It is normal on these types of projects to engage the services of an Independent Engineer to act as an interface between these three parties. The independent Engineers role is primarily to monitor the compliance of the Contractor with the signed Design/Build Agreement. The Independent Engineer also has a significant role in reviewing and managing the Progress Payment Certificates. The Independent Engineer must on the one hand be very vigilant with respect to the Contractor complying with the terms of the Design/Build Agreement, while on the other hand not actually participate in or affect the Contractors overall delivery process. Public/private partnerships on raodway projects, which involve private sector financing, are rare in Canada. The roles, requirements and advantages, therefore, of using an Independent Engineer have not been clearly defined in the past. The presenter of this paper, Ian Williams, is playing a major role in the Independent Engineer assignment for the Highway 104 Wester Alignment Project in Nova Scotia. This paper will: "explain the advantages of using an I/E; "define precisely the roles of the I/E; "discuss the day-to-day operations of an I/E; and "explain exactly how the I/E interacts with the Contractor, the Owner and the Lenders in order to most efficiently assist in the delivery of a project. (A)
Abstract