STEFAN DAVIES MCIOB PROJECT MANAGER, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK


A Danish national and client-side project manager, Davies, 37, studied in Denmark but began his construction career in the UK at a small contractor. After a four-year spell at Mott MacDonald in 2008 he moved to the UAE where he helped deliver several prestigious museums working for the Tourism Development & Investment Company, including Foster + Partners’ Zayed National Museum and Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi. Davies returned to Copenhagen in 2010, and now works as an assistant project manager on four university schemes for the Building and Property Agency, part of the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Building. Davies was quick to note similarities with the UK construction industry: “There’s the same drive to deliver more for less, which is making it harder to deliver on green targets,” he says. The role of project manager also carries a similar job description in Denmark, he says, although it is not a


recognised profession in its own right. “If you tell someone you’re a project manager here, they assume you work for an architect, a contractor, or an engineer, which can be frustrating, and project management services cannot be bought in from a consultant here.” Denmark generally benefits from a


collaborative client/contractor relationship and doesn’t suffer from the UK problem of contractors submitting low tenders to win work, then strategically aiming to win back profits through claims, he says. But it could learn a thing or two from the UK’s approach to reporting on project progress: “A greater focus on reporting mechanisms makes it much easier to get a fast picture of the status of a scheme and is a great benefit to clients, or other project parties not involved in the day-to-day running of a project. In Denmark, reporting only seems to be done verbally.” Such national differences could


make it difficult for the CIOB to develop


BIJU AK MCIOB EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DAVIS LANGDON & SEAH, BENGALURU, INDIA


An Indian national responsible for service delivery and client care on a range of projects including offices, residential, warehouses, hotels, and a retail mall, Biju, 39, began his career as a civil engineering graduate with a master’s degree in construction engineering and management, then travelled to Reading in the UK to study quantity surveying. He has been in his current role at Davis Langdon & Seah for almost eight years. Biju describes the CIOB as an “elite


professional body promoting the highest standards and construction excellence across the world” and says that chartered membership has made a huge difference when he meets overseas clients. “Having my MCIOB title on my business card has helped a lot in developing business contacts and the Institute has helped enhance my professional competence in an international construction environment,” he says. India is experiencing huge growth


and Biju says property prices in its “tier one” cities are a big talking point, as is the concept of sustainability, which has become a niche area in consulting as overseas clients look for energy efficient buildings. Large-scale investment in India from


abroad is also putting pressure on the local construction industry to mature and become more organised, he says: “A professional from overseas will find it difficult working with India’s procurement systems and work


“We have no institution to provide standardised conditions of contract, and no one is able to provide updated information on materials and costs.”


Campus Aarhus N, part of VIA University College in Denmark, opened last year. The €45m project was designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen


“If you tell someone you’re a project manager here, they assume you work for an architect, a contractor, or an engineer, which can be frustrating.”


a universally applicable international qualification, he adds: “In Denmark the role of QS doesn’t exist, and the client employs a dedicated site manager to work alongside the contractor’s site manager. “The industry is also configured very


differently here, so when you gain chartership with the CIOB and prove that you know who to consult about what on a project, the answers to those questions will be very different in Denmark to the UK.” But Davies says his MCIOB is a “mark


of quality, which immediately opened doors for me when I first sought work in the Middle East”.


processes. We have no institution to provide standardised conditions of contract, and no one is able to provide updated information on materials and costs. Taxation in India is also different from other countries and can cause confusion to newcomers.” The disorganised nature of the


industry highlights the need to train staff to meet “core values and best industry practice”, he adds. “This is exactly the importance of the CIOB’s presence in India. Most large projects here are funded by financial institutions like the World Bank, Asian development banks or by foreign direct investment, it’s a multi-lingual, multi- cultured industry, so development of an international CIOB qualification should aim to unify these elements and help them adhere to the same professional standards.” An important step on this path is to


Architect BDP has designed a new campus for the Indian Institute of Technology at Mandi in the western Himalayan region of India


raise awareness of the Institute, which Biju says is still little known among local practitioners: “The CIOB could set up an India chapter to deliver seminars, workshops and career development programmes, join hands with local institutes to develop standards, and gain influence with clients and industry,” he suggests.


CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | APRIL 2012 | 23


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