NEC3 Contract Management for RAF Lakenheath
| Country / Region | UK |
| Industry | Government |
Project
RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk have been preparing for an exciting new arrival. The base will shortly become the first European site to house US Air Force F-35 jets, with a further 48 F-35A Lightning II aircrafts arriving in 2021.
Delivery Partner Mott MacDonald & Jacobs Defence, along with contractor KVF35, a joint venture between Kier and VolkerFitzpatrick, are working on behalf of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) to deliver the programme for the United States Air Force Europe (USAFE).
The programme, with a value of £160m, involves the construction and renovation of several buildings and multiple facilities to bed down 2 squadrons of F35 aircraft.
RAF Lakenheath celebrated a major milestone in July 2019 with a ground-breaking ceremony, signalling the start of the construction phase. An estimated $1bn will be invested in US Air Force operations in the UK over the next ten years, with RAF Lakenheath the first of several sub-programmes.
CEMAR is facilitating the NEC3 contract management for the project, including Engineering and Construction Contracts.
Challenges
RAF Lakenheath is an extremely secure site, and security is paramount to the project. Naturally, there are challenges that come with this, with a large amount of external people expected on-site to deliver the project.
Solutions
CEMAR provides a platform for managing the contracts associated with the project, which can help the DIO to manage unnecessary delays. This includes the traditional early warnings and compensation events, but also provides an auditable and up-to-date view of the status of the ECC contracts. The platform offers clarity over who will be on-site when, and what works will be carried out.
This transparency in turn lowers the risk of any delays, helping to ensure the project can be delivered on-time and on-budget.
Testimonial
The use of CEMAR has been crucial to the management of this project, enabling all project teams involved to be able to communicate clearly and securely. CEMAR’s built-in NEC compliance gives assurance whilst delivering this cross-continent project. Furthermore, CEMAR is incredibly useful for keeping all our stakeholders informed whilst providing the required level of internal governance and approvals.
Glen Sims, Technical Principal, Mott MacDonald
Images courtesy of United States Air Force Europe
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