CONFIDENTIAL
機密
2.61 Contract Administration - Public Works Department
2.62
The administration of capital works contracts by the Architectural Office (4.0.) of the Public Works Department (P.N.D.) has been examined in detail in a recent C.P.D. Assignment2. To supplement the findings in this report, with particular reference to the concept of supervisory accountability, we held discussions with the Contract Adviser of the A.0. and two Project Architects. We also held discussions with the Contract Adviser cf the Civil Engineering Office (C.E.O.), a Project Engineer and a (Consultant Management) Resident Site Engineer, with a view to establishing any significant differences in the forms of administration insofar as they reflect on the practice of accountability.
Architectural Office
A basic characteristic of the administration of works contracts is that site and supervisory staff at both the technical and professional levels must exercise judgement and discretion if the construction is to proceed reasonably smoothly. The activities and decisions of site staff, at the Clerk of Works and Works Supervisor levels, are normally subject to forms of routine supervision and scrutiny, and where this does not apply, it is usually possible for the Project Architect to assess the reasonableness of their decisions.
2.63 Project professional staff, however, are not generally subject to close
and direct supervision; their actions and decisions within a contract are normally assessed by the Senior and Chief Architects on the basis of reasonableness and effectiveness. Generally, there are few specific instructions and guidelines on routine supervisory and monitoring chucks at the technical level. However, the overall control system should be strengthened by the Contract Adviser in the A.0. whose responsibilitics include carrying out spot-checks on site, checks of measurement books, interim payments and final accounts. These internal audit duties constitute only part of his responsibility for he has a positive and forward looking role in terms of advising on contractual conditions and ways and morns by which the administration of contracts can be made more officient. The extent to which the Contract Adviser can get out un site is severely limited and it is thought that at present he cannot exercise any considerable influence in terms of supervisory accountability.
2.64 It is evident that one weakness in the supervision of capital works lies in the extremely heavy workload at successive levels. A Chief Architect carries a heavy administrative load, being responsible for many projects and contracts in which he is named as the ARCHITECT. As a result the time he and the Senior Architects are able to devote to detailed adminis- tration of any one contract is limited, and they rely very much upon the Project Architect and other project professional staff to whom they delegate specific duties. In turn, the Project Architect normally has many other duties and responsibilities claiming his attention in addition to contract management. He can be named as Project Architect for several contracts which may be widely distributed geographically and the number of site visits he actually undertakes can be severely limited by time factors; he may visit some sitos no more than once a week.
2 C... Report 39/75
Administration of Capital Works Contracts Let By
Architectural Office" - 7th April 1977.
CONFIDENTIAL
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