Taranaki DHB appoints ECI contractor for Base Hospital redevelopment
30 July 2020
Taranaki DHB (TDHB) has appointed Leighs Construction to provide Early Contractor Involvement services for Project Maunga Stage Two and the Seismic Risk Management Plan (SRMP) at Base Hospital.
Chief Executive, Rosemary Clements, made the announcement today and says it’s a huge milestone for the projects.
“We are excited to be able to add such a strong contractor to our project team to provide building advice and assist with detailed construction planning while the design of Project Maunga Stage Two New East Wing Building and the Seismic Risk Management Plan (SRMP) projects are completed.”
Leighs Construction will also have the first right to tender the main construction works and there will be a number of opportunities for local subcontractors to be involved.
Project Director, Ian Grant, says the approach of bringing the builder on during design planning is known as Early Contractor Involvement (ECI).
“ECI is used to try and attract a top construction team for project work to Taranaki. From the beginning of Project Maunga we knew that attracting multiple bids from Tier 1 contractors in a regional centre like New Plymouth was going to be tough, but we were lucky that COVID-19 actually increased competition. Fundamentally the New Zealand construction market is really busy and it was always going to be a challenge to ensure value for money for TDHB,” says Grant.
Project Maunga Stage Two and the SRMP consist of approximately $240M of construction works with a New East Wing Building, Renal Building, Energy Centre and Computer Room, plus the upgrade of site wide infrastructure and some demolition work.
The projects are expected to create more than 400 jobs over a three year construction programme.
Venture Taranaki chief executive, Justine Gilliland says Project Maunga is an exciting and timely boost for the local construction industry.
“Although this is not technically a shovel ready project, design and earthworks are due to start before Christmas 2020. Not only will the project create local jobs and support industry and capability building, it also aligns with the Taranaki 2050 Roadmap, supporting the health and wellbeing of our people and bringing to fruition the first five-star Green Star healthcare building in the country”.
The Project Maunga team, along with Leighs Construction, will be hosting an information session next week for the construction industry to give an overview of the projects and highlight opportunities to get involved. The latest building design plans will also be revealed for the Renal Building and the New Wing East Building. The information session will take place on Tuesday 4 August at Govett-Brewster Art Gallery at 4.30pm.
A video link of the presentation will be shared publically afterwards for those who cannot attend the live session.
Last updated: Thursday, July 30, 2020