Housing in Southern Africa March 2016

News

Supply chain buy-in

P rogramme Leader of Quantity Surveying Danie Hoffman and fellow member of the Associa- tion of SA Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS) says that the study for the Green Build- ing Council of SA (GBCSA) provides comparative costing of 55 Green Star office buildings certified between 2008 and 2014. According to Hoffman, one of the greatest challenges facing green building in South Africa is fear of the unknown, particularly costing. He says green building techniques are often perceived as expensive and challeng- ing to execute - but this need not be the case, particularly when full life-cy- cle costing of building is added to the The University of Pretoria’s Department of Construction Economics is currently leading a study on the ‘true cost’ of green building. A ccording to Kevin Mileham, Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Cooperative Gover- nance and Traditional Affairs. Tightening regulations will deter unscrupulous behaviour, particularly in the run up to the Local Government Elections (LGE) says Mileham. The DA previously called on Pravin Gordhan, in his former capacity as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Tradi- tional Affairs, to initiate a review of the Supply ChainManagement regula- tions and processes atmunicipal level. Now, says Mileham, in his new ca- pacity as Minister of Finance, Gordhan has the authority to launch a reviewof regulations and processes and should do so swiftly.

contractors and end-users.” Hoffman explains, “Quantity Surveyors are essential links in the supply chain as they are involved from initial design stage to the conclusion of construc- tion processes, and can advise on the specification of construction materi- als, prepare and control budgets as well expenditure.” He says that educational institu- tions also have an important role to play to promote the cause of sustain- able construction by informing the en- tire industry of the availability of sus- tainable materials and technologies, and the benefits of best practice. ■

equation. “Life-cycle costing covers all the financial implications of build- ing: from concept to end-of-life, and incorporates the costs of construc- tion, materials, design, engineering, water and electricity tariffs, heating and cooling, repair costs and eventual disposal cost, or residual value. Quan- tity Surveyors, as cost consultants, will play an increasingly important role to inform decision makers on green building. However, the responsibility for cost-effective green building solu- tions will have to be shared between Quantity Surveyors and the entire supply chain: developers, designers,

Review of Supply Chain Management

Recent tender irregularities and corruption in Beaufort West has once again highlighted the urgent need for a reviewof theMunicipal Supply Chain management regulations.

The DA has requested Minister Gord- han table a programme for the review of the regulations and processes, and his plan of action to deal with the corruption. Mileham says, “Corrupt actions and negligent management will only be deterred if wrongdoers know that their deeds will have consequences. We would therefore increase the pen- alties for corruption, specifically the violation of the Public Finance Man- agement Act (PFMA) and the MFMA. We will furthermore enforce proper legal action against officials involved in financial misconduct. In particular, we would ensure that corrupt officials are removed from public office and not simply transferred elsewhere to

repeat their offences as has been the case in the past.” He concludes, “Tender fraud can also be combated by making the bid evaluationandadjudicationprocesses open to the public.” ■

March 2016