A S F E A T U R E D I N A U S T R A L I A N C O N S T R U C T I O N F O C U S

JAMES CLIFFORD CONSTRUCTION

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Written by John Boley

James Clifford Construction was founded in 1980. To-day, company founder Jim Clifford is still very much in control of the Liverpool NSW based company.

As company director David Griffin explains, “through a continual flow of repeat and referral work the com-pany became a ‘speciality hospitality-sector builder,’ with much of its business in design, fitout and refur-bishment of clubs, pubs and hotels.” More recently, says David, “as that sector has changed we have been redirecting the company to be more of a gen-eral commercial contractor but with an emphasis on working in ‘live’ environments – building sites that are occupied, working in amongst the general public or tenants, other stakeholders or building users. That’s where we see that our culture adds value; that’s where our expertise lies.”

What the company really does well is to plan and work on sites where disruption has to be minimised. In a shopping centre, in an office building or hospi-tality venue, no operator can afford to have existing customers or tenants inconvenienced beyond the ab-

solute minimum. “It is a lot easier to keep a customer rather than find a new one. They certainly don’t want [their own clients] going to another venue during construction and one has to be very mindful of that. Of course, commercial tenants have particular rights as well; they have legal entitlement to unobstructed, quiet, reasonable use of their premises. We felt that clients would see some value in having a contractor who was genuinely able to look after those interests as well as get the project completed.”

“Planning is especially important

because in most cases you’ve

got windows of opportunity to

undertake certain works.”

David says there are three main factors that are criti-cal in a successful ‘live’ rebuild, extension or refurbish-ment: planning, communication and flexibility. “Plan-ning is especially important because in most cases you’ve got windows of opportunity to undertake cer-tain works. If you don’t manage to fit into that time

James Clifford Construction was founded in 1980. Today, company founder Jim Clifford is still very much in control of the Liverpool NSW based company, which has established itself as a bit of a specialist in working in ‘live’ environ-

ments – building sites that are occupied, working in amongst the general public, with disruption kept to an absolute minimum...

JAMES CLIFFORD CONSTRUCTION

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slot, it can have a significant effect because the next time slot may be a week away. If the opportunity only occurs on a Saturday, for example, you miss one Sat-urday and you’re a week later before you can perform that task. Definitely you have to be quite meticulous in your planning.” Communication too is vital, he says, not only within the project team, “but your commu-nication with the other stakeholders like the building users, the client, and tenants’ representatives. Every-one has to have the same expectation, and if that hap-pens there is rarely a problem.”

“We felt that clients would see

some value in having a contractor

who was genuinely able to look

after those interests...”

815 George Street is a classic example of a project that can be successful only if all these elements are han-dled to perfection. David – and of course Jim and Carl Clifford themselves – is confident that the ‘live envi-ronment’ niche will form a major aspect of the com-pany’s future, especially since so many more buildings are going to be renovated in future years rather than

pulled down. The hospitality sector may be fickle, but rather than wait for it to come back to the good times, James Clifford Construction enjoys getting on with what it does well.

815 George Street – the challenges...

This building, formerly known as Flight Centre House, was an existing 12 level building with the ground floor – George St retail tenancies and main building lobby – all occupied during construction, as were levels 6-12 of the commercial tenancies. The project was to increase the available commercial floor space and upgrade the fire services and electrical supply to the building. The increases in commercial floor space were achieved in two ways: first, by extending the third floor of the building over the car park podium (370 square me-tres), and also by converting 1½ floors of car parking into commercial tenancies – 2000 square metres over two levels. The contract value was $6 million, the cli-ent was Ryde Homes, and the client’s project manager was DBL Property Pty Ltd.

The services and fire upgrades included a new chamber substation (including temporary 1500 amp consumers’ mains), new MSB, new submains and metering through-out, air conditioning for the new commercial areas, up-

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“DAVID SAYS THERE ARE THREE MAIN FACTORS THAT ARE CRITICAL IN A

SUCCESSFUL ‘LIVE’ REBUILD, EXTENSION OR REFURBISHMENT: PLANNING,

COMMUNICATION AND FLEXIBILITY.”

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grading and extension of the fire sprinkler system, a new spine to feed the tower section of the building as tenancies are refitted, new water tanks in the base-ment and on the roof of the building for sprinkler and hydrant services, new booster pumps and booster as-sembly, additional fire escape tunnels and corridors, and new smoke detection and EWIS.

In order to achieve a commercially acceptable ceiling height on level 2, the existing podium slab for much of level 3 had to be demolished and replaced with a new slab at a higher level. Mitigating noise and vibration impact on the tenants was paramount, and the demolition technique involved placing a formwork deck below the slab, to be removed, and saw cutting the slab in on metre square pieces that could be manoeuvred with mini excavators and bobcats. The proximity of residential flat buildings prevented noisy work from being undertaken outside of hours.

With ceiling height at a premium, a “Speedfloor” system was used for the new slabs. Overhead protection required a special purpose cantilevered hoarding to be designed and installed for the full length of the rear elevation. Exter-nal walls comprised Hebel panels, glass and aluminium.

… and the solutions

With limited opportunities for noisy or invasive work, every activity needed to be planned and carefully co-ordinated. If an activity necessitated drilling into the structure, then there were only very limited time win-dows for this to occur. For example, between 7 am and 8.30 am weekdays and 7 am to 1 pm on Saturdays.

This not only applied to the structural works and dem-olition but also impacted on much of the routine trade works as all services and ceiling supports, windows and wall framing all required fixing into the structure and there was no way to mitigate the structure borne noise impact. Crane lifts involved road closures, in-

cluding closing George Street itself when the 200 tonne crane was required.

Deliveries had to be coordinated to ensure the tenants had continuous access to the basement loading dock. James Clifford’s site management and subcontractors had to be well organised.

The building had multiple tenants including a number of language schools which meant a lot of people movement throughout the day. Interruptions or unplanned events would not be tolerated by tenants and Ryde Homes was particularly protective of the tenants’ rights.

“Everyone has to have the same

expectation, and if that happens

there is rarely a problem.”

The key was communication – making sure that every-one’s expectations were aligned. If there was a likeli-hood of an activity impacting on the operation of a ten-ant, then the tenant had to know about it in advance. Despite the odd hiccup, overall the communication be-tween stakeholders was excellent.

In negotiating how and when things were to be done, a degree of flexibility was required. There were always compromises to be made and everyone had to give a bit for the overall outcome. Fortunately, says David Griffin, “our client and project manager understood this when the building contract was put together. The CM contract required a level of confidence and trust between the parties. We had worked success-fully as a team under a CM arrangement on a previous project in Penrith so there was an established level of comfort. The CM contract simply aligned our interests with our client’s interest.”

JAMES CLIFFORD CONSTRUCTIONSwww.jamesclifford.com.au

675 Victoria Street | Abbotsford VIC 3067

Phone: 02 8412 8119 | ABN 93 143 238 126