Shepley Engineers were appointed as Main Contractor on the Houses of Parliament, a Grade 1 listed building and World Heritage Site, for Phase 2 of the Cast Iron Roof Works that followed the successful completion of Phase 1 (also by Shepley) in 2009.
The works consisted of restoring approximately 30,000 cast / wrought iron components averaging 1m2 each, comprised of both structural and non-structural components, all of which have been processed by the Shepley Engineers workshop in Sheffield over the course of 6 years, equating to 5,000 components per year.
The main ethos of the project, and the subsequent works being carried out on the next phase, is to work collaboratively at all project levels to ensure maximum Value for Money & Programme Efficiency. This multi-level engagement ranges from senior members of the team meeting with senior board stakeholders in bi-monthly meetings to our craft teams being incentivised to contribute improvement suggestions that will benefit both Shepley and also the client team and stakeholders. Shepley and the project team agreed several key areas to form the basis of the Management Principles we would utilise to achieve this goal:
Project Efficiencies / Value Engineering – Effective use of the Gain Share model to promote Value Engineering ideas and opportunities, a successful example being Shepley’s idea to standardise and rationalise types of repairs to the cast iron components to optimise site and workshop processes.
Events Log – An ongoing schedule of items/events which occur throughout the project and actions taken by Shepley to mitigate potential impact to the site works, budget or programme. Detailing out any potential secondary benefits of the works undertaken by Shepley.
Open Book – Shepley and the project team participate in regular Open Book reviews. The results of these audit styled reviews provide us with information crucial in assessing lessons learnt, in ample time, to enact these lessons for the remainder of the Project.
Financial Reporting – During the execution of the project, procedures for project control and record keeping have become indispensable tools to managers and other participants in the construction process. Shepley produced monthly Forecast Final Accounts & various Options Papers to provide an indication of the progress and problems associated with the project. During these exercises we considered the problems associated with resource utilisation, accounting, overall budget durability and Change Control during the project, and often proposed several potential mitigations, thus allowing our Client an increased level of flexibility in carrying out the works.
Both the Commons and Lords Speakers praised the work and celebrated the conclusion of the restoration, available to see on the Parliament website here