Sureside provided services to Colac Otway Shire (‘COS’). cos were seeking technical advisors to assist in managing the project designers, Walbridge Gilbert Aztec (noting WGA were not involved during the investigation phase).

cos had been less than satisfied by consultant conduct and reporting (to that point being during the investigation phase). upon review, sureside were able to assure cos that whilst these services had fallen short in some more refined Aspects, that the nature of findings were consistent with nomral investigation constraints. it was cos’ frustration from the investigation phase that motivated them to engage wga (the designer) as well as sureside (the technical advisor).

Sureside acted as an advisor to cos in its interactions with wga. sureside undertook its own investigation, diagnosis and also interacted both with cos and wga in communication and also in the review of deliverables. sureside provided important feedback to the designer that ensured the Works achieved tangible benefits and that risks were appropriately mitigated. this was achieved through improved documentation, clear documentation and communication of design objectives and utilisation of sureside’s relative capability and experience, particularly with respect to diagnosis and comprehension of deteriorative meachanisms and risk.

the engagement of sureside proved very beneficial for this project. our involvement meant that significant improvements were realised for project outcomes.

this project is a fantastic example how clients can benefit from augmenting their staff with senior, professional capability in order to realise significant benefits for their project. this serves to ensure that designer initiatives are well founded, particularly in project where there are important and numberous unknowns. there is also the benefit of utilising assessors with a depth of knowledge of deterioration that is industry leading. the benefits of doing this can be profound and realised immediately through improvement to design and the project.

we commend cos for their approach to the managing the project. the project had precisely the right capability to realise worthwhile outcomes and avoid misteps that had a good potential of causing project issues post-design.

project client: colac otway shire

sureside client: colac otway shire

location: apollo bay, (south western regional) victoria, australia

time period: 2020