day.

T h e ministerial decision also stated daily working hours could not exceed eight and labourers who usually worked in the open could not be redirected to indoors du-

ther 16% were informed by friends, colleagues or the heads of working camps, where many low income expat workers live.

About one-third also said that they did not drink enough water to stay hydrated in sum-mer, with 80% not taking frequent breaks and only 28% having healthy food and juices.

However, Dulsco said that the research showed an improvement in workers’ un-

Feeling the heat

64% Dubai construction workers aware of health risks of working in high

temperatures

36%Dubai construction workers who learned of health risks from their

employers

80%Dubai construction workers who

did not take frequent breaks while working in high temperatures

A WORKER TAKES SOME SHELTER FROM THE

SEARING HEAT ON A GCC CONSTRUCTION SITE

Summer is especially a challenging month of many people involved with outdoor work and therefore, educating their teams on health risks is extremely important.“


NEWS ANALYSIS


derstanding of heat-related health issues as around 63% of the 700 workers surveyed said they were aware of the health risks during summer – an increase of 24% compared to last year.

Workers also reported a better understand-ing about typical summer conditions such as dehydration, food contamination, hygiene, skin diseases and sunstroke and many also were keen to learn exercises, healthy food and ways to keep their bodies cooler during the hotter months.

“Many companies across the UAE are in-creasingly investing in the health and welfare of their employees through continuous health awareness drives,” said Mubarak Kozhikkal, senior manager of Dulsco Medical Services.

“Summer is especially a challenging sea-son with many people involved in outdoor work and therefore, educating their teams on health risks is extremely important.” Source: Helsinki University of Technology on www.productivity-science.com

“Effect of Temperature on Task Performance in Office Envi-ronment” showing how relative productivity changes with the temperature.

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BIM


TOMORROW’S WORLDT

he debate, if there ever really was one, is over. Building Infor-mation Modelling (BIM) is the future of MEP. It is the digital revolution’s greatest gift to the industry and there are few, if any, heretical souls left willing to argue the case against it. It may have taken time for some

to realise, but its potential is now undeniable. Tomorrow’s world is a BIM world, but how soon can we get there?

Given all the talk of the technology, one might be forgiven for thinking that BIM is now a mainstay of project design in the Middle East. In fact, BIM adoption is still very much in its

infancy in the region. Brett Saxby, Middle East export sales manager for building services design developer MagiCAD, says that wider adoption is gathering pace, but the region is still some way behind other parts of the world. “BIM in the Middle East is still at an early stage, but it is beginning to gain more momen-tum,” says Saxby. “However, in the Nordic re-gion [Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland], BIM is used in practically all larger construction projects. The North American market has seen BIM adoption increase from 28% in 2007 to 71% in 2012, according to the lat-est report by McGraw-Hill Construction.”

Part of the reason for the Middle East lag-ging behind in BIM adoption may be due to

BIM

Everyone accepts that the future of the industry lies in Building Information Modelling (BIM), but what is preventing the industry from realising its potential today

BIM penetration in Middle East in 2010

25%

the peculiar character of the market. Derek Smith, director of strategic sales at building services software developer Amtech, says that the region has traditionally been reliant on outside help when a BIM driven project is pro-posed, which has worked against the fostering

July 2013 | MEP Middle East 23www.constructionweekonline.com

BIM

of a widespread and popular BIM culture in the local industry. “The Middle East is very frag-mented in terms of BIM adoption as the knowl-edge and ability to deliver BIM into projects comes through international consultants, en-gineers and architectural practices which are brought in for that specific purpose,” he says.

When contrasted with other parts of the world in which BIM has really taken off, it is clear that the role of the government in push-ing the technology is key. “BIM adoption has increased around the rest of the world through various government drives,” says Smith. “In Scandanavia, for example, their goal is to make everything as interoperable as possible and they use BIM to achieve this. In the UK, the

level of BIM adoption is greatly increasing due to the government stipulating that BIM Level 2 has to occur on all government funded projects from 2016. This is driving the industry there to change.”

Although Qatar has taken the lead in the region with its demand for BIM in the design of many of its 2022 World Cup projects, Smith says that “other GCC countries are more pro-ject-led, with more expertise coming from out-side the region.”

However, Sean Hanns, operations manager at BIM-proficient contractor ALEMCO, says that the majority of the projects in the regional market are “not fully BIM compliant”, which for him indicates that the technology in the

region is still just at “a concept stage.” Given this, a reluctance among some in the industry to commit to BIM adoption until a point of ab-solute necessity is predictable.

According to Saxby, this attitude is exac-erbated by the industry fallacy in BIM being a “big company” or “big project” tool. “Many companies are waiting for bigger projects re-quiring BIM, when the best thing they could do at the moment would be to begin using the technology proactively with all new pro-jects,” he says. “At the current stage of adop-tion, smaller companies that adopt BIM can even gain a significant advantage with it over their larger competitors. The change that BIM adoption requires in the company’s

Amtech offer a comprehensive suite of products.

Amtech's products communicate through a single platofrm.

Rajan Varghese, draughting manager at TransGulf, says that BIM models help contractors visualise complex areas of the project.

One of the criticisms of current BIM software is that not enough MEP objects are available which leads to design limitations.

BIM adoption has increased around the rest of the world through various government drives. In Scandanavia, for example, their goal is to make everything as interoperable as possible and they use BIM to achieve this.“ Derek Smith, Amtech

BIM


Percentage of US projectsusing BIM in 2007

28%

Percentage of US projects using BIM in 2012

71%

working processes and the general approach to projects can be faster to make for smaller companies.”

Of course, the big issue for any business when considering the adoption of new technol-ogy is cost. Businesses want to know that their investment is worth it and that they will start to see dividends from it promptly. In an indus-try that has recently been found to have empty pockets aplenty, such an outlay may appear to be too much of a gamble.

Amtech’s Smith says that this view is short-sighted. “Companies who see it as an issue of cost fail to see the medium or long-term benefits BIM would bring to their business,” he says. “Cost is often quoted in terms of technology required, training and downtime, but this short-termism preventing invest-

ment in BIM is actually stopping the industry from growing.”

Smith adds that “around 75% of the industry is still not clear what BIM actually is” and that the key decision makers in positions of power within the industry need educating in its value if adoption is to become widespread. “The people who have to sign off the cost of BIM are the directors who often haven’t looked at how efficient or productive their team or com-pany really is,” Smith says. “They often just see everything as a numbers exercise and this is where capital versus project cost comes into it. The drive and requirement of having the least capital costs is what really hinders BIM adoption across a business, and not just a pro-ject. To overcome this issue, the people who make the decisions need to be educated and to understand that cutting capital costs as much as possible isn’t always the answer, and there are times when investment is necessary to pro-vide the tools, education and attitude to deliver things differently.”

A facet of this aversion to BIM adoption among those at the higher echelons of the in-dustry’s companies may also be generational. Decision makers at such levels are almost al-ways seasoned professionals with a wealth of industry experience behind them and, while generalisations are dangerous and often mis-representative, there is a wealth of statistical evidence indicating an inversely proportional

This BIM image from Atkins of one of its projects in Lusail shows the immense detail and complexity which BIM can present to a building team from design through to maintenance.

If the software is applied correctly, not only is the build process streamlined, delays and cost escalation are marginal. “ Sean Hanns, ALEMCO

relationship between levels of computer lit-eracy and age.

Smith says that there is some truth in this assertion, but that it is again a matter of im-proving industry awareness of the technol-ogy’s benefits. “BIM is a step change cultur-ally in the construction industry’s way of working,” he says. “It is very technologically dependent, modern computing, and the way data is captured and delivered through the cycle of construction means that those whose careers have involved the use of more tradi-tional techniques, have difficulty understand-


BIM

ing the need for such levels of computerisation. They need

to understand where the industry and technology is moving to be able to

make those important financial decisions.”As a BIM-operational contractor, ALEM-

CO’s Hanns acknowledges that the initial cost of adopting the technology can be repellent, but supports Smith’s view that such a reaction is myopic. “If you have not prepared your busi-ness for the use of BIM, the associated costs of importing knowledge and professional assis-tance into the daily operating environment will be expensive and time consuming,” he admits. “But now would be the time to implement the system into your business: not only will you be ready for the regional rollout of BIM, but the benefits within the MEP services function will save you time and money. If the software is applied correctly, not only is the build pro-

BIM’s slow adoption in the region may be largely due to the industry’s resistance to change, but there are improvements to the software itself which developers should consider if it is to maximise its appeal.

Rajan Varghese, draughting manager at Trans Gulf, says: “All the required MEP objects are not available in the Revit family, notably different types of pipe support, electrical conduits and circuits etc.,” he says. “Furthermore, schematics and load schedule preparation as per the authority requirement is not easily possible. Large file sizes are also a concern.”

Derek Smith, Amtech’s director of strategic sales, says that the software available to the market is also prone to some other problems. “When some developers put out their newest release without necessarily undertaking a full complete testing regime, bugs can appear in the software,” he says. “Different computers and handling systems can also create unforeseen problems in this regard.”

In addition, interoperability between different systems has posed users problems, but developers are working on new ways to improve this. “It’s about making the various data sources talk to each other," Smith says. "This often has been resolved by taking one parties information into another piece of software and losing something along the way, or spending hours taking the data in, which is inefficient but maintains its integrity.

“There are two schools of thought to solve this problem: the Issued for Construction (IFC) format or Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) format. IFC is a proven exchange format, however it does need work to become truly world class and to work how the industry requires it. COBie is the other major international exchange format which is a little more simple in its set up and works with excel spreadsheets.”

HARD TIMES WITH SOFTWARE

A BIM model of a Dubai Metro station.

An alternative view of a Dubai Metro station.

cess streamlined, delays and cost escalation are marginal.”

Even for those contractors who have discov-ered the wonders of BIM and are among its biggest proponents, cost remains something of an issue. Rajan Varghese, draughting man-ager at Trans Gulf, says BIM developers could further the adoption of the technology by “re-

If a trainee is to completely familiarise themselves with BIM, continuous on-the-job training is required. “ Rajan Varghese, Trans Gulf

BIM


ducing both the software and training costs.” Meanwhile, Hanns is emphatic when high-lighting what he thinks are the two of the ma-jor obstacles to its full adoption in the region: “The developers need to make it more cost ef-fective and offer the correct level of training.”

This issue of education, skills and training inevitably plays a huge role in the successful introduction of any new technology. Investing in a shiny new piece of kit is all well and good, but it is not much use if the requisitely skilled human resources are not available to operate it and use it to its full potential. While European and American educational institutions have re-cently woken up to the need for BIM-focused degree courses, the industry is currently find-ing that it is picking up the tab for filling the knowledge gap, which can only heighten the reluctance of some to grasp the BIM nettle.

“Even for those who attend university, there is always the on-the-job experience that study- ing cannot give to the student, so some form

of training after graduation is required,” Smith says. “As the demand for well-skilled people who know, understand and can use BIM prop-erly grows, there is also a requirement of up-skilling the current workforce. Of course, this requirement sits with the consultants and the contractors, but if they don’t undertake this training they are unlikely to win work.”

Trans Gulf’s Varghese adds that the indus-try needs to fully commit to training its current workforce inhouse as there are limitations to what can be offered by external sources. “The current level of training modules available only familiarise the trainee with the usage of the

Brett Saxby, Middle East export sales manager, MagiCAD. Sean Hanns, operations manager at contractor ALEMCO.

Rajan Varghese of Trans Gulf says that contractors are often handed architectural and structural BIM models with no MEP design, which causes delays. (Image courtesy of Progman Oy/MagiCAD)

Middle East BIM userswho are self-taught

46% An important

prerequisite is that companies must be prepared to openly share information between project partners. “ Brett Saxby, MagiCAD

software. If a trainee is to completely familiar-ise themselves with BIM, continuous on-the-job training is required.”

By all accounts, the fostering of good rela-tionships and clear communication, which ef-


BIM

about how BIM can help it and make its work quicker, cheaper and easier. But the industry cannot blame the technology, and should per-haps look at itself and consider if there is an entrenched aversion to change which needs to be addressed.

For those who have been smart enough to get a head start on the competition, the fu-ture will simply be easier. Change is inevita-ble and has happened in the industry before, and Hanns can tell an instructive story about how those who resist it become yesterday’s men “In 1993 the company that I was work-ing for decided to implement AUTOCAD as a draughting tool,” he says. “Our draughtsmen said that this ‘flash in the pan’ idea would last no longer than a month. Needless to say, draw-ing boards were defunct within six months. I am a strong advocate of BIM and honestly be-lieve that it can only have a positive impact on the construction industry.”

If developers of BIM software hope to see the technology become central to the practice of MEP in the region, they will have to ensure that their after sales service attends closely to the needs of their customers. Sean Hanns, operations manager at contractor ALEMCO, says some of these companies would do well to be more attentive to their clients, although he expects this to improve with time.

“The current level of training on offer within the region is getting better, but the software vendors focus too much on sales without the product support,” says Hanns. “However, I expect this will naturally evolve as and when the market usage of BIM software strengthens.”

Brett Saxby, Middle East export sales manager at MagiCAD, agrees that BIM vendors’ focus should be on their customers and assisting them in maximising the potential of the technology.

“It is important that we are close to the customer, have a profound understanding of the customer and industry needs, and develop products that fulfil these needs in the best possible manner,” Saxby says. “We must also continue to highlight the advantages of having accurate product information within the models, the benefits of efficient flow of information between project parties, and the efficiency and cost savings BIM provides to all stakeholders during projects in the short and long run."

SERVICE PLEASE

Increasingly, major projects in the region are requesting BIM models. (Image courtesy of Granlund Oy and Progman Oy/MagiCAD)

Derek Smith, director of strategic sales at Amtech.

Year all UK public projectsmust use BIM Level 2

2016fective training requires, is also necessary be-tween the various stakeholders in the industry if BIM is to really succeed. Saxby says that the technology can only achieve its full potential if everyone involved in a BIM project, from cli-ents right through to contractors, rallies round the software and inputs all available informa-tion relevant to the design. “An important pre-requisite is that companies must be prepared to openly share information between project partners,” he says. “Efficient information ex-change is one of the key factors in getting the most out of BIM.”

Varghese adds that the relationship between designers, consultants and contractors needs to be clarified and improved on BIM projects, with design integration at an earlier stage, in order to hasten the design process. “Struc-tural and architectural BIM models are issued to the contractor, whereas BIM MEP design is not made available. The MEP contractor has then to prepare BIM models to execute the project, which delays the process,” he says.

Stakeholder relationships are also occa-sionally complicated by the differing levels of

skills and adoption between consultants and contractors. For Hanns, contractors need to make up the pace on their industry colleagues. “Designers and consultants have led the way in the utilisation of BIM, but I do not believe that there is a difference in the fundamental training methods,” he says. “I would be more inclined to acknowledge that large consultan-cies have prepared themselves well for the future, while contractors have yet to learn and apply the benefits of the systems.”

From the evidence presented, the regional industry’s relationship with BIM as a whole needs quite a bit work before it can be hailed as the perfect marriage. The main obstacle to a happy-ever-after seems to be a wide-spread lack of understanding in the industry

www.constructionweekonline.com30 MEP Middle East | July 2013

ARMED ANDAMBITIOUS

HAVING BEEN BOLSTERED BY LAST YEAR’S MAJORITY SHARE TAKEOVER BY DUTCH FIRM IMTECH, AE ARMA-ELEKTROPANÇ’S BURAK KIZILHAN EXPLAINS WHY THE CONTRACTOR IS NOW AMONG THE FOREMOST FORCES IN THE REGION

In March 2012, the formation of an alliance between Turkey-based AE Arma-Elektropanç (AE) and Dutch firm Imtech created a truly international MEP giant. Amalgamating two well-established, reputable and successful firms with collective operations in 44 countries over

5 continents, the majority share takeover by Imtech presumably sounded much like a warn-ing shot to the rest of the industry – especially those in AE’s sphere of operations.

Burak Kizilhan, AE’s business develop-ment manager for MENA, says that the deal has undeniably placed AE among the global elite in its field, but that both companies have benefitted significantly. “We’ve become one of the largest MEP contractors in the world with a combined workforce of 29,000 employees and a turnover of €5.1bn ($6.7bn),” he says. “The deal was mutually beneficial for both of us. The markup of projects in many of the ter-ritories we operate is getting larger and larger day by day, and we are extremely busy finan-

cially and operationally. We needed to have a partner to maximise our potential. Imtech knew that we are very active in the Middle East, CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States formed after the breakup of the Soviet Union) countries and North Africa and that’s the reason we came to the agreement.”

With Imtech’s backing Kizilhan now sees a wealth of opportunity opening up in Africa, India and the rest of southern Asia in the com-ing years, which AE now has the resources to pursue. But for now, the Middle East (where it has had a base in Dubai since 2003) is of greater interest. AE plans to add to its offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Lebanon by setting up operations in Kuwait by the end of this year and Saudi Arabia next year.

The contractor hopes to build regionally on the foundation it has laid in the UAE, where it is currently delivering the MEP works on the Bab Al-Qasr hotel and service apartments pro-ject, as well as work on the Al Shobub private school – both in Abu Dhabi. These should add further lustre to a UAE portfolio which includes the Shoreline Apartments project on

We needed to have a partner to maximise our potential. Imtech knew that we are very active in the Middle East, CIS countries and North Africa and that’s the reason we came to the agreement.“


THE BIG INTERVIEW


THE BIG INTERVIEW

Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah and the five-star Rixos and Jumeirah Zabeel Palace hotels (also on the Palm).

Kizilhan says that AE, with fresh resources in its arsenal, will now look to upcoming mega projects in the UAE to grow its share of the market and firmly establish itself as one of the country’s major players. “We are waiting for mega projects because we are an A+ MEP company. There is still competition for such projects, but not as much as for medium-sized. With mega projects valued at AED 1bn ($272.3m) to AED 2bn, other considerations come into play such as financial strength. There is the bid bond, performance bond, re-tention bond – if you say 10% for each and 30% in total, it will be around AED 300m ($81.7m) for a AED 1bn project. That’s a lot of money

$6.7BNAE and Imtech’s joint

turnover for 2012

AE’s XLPE cable pulling at Al Shobub in Abu Dhabi.

Cable pulling at AE’s Al Shobub private school project. Installation of UPVC pipes at the Al Shobub project.

for B-sized MEP companies and even a big number for A-sized companies. That’s the rea-son why we can easily show our strength for the mega projects – financially, managerially and operationally. We hope that we see mega projects coming through the UAE in the next year where we can show this strength.”

As Kizilhan intimates, part of the reason for this fresh emphasis on larger and more easily secured projects is AE’s frustration with the current state of the mid-sized project market. He says that the glut of contractors it has attracted, and the non-existent profit margins

which have resulted, have led to difficult questions being asked in its UAE offices and by management at HQ. “We had a meeting with our board of directors and they were asking why we hadn’t won any projects in the region for the last nine months. The only reason we could offer was that companies were signing the projects at dry cost. We had to examine how these companies could afford to take on the projects, and we studied for two or three days, but we couldn’t find an answer.”

He adds that the pricing war is an ongoing one as, just a matter of weeks ago, AE was de-nied the signing of a major project in the UAE by a company which, he and his colleagues are sure, took the project on with no prospect of profit. Nevertheless, Kizilhan says senior management has been sympathetic and the company as a whole is reluctant to engage in a bidding war which could see it imperil its financial position or its A+ contractor status.

Although this pricing war of attrition has confounded and exasperated the tendering

AE is currently carrying out the MEP project at the Al Shobub private school in Abu Dhabi, due for completion in 2013.

Burak Kizilhan , business development manager at

AE Arma Elektropanc.

32 MEP Middle East | July 2013

We are waiting for mega projects because we are an A+ MEP company. There is still competition for such projects, but not as much as for medium-sized.“


THE BIG INTERVIEW

AE prides itself on the quality of its project installations. The company currently has two ongoing UAE projects.

Kizilhan says that one of AE’s landmark projects in the UAE was the Rixos Hotel on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah.

team at AE of late, they have certainly not eased up in their bid to secure work. Accord-ing to Kizilhan, the company has been pricing almost $3.5bn (AED 12.8bn) of tenders over the last four months across the region and is aiming to secure 8 to 11% of this work from

the second half of 2013 into next year. Qatar is understandably among these

targets but, Kizilhan says, the company has found competition there to be “even higher” than in the UAE. While AE is currently without a project in the bubbling Gulf state, he is certain that it is only a matter of time before this is rectified, and predicts busi-ness elsewhere in the Gulf will make up the majority of AE’s regional revenues in the coming years. “In the next five years, Qatar will boom – will have to boom,” he says. “In three years time, we reckon that AE’s turnover in the Middle East will be made up of 40% from Qatar, 30% from Saudi Arabia if we get established there next year, and the rest from Dubai and Abu Dhabi.”

Kizilhan’s confidence in AE’s future in the region is further fuelled by the opportunities for diversification which the partnership with Imtech has provided. He says that, where previously AE was a more traditional MEP contractor, it now has the expertise and

resources to move into some of the region’s more lucrative electro-mechanical markets. “In recent years we have only been chasing buildings projects, but since Imtech’s involve-ment we are now tendering for oil and gas projects, and infrastructure projects. AE is now prequalified for a majority of oil and gas projects and the only thing that is missing now is a job. As soon as we get one project, we are sure that with Imtech’s capabilities and our presence in the Middle East, we will be one of the leading oil and gas MEP compa-nies. That’s our goal.”

A major weapon in AE’s assault on the Qatar market is both it and Imtech’s impressive portfolio of stadium work, which it is hoped will position the company among the favourites for contracts on the country’s upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup projects. Between the pair, they have completed 12 stadiums across Europe in the last ten years.

These include such world famous venues as London’s 2012 Olympic Stadium, Arsenal F.C.’s Emirates Stadium, Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, and the National Stadium in Warsaw which held the opening game of the European Football Championships in 2012.

Kizilhan says that, with this experience and expertise, the company hopes to get at least two projects when the Qatar contracts are awarded, but that there is stiff competition provided by contractors from other parts of the world. “There is a lot of Korean companies at this level as well which have done many prestigious stadium projects in Asia,” he says. “But if you talk about stadiums in Europe and the Middle East, then we are one of the top three MEP companies.”

With talk of Qatar requiring air conditioned stadiums in order to keep both players and spectators sufficiently cool during the games, MEP could well be an even greater component of the projects planned than usual. Kizilhan says that the company already has a team in Germany working on such a contingency, but that whatever design is finally decided upon, AE is ready to deliver. “Such a design does not seem logical if the stadiums have to be open like FIFA demand – and energy saving is a priority. But if they want to do so, we are a contracting company and not designers, so we have to do it.”

EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD


MEP Middle East catches the eye of the Qatari market and asks how the industry is faring on the little peninsula with the big plans

QATAR FOCUS

SPOTHOT


These days, all roads seem to lead to Qatar. The tiny peninsula state jutting out into the Arabian Gulf has become a magnet for the GCC construction indus-try. While other markets have faltered, it seems to have stridden brashly on.

Winning the bid to host a certain major international sporting tournament in 2022 has only served to accelerate the coun-try’s already ambitious development plans and, with the next two to three years seen as crucial in the country’s drive to deliver,

QATAR FOCUS

construction companies are readying themselves to seize the sizable rewards on offer.

For the MEP industry, figures suggest that there is plenty of business to be won. Last year’s market offered the industry in the region of $1.66bn, according to Kumar Ramesh, industry manager of environ-ment and building technologies practice at Frost and Sullivan. He projects this figure will grow by 15.8% in the years to 2018. But is there enough of this action to go around for both the local and international MEP contractors which have come bound-ing into the market of late?

Seemingly so for those with sufficient structures in place. “The market is show-ing green shoots of recovery and the future looks extremely positive for any professional contractor who has both the manpower resources and financial strength,” says Vasanth Kumar, CEO of Qatar-born Arabian MEP Contracting.

$1.66bn:2012 value of Qatari MEP market


The Qatari market is flooded with newly arrived overseas contractors chasing a limited pool of contracts. Due to this severe imbalance in the supply-demand situation, the competition is intense. If you can break-even, it’s considered to be very lucky these days. “Vasanth Kumar

There is a suggestion in Kumar’s words that all has not been rosy in the Qatari garden in recent years and a hint of what has been ailing the country’s contracting market in that time. Elaborating on his ambivalence towards the current health of the market, he says: “The Qatari market is flooded with newly arrived overseas contractors chasing a limited pool of contracts. Due to this severe imbalance in the supply-demand situation, the competi-tion is intense. If you can break-even, it’s considered to be very lucky these days.”

This feral environment has resulted in some casualties in the last couple of years, according to Kumar, which he attributes to contractors entering the market without conducting the requisite research. “The sheer number of failed contractors who have either retreated back to their home country, slowed down or are facing pen-alty clauses makes Qatar stand out from other GCC markets,” he explains. “Unfor-tunately, it doesn’t seem to stop. It’s very sad to see that many new contractors are still coming into the market and getting trapped due to blunders in their tender pricing and lack of resources to perform.”

While such a climate might not bode well for Qatari newcomers, AKFA Hold-

ing, it is hoping to prove one of the excep-tions to Kumar’s rule. Although operating in Turkey since 1997, the company only registered its Qatari operation, AKFA Technology Contracting, in March of this year. Ali Kemal Pekkendir, Middle East general manager for the company, says that AKFA is hoping to benefit from what it sees as a “pretty active construc-tion market since January 2013” and has already received invitations from several main contractors to bid for work.

Although recognising that AKFA is just one of a vast herd come to graze in Qatar, Pekkendir believes that now is a good time to be entering the market. “The competition is stronger in Qatar with many MEP contractors having moved to Doha from Dubai during the crisis,” he says. “But we can feel the tenders are increasing and more projects are being announced, which will hopefully give enough business to most of the existing MEP firms.”

This confidence in the market may, how-ever, be somewhat soured by the challeng-es inherent in Qatar’s MEP contracting business. According to Kumar, securing a project is just the first hurdle. “Everything is a challenge in Qatar,” he says, “but

15.8%:Projected growth of market by 2018

The MEP project at Doha Festival City takes shape.

QATAR FOCUS


DEMANDING DESIGN

For MEP consultants, the manner in which Qatar aims to transform its built environment is throwing up some intriguing challenges. Hani Hawamdeh, general manager of Arab Engineering Bureau’s (AEB) pre-contracts services, says that consultants are faced with a market where the design requirements are now of a much higher standard, and the minimisation of project cost while maintaining building design in line with reputable codes and standards is paramount. This task has been further complicated by the introduction of the latest MEP technologies in both design and installation.Hawamdeh says that the Qatari market is also differentiated from its neighbours by its business model and construction practices which are “strongly rooted in Qatari traditions and culture.” “This means that the architecture and method of urban planning is highly influenced by local architectural methods,” he adds. According to Hawamdeh, Qatar’s ambitious plans also mean that new types of facility buildings and mixed-use developments previously unseen in the country are being introduced to the market, and this requires quick adaptation by Qatar-based consultants. As for the fight for work, Hawamdeh says that, following the 2008 economic crisis, Qatar was swamped with consultancy firms eager to share in the country’s bucking prosperity. Under normal circumstances this influx alone would have increased competition significantly, but Hawamdeh says that the business model many of these newcomers employed only served to exacerbate the problems faced by locally-established consultants. “Many of them had a small local representative office while keeping their design team back home to control expenses,” he says. “This took the competition to a whole new level, where the existing well-established consultancy firms in Qatar had to reassure their customers that they were still the preferred alternative. They were asking to be judged for their experience in the local market, delivery and presentation, rather than just being compared with other small, low-cost design companies with lower prices.”

QATAR FOCUS

the toughest challenge is securing good projects with decent profit margins and assured payment terms. If you are lucky enough to secure such a project, the next obstacle is getting workable visas and this challenge continues to the very end.”

Pekkindir is not underestimating the difficulties involved in setting up opera-tions in Qatar either. Beyond the primary problem of contractor oversupply, he says that he has already encountered some issues in establishing a capable workforce. “Aside from tough competition among the existing MEP contractors, I think that finding good engineers with substantial experience will be a challenge based on our recent job interviews with some candi-dates,” he says.

Another issue may await AKFA in the form of securing materials on time while

Specialised infrastructure projects are the only area which has the potential to make some decent profits.“Vasanth Kumar


QATAR FOCUS

Projects such as the Msheireb Downtown Doha Development are fuelling the growth of the Qatari MEP industry.

Aside from tough competition among the existing MEP contractors, I think that finding good engineers with substantial experience will be a challenge based on our recent job interviews with some candidates. “Ali Kemal Pekkendir

2022:Year in which Qatar will host FIFA World Cup

Beyond these restrictive procurement practices, the supply line may face other issues. As huge swathes of Doha get set to become bustling construction sites over the next few years, contractors may be scrapping for materials that are in high demand and thus inordinately expensive. Materials requiring importation through Doha’s yet to be completed port, and delivery via its under-construction and heavily congested road system, could also prove disruptive to project scheduling.

For Kumar, these issues can be minimised by thinking ahead. “If mate-

rial planning and procurement is done on time,” he says, “there won’t be any delays in sourcing the materials. But in reality, and in a majority of cases, the holdups are due to delayed approval of material submittals for a variety of other reasons. If each stakeholder understands that time is the essence, then such delays could be minimised.”

Notwithstanding these issues, the ambition of some of the projects planned in Qatar means that contractors have a lot to which they can look forward. “I think the best opportunities for us as MEP contractors lie in the metro and rail projects, the football stadiums, Doha Port buildings, high-rise tower projects in West Bay and the new five-star hotels planned,” says Pekkindir.

Kumar is similarly positive about these prospects, but also looks at them with an eye for the figures involved, saying: “Specialised infrastructure projects are the only area which has the potential to make some decent profits.” He also highlights which projects he thinks will pose the biggest problems to MEP contractors in Qatar in the coming years, citing “mega EPCM (engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance) projects with stringent specifications and products linked specifically to country of origin” as the most challenging.

As for projects with sustainability at their core, the Arabian MEP Contracting CEO doesn’t see too many difficulties being posed to contractors in Qatar, for the simple reason that such projects aren’t that common. “The push towards green building has had very little effect on con-

fighting against tight delivery deadlines. Pekkindir has been made aware of the potential for problems. “AKFA Holding has not been involved in a project in Qatar yet, but our management and engineer-ing team have mentioned to me that limitations on approved vendors, and the pre-selection of equipment suppliers by the project owner and/or consultant, have sometimes caused delays. This has often been due to the lack of insufficient compe-tition between approved vendors.”

He adds that this is an issue which needs to be addressed if the industry in Qatar is to flourish. “We believe the prac-tice of “preferred or approved vendor list” must be eliminated to give equal chances to all suppliers and manufacturers in the world meeting the required specifications. Only this change will even help reduce the total costs and delivery times for building projects.”


QATAR FOCUS

Vasanth Kumar, CEO, Arabian MEP Contracting. Ali Kemal Pekkendir, general manager, AKFA Holding.

DELIVERING THE GOODS

Competition for Qatar’s MEP loot is perhaps hottest among the suppliers of the industry. Since their setup and operational costs in the country are considerably less than their contracting and consulting brethren, suppliers from all over the world can afford to take a gamble on a market that promises much. Suman Reddy, Qatar branch manager for Ecoval (provider of sustainable and renewable energy-based hot and chilled water solutions, and based in the country since 2007), says that while the number of project announcements is now improving, this is mitigated by the plethora of suppliers which have entered the market in the last few years seeking sanctuary from the global economic downturn. “When you try to balance the equation of the number of MEP suppliers available versus the potential project availability, it will not match,” he says. “On the building side, Qatar needs to get more projects to keep all the suppliers busy.”Reddy has also observed that quality suppliers are facing a fight to win orders from Qatari projects as many are putting bottom line concerns ahead of everything else – resulting in a struggle for suppliers to make any gains. “Quality is not being given priority: everybody is interested in price first,” he says. “There is no healthy competition between suppliers. The majority of companies are operating with low profit margins just to stay in existence.”Asked what could be done by the authorities to improve the lot of the MEP supplier in Qatar, Reddy says that some relief should be given to those suppliers consonant with the country’s vision for green building. “We feel there should be some custom-duty benefit or rebate for the renewable energy products which are being imported. This will definitely encourage the developers to think about going with green solutions,” he says.

20%:Projected peak rise in material prices over next

decade from 2013

I think the best opportunities for us as MEP contractors lie in the metro and rail projects, the football stadiums, Doha Port buildings, high-rise tower projects in West Bay and the new five-star hotels planned. “Ali Kemal Pekkendir

tractors in Qatar as not all projects here are built to green requirements,” Kumar says. “There are only a very few high-profile projects which are currently being built to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards.”

Green or not, Qatar has enough projects planned to keep armies of MEP techni-cians well-occupied over the next decade. However, assembling the requisite forces to tackle these developments seems to be an issue which is becoming ever more urgent. Kumar says that if there is one area which the authorities should address to make contractors lives that bit easier, it is enabling quicker entry to the country for the human resources required by the industry. “Contractors should be given an adequate number of workable work visas which would grant them the freedom to bring in workers from the nationality of their choice,” he says.

The role of MEP contractors in deliver-ing Qatar’s ambitious vision is evidently not the leisurely stroll down streets of gold that some may have envisaged. There are a number of stubborn impediments to the industry’s healthy development in the country which will have to be overcome – and quickly if the most is to be made of the market’s potential.

In the short-term, Pekkindir says that there should be enough business to go around to keep all parties content, but it may be a while before the joy of bumper paydays is a reality. “I believe there will be sufficient business for the established MEP firms, but it will be difficult to earn profits in 2013 and 2014 due to tough competition. Profits may improve later

with the entry of more projects towards the FIFA World Cup,” he says.

As for Kumar, he is still a believer in the glorious potential of the Qatari market but, like Pekkindir, has his reservations. “The next few years will be a golden period for MEP contractors if they do their homework correctly. However such a golden period may also offer challenges as prices are expected to escalate up to 20% or even more, so any contractor taking a long term project with a thin margin is likely to suffer losses.”

Suman Reddy, Qatar branch manager, Ecoval.


The general understanding of building commissioning is confused at best in the GCC and MENA regions, and many people reading this article will find out that building commis-sioning differs greatly from their current understanding.

The traditional definition of commissioning is the one still used by the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) within their Commission-ing Code M: Commissioning Management document. Commissioning is defined as: “The advancement of an installation from the state of static completion to full working order to the specified requirements. It includes the setting to work of an installation, the regula-tion of the system, and the fine tuning of the system.”

The American Society of Heating, Re-frigeration, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) define commissioning much more

Kirk Rosenbaum, senior commissioning manager at KEO International Consultants, looks at why commissioning in the region often doesn’t pass the test

COMMISSIONING

The Midde EastCOMMISSIONINGMYSTERY

generically in their Guideline 0-2005: The Commissioning Process. ASHRAE defines commissioning as follows: “A quality-focused process for enhancing the delivery of a pro-ject. The process focuses upon verifying and documenting that the facility and all of its sys-tems and assemblies are planned, designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained to meet the owner’s project requirements.”

One code focuses specifically on startup and turnover while the other considers commissioning to be a holistic process that extends throughout the projects life-cycle from concept to operation. The two docu-ments could not be more different.

The confusion regarding commissioning is compounded by the numerous sustainability programmes in use within the region: Leader-ship in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS), Estidama, and the Dubai Green Building Regulations (DGBR). All of these programmes require commission-

ing, but the process under each programme varies dramatically. Some programmes require design reviews, and some do not. Some programmes require post occupancy re-commissioning, but most do not. Some programmes require the project commission-ing agent to be independent of the design and construction companies on a project, and oth-ers do not. Systems to be commissioned vary from programme to programme, and only one of the programmes requires commission-ing of critical systems such as fire alarm or fire suppression.

With all these differences of opinion about what commissioning is or is not, how does a building owner, project manager, or design professional make a decision about what level of commissioning is to be performed on their projects? The bottom line is that commission-ing must be done to satisfy the local codes, but beyond that, what should be targeted?

Commissioning to the code requirement will provide the service at the lowest possible


cost, but it will not provide commissioning to the best possible value. Studies from the United States indicate that fully commissioned buildings will obtain between 12 and 20% energy efficiency improvement over build-ings that are not commissioned. Personal observation from doing more than 20 years of building commissioning has shown that if suf-ficient time is allowed for design reviews and construction monitoring that commissioning more than pays for itself by the reduction in variation/change orders from the contractor and in savings related to avoided delays for the final occupancy of the project.

COMMISSIONING

How do GSAS, DGBR, Estidama, and LEED stack up in providing maximum value from the commissioning process for new buildings? Based on the varying require-ments for the systems needing to be com-missioned and the level of involvement of an independent commissioning agent (ICA), the author’s opinion of potential commissioning value of each program is as follows.

As we have discussed, commissioning as identified in CIBSE and the various sustain-ability programmes does not provide the maximum value service. Full value com-missioning has many facets. Including the following scope of services for your ICA will bring a project its maximum level of commissioning value.

First of all it is a priority to have the ICA involved from concept design so that they can assist in the development of the owner project requirements. Primarily the ICA provides input on system operation, efficiency, com-missionability, and maintainability. This is important because operations staff frequently do not adequately define their needs to project management, which in turn does not adequately define the needs to the designer. As a result, it is not infrequent that projects get turned over to operations personnel that do not serve their needs.

Also in the planning phase, the ICA should produce the first draft of the project commis-

sioning plan. This document defines the com-missioning scope of work, identifies the par-ties responsible for each task, and establishes lines of communications. The commissioning plan is updated as design progresses and the project enters its construction phase.

A second key document should also be implemented at this point in the project. ASHRAE refers to it as the commissioning issues list. This document is maintained by the ICA and tracks all issues identified during design and construction that require review and possible corrective action by other mem-bers of the project team. Items tracked on the issues list could include missing information needed from the project owner, a design problem regarding maintenance access for a pump, a construction problem involving the incorrect installation of a control valve, or a test result that found a damper does not actuate properly when commanded to do so. The commissioning issues list is like a score card for the project and will provide histori-cal information on all issues identified by the commissioning process and how those issues were resolved. If your current ICA does not provide such a document, he should be asked serious questions about how he is managing your commissioning work.

The ICA should be an organization that is independent of the project design firm and the contractor, and the ICA should be hired directly by the project owner. This will result in an ICA that has no conflicts of interest or issues of communications when acting as the owner’s champion for all issues related to the projects operation and performance.

During the design phase of the project the ICA needs to conduct a review of the concept design report or the basis of design document to verify it is in compliance with the owner requirements. In addition, and more impor-tantly, the ICA needs to conduct a minimum of one review of the documents being issued for tender. Complex projects could benefit from an additional review during the design development period.

- How does a commissioning design review benefit a project? These are examples of items found within the last year on projects across the GCC:

- Mechanical rooms identified as having doors of insufficient size to all the replace-ment of equipment parts.

- HVAC equipment oversized to the point of adding 20% to the building’s annual energy consumption.

- A mission critical facility with 100% redundant HVAC plant and equipment, but an electrical system that included a dozen single

20%:Maximum energy efficiency

improvement of commissioned buildings over those which are not

Sustainability Programme

Potential Commis-sioning Programme Value Achieved

GSAS 45%

DGBR 60%

Estidama(Pearl Building Rating System)

65%

LEED Fundamen-tal Cx

35%

LEED Fundamen-tal & Enhanced Cx

80%

Commissioning to the code requirement will provide the service at the lowest possible cost, but it will not provide commissioning to the best possible value.“


COMMISSIONING

- Smoke management systems insufficient-ly sized to meet code requirements.

- Code-required fire walls and fire doors not drawn or specified with the proper fire ratings.

In the project construction phase it is important for the ICA to periodically inspect the progress of the works and to benchmark typical installations of various pieces of equip-ment when they are initially installed. As a project owner, project manager, or even the contractor, is it not to your advantage to know that the first air handling unit on the project has been installed incorrectly, or would it be better to let the error be repeated ten, fifty, or one hundred times and have the ICA identify the problem when the first air handing unit is being functionally tested?

During the construction period, between submittal approval and final installation, the commissioning method statements, proce-dures and record forms must be created. One of the biggest debates in the industry

is regarding which parties author, review, and approve these forms. To keep commis-sioning costs down the contractor is many times directed to produce the documentation; however, the quality suffers. It is recom-mended that the ICA produce the procedures and forms to ensure the highest quality in the testing regime.

The production of the documentation is a fine point and it is not absolutely critical that this be done by the ICA as long as they par-ticipate in the review and approval process.

More critical is the participation of the ICA in final system inspections, functional testing, integrated testing, and performance testing. This is the area where many sustainability programs and/or project specifications falter. Most indicate that the ICA is to monitor or verify the execution of the commissioning testing program as executed by the contractor.

This is absolutely insufficient for several reasons. Anyone who receives tenders from

35%: Potential commissioning programme value

achieved from LEED Fundamental Cx

point failure locations that could disable the entire project.

- A five star meeting and reception facility identified as needing over 100 access doors to be cut into its lavishly finished ceiling to allow for MEP maintenance.

- Concrete foundations not properly coordi-nated for electrical and mechanical building services. (This item would have resulted in major change order costs if identified in the middle of construction.)

- Chilled water systems identified with insufficient valves for proper balancing.

- Water pipes travelling through spaces prohibited by the electrical codes.


Kirk Rosenbaum, senior commissioning manager, KEO.

COMMISSIONING

65%:Potential commissioning programme

value achieved from Estidama

commissioning services providers under-stands this problem well. With the amount of field inspections and test witnessing only defined by the requirement “to monitor and verify”, commissioning fees can vary by several hundred percent based on the individual opinions of the commissioning services providers. To tighten up the range of commissioning fees it is critical for the extent of site inspections and testing witnessing to be clarified.

The second problem with a programme of monitoring and verification is that field deficiencies can be hidden with the stroke of a pen. A chilled water system might be cool-ing the building well enough that no obvious problem exists with system performance, but the pumps might be running at an incorrect speed or the system temperature refuses to reset. Problems like this may result in a plant using a great deal of excessive energy.

An example of this type of problem was identified during a building inspection con-

Depending on the type of building being commissioned the appropriate level of involvement of the ICA in the inspection and testing programmes varies.“ducted in 2012. An HVAC system contained heat recovery wheels that would pre-cool ventilation air for the building. However, the system would not shutdown the heat recovery wheels when the outside air temperature was less than the exhaust air temperature as de-signed. As a result, the wheels would increase ventilation air temperature prior to being cooled by the chilled water coil. No cooling problems were ever noticed in the building, but correcting the programming on the heat recovery wheels was projected to save the cli-ent $36,000 (AED 132,000 approx.) annually.

Contractors and designers have conflicts of interest with regard to documenting all faults uncovered during commissioning testing. There is pressure to turn the project over to the client, and there are issues of pride and reputation regarding the identification of one’s own errors in the works. It is only human nature to respond in these ways, and that is why it is most advantageous to have the ICA participate in most field inspections and tests on the completed systems. It is in a building owner’s best interest to include their champion for quality and performance at these times.

Depending on the type of building being commissioned the appropriate level of involve-ment of the ICA in the inspection and testing programmes varies. For an apartment build-ing or hotel where room types and systems

are duplicated hundreds of times the ICA can be involved with a representative sample of the works. For a hospital, data centre, or other mission critical facility the ICA involvement may need to approach 100% participation.

Other benefits that can be offered by the commissioning process include improved project handover from the contractor to the fa-cility maintenance staff. The ICA can be used to oversee contractor training programmes and review the quality of the operation and maintenance manuals being provided. A key deliverable that can be provided by the ICA is a document called the Systems Manual by ASHRAE or the Building Log Book by CIBSE. This is only called for by a few sustainability programmes but is a very key document. Operations and maintenance manuals will pro-vide direction on fixing the equipment in the building, but the systems manual functions as an owner’s manual for the entire project. It will inform the building operators how to con-trol the building systems in various conditions and how to return the systems to all original settings. It also provides a location to record any changes made to the systems because of building modifications or usage changes. The systems manual is an extremely valuable tool in maintaining and operating a building as efficiently as possible.

Building commissioning is a service that is misunderstood, and that is not yet fully developed. It is most important for everyone to understand that it is no longer just the activity of turning over a building to an owner once construction is complete. It is a process that runs through the entire lifecycle of a building that improves operability, efficiency, and maintainability. Codes, guidelines, and sustainability programmes all disagree on what constitutes a good commissioning programme, and therefore it falls to a project owner, project manager, designer, etc. to determine the best commissioning practice for an individual project.

Many of the best practices have been identified above and can serve as a guide, but potentially the best advice that can be provided if any question exists about the extent of commissioning needed on your project, is to contact a certified commission-ing professional for their input. Certifications are provided from numerous organizations in-cluding AABC Commissioning Group (ACG), American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Building Commissioning Association (BCA), Commissioning Specialist Association (CSA), and National Environmental Balancing Bu-reau (NEBB).

SUPPLIER NEWS


EXPANSION

SECURITY

CEM Systems, part of Tyco Security Prod-ucts, has revealed its winning of a contract at the Khalifa Port & Industrial Zone (KPIZ), Abu Dhabi for its CEM AC2000 SE (standard edition) system, which was installed at Khal-ifa Port by CEM approved reseller Tyco Fire & Security UAE.

“CEM is delighted to be involved in one of the UAE’s most prestigious infrastructure projects. With our many years experience in both the port and airport sector, CEM has provided a sophisticated security solution for Khalifa Port,” said Philip Verner, regional sales director for CEM Systems.

“This was an exciting yet challenging proj-ect for CEM which delivered not one but two systems for the Port; AC2000 and a highly customised gate management system, pro-viding high level integration to multiple port security systems to ensure the monitor-ing and control of vehicles coming onsite,” he added.

The AC2000 Gate Management Solution integrates with a number of third party sys-tems all interfaced to ensure multiple checks

are made before a vehicle can enter the site. The driver firstly swipes their card which activates passive or active long range RFID tags used on trucks and light vehicles. ANPR license plate recognition is then used and the gate opens.

Craig Menzies, security division manager, Tyco Fire & Security UAE, said: “Khalifa Port required a highly secure and flexible access control system, which could be used

for more than just access control. Having worked with CEM before on projects such as Dubai International Airport, we knew the CEM AC2000 solution would be a perfect fit for the port and with CEM’s dedicated Inte-grations team, Khalifa Ports high expecta-tions could be met successfully.”

CEM’s advanced hardware was used throughout the port which included over 700 S610e and S610f fingerprint readers.

Siemens is to set up a new pro-gramme office in Qatar highlight-ing its stadium technologies as the first wave of design and construc-tion management tenders for the 2022 World Cup are announced.The company, which has been in-

volved in the building of over 140 stadium and arena projects over the past ten years, said that the

office will show off technologies such as smart grids, traffic man-agement systems, building techo-nologies, district cooling systems and other expertise.The office will be headed by Jan

Schoenig, who has worked at Sie-mens for 16 years and has been involved in the preparations for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Siemens to open Qatar office in stadium bid

CEM Systems wins contract at Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa PortFirm supplies security management system through Tyco Fire & Security UAE

The CEM Systems technology used at Khalifa Port sees multiple checks carried out before vehicles are permitted on site.

With our many years experience in both the port and airport sector, CEM has provided a sophisticated security solution for Khalifa Port.”

Siemens Qatar chief Bernhard Fonseka said: “By setting up the office years ahead of the games, Siemens has demonstrated a com-mitment to bringing intelligent solutions that can assist infra-structure and industry customers in increasing their productivity, efficiency and flexibility in the run-up to the World Cup 2022.”

PRODUCTS


WANT TO FEATURE YOUR PRODUCT HERE? Email: [email protected]

BUYER’S GUIDE

New products come on to the market at a great rate. While many shout

about their innovation or competitive pricing, it can be difficult to spot the true merit of a product without the right information. MEP offers a few top tips that are always worth keeping in mind when purchase orders are on the way.

TOP TIPS

1. FOCUSKnow what you are looking for and exactly what you

need it to do

2. RESEARCH Get suppliers to provide

detailed product information based on your

specific requirements

3. PRICE VERSUS...Is price the most important

factor?

4. ...QUALITYOr will quality matter more

in the long run?

5. IS IT NEEDED?Is the product something the project really needs?

Could it be done without or bought at a later stage?

6. SUSTAINABILITYDoes this product need to

be ‘green’?

7. STANDARDSDoes the product need to conform to any specific

standards?

8. SHIPPING Will the product make it to site on time, or is there an

order backlog?

9. LIABILITYHow long will your

company be liable for the product’s performance?

10. SORTEDWill this purchasing

decision sort the job or will it come back to haunt you?

Product focusMEP Middle East reviews the latest gadgets, essential kit and serious product innovations making an impact in the GCC construction market. Let us know if there is something you would like to see on these pages.

MAGIC

MagiCAD is one of the leading global BIM solutions for HVAC and electrical design. More than 15,000 licenses are in use worldwide and it is growing quickly in the Middle East. MagiCAD enables MEP design using Europe’s largest product model database, featuring hundreds of thousands of actual products from leading manufacturers across the globe. Each model within the database comes complete with accurate dimensions and comprehensive technical data. MagiCAD offers localisation for different country-specific standards, and is used by major contractors and designers in a variety of projects across the world.

HATTERSLEY DPCVS

Belonging to the FlowMaster range of commissioning valves, Hattersley’s compact differential pressure control valves DPCVs (F400 & R400) are quick and easy to install, have a long life expectancy and require little or no maintenance. Available in sizes DN15 to DN50, they are PN16 rated and have an adjustable differential pressure range of 20 – 100kPa. The new DPCV range has been specifically designed with two new features to cut costs, while also aiding system analysis and simplify circuits too. The first new feature, having threaded female ends, reduces the need for additional adapters in most circuits and allows easy connections to alternative pipework solutions when adapters

are required. The second, the addition of two bosses, is for integral test point installation, which gives greater flexibility and reduces the need for separate test points within the circuit.

GEBERIT EXPANSION SOCKETGeberit has equipped the expansion socket of their PE waste and drainage system with a new seal, which considerably reduces the insertion force at the sliding point. The processing effort decreases and the installation time is shorter. At the same time, the long-lasting seal guarantees a high functional reliability for the socket. A further

optimisation ensures a shorting installation time – a flange for retaining the anchor bracket is now embedded on the outside of the socket. The bracket is fitted into the recess and then remains absolutely rigid on the socket afterwards. The expansion socket’s application possibilities have also increased as the sockets are now available for all dimensions up to DN 150 with a flange for retaining the anchor point and for welding electrofusion sleeve couplings as well. In accordance with the Geberit processing guidelines, an expansion socket must be used every six metres in PE systems with expansion processes.


PRODUCTS


BIM DemystifiedBy Steve Race

BIM Demystified is a short, practical introduction to

Building Information Modelling (BIM). Addressing BIM from the point of

view of mainstream practice as opposed

to a cutting-edge technological

perspective, it offers an easy-going yet

thorough explanation of the subject.

TAKE A LOOK

BIM in Small-Scale Sustainable

DesignBy Francois Levy

This work is the leading guide

to architectural design within a

building information modelling (BIM)

workflow, giving the practitioner a clear procedure when

designing climate-load dominated

buildings. The book incorporates new

information related to BIM, integrated

practice, and sustainable design, as well information on how designers

can incorporate the latest technological

tools available.

GEBERIT SHOWER ELEMENT With the flexible Geberit shower element, the design of the wall drain for floor-even showers looks clean and well-engineered. The shower elements can be easily installed in nearly any wall construction, as well as with Geberit’s proven dry wall systems, transforming your shower into a private wellness oasis. Be it in a hotel, private villa or residential apartment, the Geberit shower drain is the ideal design solution for your shower. The combination of innovative design and practical technology has been awarded the renowned international IF product design award.

CYCLO VACOver the last 45 years, Cyclo Vac’s commitment to research and development has created high-standard, quality central vacuums which have revolutionised the industry. Some of the many advantages of the Cyclo Vac central vacuum system include: indoor air quality, quietness due to its unique design, efficiency and ease of use. Distributed by Khalifa Saeed Al Gaizi General Trading, Cyclo Vac central vacuum machines can be used with a bag or, to save money in the long-run, without. Its patented carbon dust filter, unique worldwide, captures the fine black dust produced by the motor, which would normally be deposited on surfaces surrounding the central vacuum unit. Ideally, the system is installed during the construction stage, but can also be fitted in existing buildings.

COOLEX ROOFTOP PACKAGESCOOLEX Rooftop packages are high-efficiency products designed specifically for tropical operation up to 125 °F ambient temperature without tripping and with high performance. They offer low power consumption (1.4 kW/T.R @ 118.4 °F ambient) with easy installation, advanced microprocessor controller and low noise operations. These are factory run-tested, produced in an ISO 9001-2000 listed manufacturing facility, constructed in compliance with ASHRAE 15 safety requirements and UL listed. Quality and efficiency make COOLEX units the preferred choice for cooling systems in commercial and industrial applications. COOLEX is the pioneer manufacturer of air conditioning in Kuwait since 1986,

offering high standards, competitive pricing and a wide array of products (Package A/C, Ducted split, Concealed, Chillers, AHU, Fan coil) covering all Middle East market needs.

www.cyclovac.com

VIESSMANN VITOCAL 350-HT The Vitocal 350-HT delivers outputs of 60 to 100 kW regardless of heat source and is the only series-produced CO2 heat pump in this output range in Europe. CO2 is a natural component of air, is present in large amounts and allows especially high flow temperatures up to 90 °C when used as a transfer medium in heat pumps. The Vitocal 350-HT fulfils the requirements of the Associations for Gas and Water in both Germany (DVGW) and Switzerland (SVGW) for heating domestic hot water in large systems, making it very suitable for efficiently generating affordable hot water. The above-average spread of the primary input temperatures of -15 °C to 37 °C means that the Vitocal 350-HT can be operated as both a cold water generator and for heat recovery.

THE LAST WORD


projects. Where margins and sched-ules are tight, things can go pear-shaped very quickly, and that means unexpected loss of profitability. No one likes that kind of surprise. So that’s where we come in.

CCS provides the complete con-struction enterprise solution by in-tegrating the essential elements to provide contractors with a reliable, auditable, accurate and activity-based comparative analysis of costs and allowable. This is the essential information that will ultimately de-termine the success or failure of a construction venture.

How can you help companies ensure profitability in business?The “crash” effect on the Middle East, and especially the UAE, expe-rienced from the highs of 2007/8 to the lows of 2009, made clients and contractors alike realise the signifi-cance of good time and value bud-geting as a basis for effective cost control and decision making and ultimately the success or failure of a construction venture.

It is exactly at this time that in-sufficient monitoring of project processes leads to uncertainties as to profitability. It is right now that all contractors should produce bet-ter estimates, and have closer con-trol over projects and better moni-toring of earned value and cash flows, because to rely on a mindset of a continual stream of work and bulging order books would be a dangerous folly.

Additionally, the Candy “shopping list” adds a whole new dimension giv-ing the contractor complete control of what they purchase. One of our clients, ALEMCO, experienced the benefits of this first hand by avoid-ing an over order, worth $80m (AED 293.8m), on a landmark villa develop-ment project in Abu Dhabi.

Ian Hauptfleisch, general manager of costing software developer CCS Gulf, explains what the company’s products can offer the industry at a time when belts are tight

CCS product offerings include the Candy Estimation and Project Control system and the BuildSmart Construction Cost Accounting system: what do they do and how do they work?Candy is a construction estimation and project control application that includes features for resource based, analytical estimation of construction projects, critical path planning, fore-casting, cashflow and post-tender valuations for monthly cost control and progress payments.

BuildSmart is a web-based con-struction cost and accounting man-agement system that includes mod-ules for procurement, accounting, plant and yard management, subcon-tract management, inventory control and payroll. Additional integrated modules are available for document management, HR, business intelli-gence and time and attendance.

Who are your major customers? We have over 150 contracting com-panies using CCS across the MENA region and these include the likes of ALEMCO, HLG, Voltas, Al Fut-taim Carillion, Zener Steward, BK Gulf, Dutco Balfour Beatty, Al Na-boodah, Target Engineering, Gulf Contracting, CCC, Midmac, Con-track, Petroserv, Khansaheb, Laing O’Rourke, Larsen & Toubro, Doug-las OHI, Kharafi National, El Seif, Al Arrab, Al Mabani, Al Khodari and Al Yamama.

What is unique about the prod-ucts and services you offer?CCS products are designed and de-veloped from the bottom-up – that is, they are designed for construction industry professionals by construc-tion industry professionals.

CCS Candy and BuildSmart to-gether include modules for estimat-ing, planning, valuations, forecasting, cashflow, procurement, accounting, wages, plant, yard and stock man-agement, and document control. Separately, these are available from a myriad of suppliers, but what distin-guishes CCS from all other software offerings is the degree of intercon-nectedness of these modules.

What challenges are unique to the MENA region, and how does CCS overcome them?Challenge, especially the challenge of cost control, is synonymous with construction – irrespective of where or what it is being built. The con-struction industry can be affected from anything from weather, price fluctuations, materials, labour and equipment availability, unrealistic timeframes and the remoteness of

Where margins and schedules are tight, things can go pear-shaped very quickly, and that means unexpected loss of profitability.“

Value of over order avoided by alemco using software

$80M

THE COSTCounting

Ian Haupsfleisch, general manager, CCS Gulf.

Geberit concealed cisterns

With the tried-and-tested Geberit installation tech-nology, cisterns and piping can be securely located behind the wall. This makes the bathroom larger.And a lot more attractive.

www.geberit.ae

Geberit installation element with concealed cistern

Hidden innovation.

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