Professional services
Choosing the right environmental consultant
Engaging consultants? Marco Muia offers 10 tips for engaging environmental consultants, what a good consultant should offer, the importance of clarity at the briefing stage, technology issues and site selection.
Marco Muia, Environmental consultant, Dyne Solicitors
Y
OUR NEWproject has been given the green light, the funding is in place and now it’s time to sort out the team. This could include an environmental consultant.
Where should you start? Below are tips to help you get started. 1. Word of mouth is invaluable. If your consultant hasn’t been recommended by anyone you know, ask to see an example of their work. Most established consultants’ work will be available on the web.
2. When obtaining quotes for work, check what is being delivered. For example, a report which costs a little more may have twice the content of a cheaper one and the reverse can sadly be true. Know the scope of the work your consultant is hired to do.
3. If hiring a consultant at the outset, have a good idea of what you want to build as continual design changes push costs up. Having a detailed design from plant
and technology suppliers before engaging consultants to do planning and permitting work has massive benefits. Changing the design after planning has been granted can often mean starting again at great cost.
4. To avoid problems with selection of technology, especially with the changing nature of the waste industry, ask if your consultants are familiar with the company providing the plant. Does it do what it says on the tin? Some technologies have been doing the rounds and don’t have working examples in the UK.
5. It is very common to be given an NDA (non disclosure agreement) to sign by third parties, but you should equally be asking for performance guarantees to ensure that if your planning ties your site to their technology, they pick up the costs for unnecessary changes. Very often it is not the client that moves the goalposts but technology providers, resulting in complete revision of planning applications so original planning is null and void.
6. Site selection is important. Don’t select your site first and expect everything to be plain sailing. Even established waste sites can have their problems; so plan
ahead and do a desk study to indentify the pitfalls before starting your planning and permit applications. I have been presented with many sites that have been purchased before planning is granted and when they are affected by air quality restrictions etc, costs can escalate and in some cases the site may not obtain planning.
7. To avoid having reports from a myriad of consultants, make sure that you have a lead consultant or agent who can manage the process and question the need for additional reporting. Also obtain advice on the likelihood of success in the planning and permitting process. Don’t expect cast iron guarantees.
8. A good consultant will do the work that is necessary - not what is asked for. By that I mean the consultant’s job is to take a step back and assess the project’s needs and quote accordingly. I would rather push for a screening opinion which results in no environmental statement (ES) than quote for one assuming that it will be needed. This has been the case for wood biomass plants with 9 out of 10 sites I have encountered not needing an ES. Some have required a decision from the secretary of
state, but the costs have been much lower and the time saved is immense.
9. Regulators and any consultant, no matter what their field of expertise is, must be willing to fight hard in your corner to get the best result for your site.
10. And last but not least, when hiring more than one consultant ensure that the brief for each is clear to avoid duplication. It can be effective to choose a consultancy that has everything in-house, but the costs can escalate if additional reporting is not kept in check.
RWW The author
MARCO MUIA BSc (Hons) MSc MCIWM specialises in all aspects of waste planning and regulation consultancy. He also holds four certificates of technical competence (COTCs) for hazardous waste treatment and transfer. Dyne Solicitors is regulated and authorised
by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and operates in accordance with the professional conduct rules set out by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. For details of those rules, visit
www.sra.org.uk
Recycling Industry Service Engineering Ltd
Agents for Metpro International and Tufplate Engineering
RISE is an engineering sales and services company providing an
extensive range of new and second hand machinery including shears, balers, shredders, material handlers and container tilters for the loading and unloading of 20ft, 40ft and 45ft containers and on site repair services for the maintenance of your existing machinery as well as replacement wear parts and blades.
Maxet House, Lansdown Industrial Estate, Gloucester Road, Cheltenham, GL51 8PL, UK T: +44 (0) 1242 532240 E:
sales@rise-ltd.co.uk W:
www.rise-ltd.co.uk
8 September 5 2013 www. r e c y c l i n gwa s t ewo r l d . c o . u k Recycling & WA S T E W O R L D
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24