JKR to Implement VECP... what happens to Partnering?

Salam and dear all,

1. The Star (Chan Li Leen, Tuesday 8th June 2010, pg N25) reported that the Works Ministry is 'looking at implementing a "value engineering change proposal (VECP)" to enable greater savings when carrying out government projects.'
2. According to the Works Minister 'the VECP was a written mechanism in the contract document that allows contractors to suggest alternatives or more innovative methods to carry out projects ... without sacrificing safety and functionality...'
3. The Minister further said VECP would be a win-win situation for the government and the contractor and that a mechanism is currently being designed to enable the contractor to share a portion of the money saved (arising from the alternatives or innovative methods proposed by the contractor and accepted by the government).
4. The article in full is available at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/8/nation/6423474&sec=nation (copy paste).
5. The above report is very interesting in the sense that the government is persistent in looking at ways to achieve 'value for money' in the procurement of public sector projects.
6. However, I would like to point out that a similar government-contractor collaborative and win-win approach was initiated and promoted by JKR in 2000.
7. The approach otherwise known as "Construction Partnering" was formally announced to the Malaysian Construction Industry on 22nd April 2000 in Putrajaya via a seminar entitled Introducing the Concept of Partnering in the Construction Industry with specific reference to project based partnering in JKR. The seminar was officiated by the then Deputy Prime Minister (now Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, former Prime Minister).
8. Prior to the seminar in Putrajaya several workshops and seminars including those held in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Melaka were held to develop the concept and train JKR officers.
9. The continuous effort by JKR to better manage construction costs and contracts augur well for the construction industry especially for the procurement of public sector projects.
10. In addition, aspects including management of cost, contract administration, value engineering and management are matters that are closely related to the quantity surveying profession, and that these aspects are among the core courses (elective in the case of value engineering and management) in a typical undergraduate program in quantity surveying.
11. Consequently, I would like to see quantity surveyors, especially those in JKR, to take leadership in effort towards achieving greater 'value for money' in public sector procurement.
12. Insyaallah, I will elaborate on the JKR's concept of Partnering that was introduced in 2000 in my next posting.

Wassalam.