For the attention of : Mr. B. Salohiddinov

For the attention of :
Mr. B. Salohiddinov,

Director of ‘New Tech Samarkand’

Republic of Uzbekistan,

Samarkand region, Pastarkom region,

Village Dimishkibolo
Karvon Yo’l LLC

327, Parkent street,

Mirzo Ulugbek district,

Tashkent city, Uzbekistan

C.C. : IDA 5679-UZ at the

Republican Road Fund RUz.,

Tel :[phone]
Date: 2^nd November 2019

Reference No. : 191102 RRDP/CWP-2/General/Supervision 91

Subject: Supervision of Rehabilitation of Regional Roads in Andijan, Fergana and Namangan Regions
Dear Sirs,

Procedures to be Followed in Accordance with the Contract

Recent events, including the failure of the Project to satisfy the members of the World Bank Mission, have highlighted the fact that procedures essential to the proper management of the works Contracts are not being followed.
In the period leading up to the issue to the Contractors of the Notices to Commence the Contracts, the Supervising Engineer held discussions with the Contractors issued detailed lists of the submissions that are required of the Contractors and provided documentation intended to guide and assist with their preparation.
The response of the Contractors, in the course of the three months that have elapsed since Commencement of the Works, has been inadequate and, whilst this may to an extent be attributable to a lack of experience of working under the rules applicable to international contracting, the tolerance levels of the Supervising Engineer, the Employer and the World Bank have been exceeded.
On Monday 4^th November, the representatives of the Contractors will meet, in Andijan, to discuss their contractual shortcomings with the Supervising Engineer and the Employer. The Contractors will be required to commit tofirm undertakings to correct the situation in, primarily, the following respects.
The Contractor’s Construction Environmental Work Plan and Social Management and Action Plan and the receipt of the World Bank ‘No Objection’ :
The International Environmental Expert will attend the meeting and define the requirements for improving the submissions that have finally been provided (some three months in delay of the Contractual requirement), to the level expected by and acceptable to the World Bank.
Compliance with the Contractor’s All Risk Insurance requirements of Clause 18 of the Conditions of Contract :
In order to ensure the validity and acceptability of the policies that have been provided, the Contractors will be required to provide Notarised copies of the originals of the three policies.
Initial Condition Surveys and Construction Drawings :
The fundamental requirements of the Contractors are to verify the fit and applicability of the Contract Designs to the project roads. Where it may be found that there has been any change since the Designs were prepared or, the Contractor considers any variation of the designs to be necessary or beneficial, it is his responsibility to correct/amend the designs.
The Contractors’ proposals for change are to be submitted to the Engineer as Construction Drawings, together with the quantities and costs involved in varying the Works. The Engineer requires the consent of the Employer to approve a variation and the Employer may seek verification by the original Designer.
This process should have been completed during the mobilization phase so that the Contractors could proceed with the works in accordance with Drawings stamped Approved for Construction and knowing that the initial corrections/amendments had eliminated the potential problems.
This process should have been completed during the mobilization phase so that the actual quantities of the payable works could be established in advance and measured from the Approved for Construction Drawings for prompt payment.
Then, as the works proceed in accordance with the Approved for Construction Drawings, it is the responsibility of the Contractors to record any (if any), further corrections/amendments so that the drawings then become the set of As Built Drawings. Without the As Built Drawings, it is not possible to make the Final Payment, issue a Performance Certificate and Hand Over the road to its owners.
To date, the Engineer has not received any Construction Drawings for approval and the Contractors must commit to rectifying that omission without further delay.
Methodologies
The Technical Specifications for the works are both comprehensive and explicit. It has been explained to the Contractors that the requirement of them is to provide an organization, in terms of Management, Self Control and the deployed resources of plant, equipment and labour that will carry out the works in the way that they are specified and achieve the standards of quality that are specified.
As an integral part of the Contractors’ Quality Assurance Plans the Method Statements define managerial responsibility for consistently ensuring that the works are carried out, under the Contractors’ own supervision, with tested, proven to be complying materials and mixes being incorporated safely by specified methods and skilled workmanship such that the outcome works will be assured to be fit for their purpose.
With respect to the Contractors’ Quality Assurance Plans, reference may be made to the Particular Conditions of Contract Sub-Clause 4.9, as follows :
The Contractor shall establish and implement a documented Quality Control System (QCS) in accordance with ISO 9000 standard requirements. For Engineer’s approval the Contractor shall also prepare and submit a Project Quality Plan (PQP) as per the requirements of the Contract, Contractor’s site organization, Contractor's method of construction and regulatory requirements, within 28 days after the Commencement Date. PQP shall include Inspection and Test Plans/Schedules for works and materials.
For Engineer's review and approval, the Contractor shall submit records of all quality control tests, Corrective Action Requests and Non Conformance Reports as evidence for effective implementation of his Quality Control System. The Contractor shall be responsible for ensuring that all Sub-Contractors and Suppliers comply with the requirements of the Contractor’s Quality Control System and the PQP.
The 28 day deadline for submission was passed some two months ago.
It is the consistency of working, with a well managed production team using safe, planned and effective methods that assures the quality of the result. When the supervising inspectors know, and can see, that the works are being properly executed in such a planned manner then they can be confident of the quality of the outcome.
Moreover, planned and well managed, consistent methodologies address the vital issues of safety and environmental compliance whilst enabling the Contractors to increase their operational efficiency and productivity.
Every Method Statement carries with it the responsibility for self control, whereby any fault in production or quality is addressed and promptly reported to the supervision with proposals for rectification. It is the responsibility of the Contractors to exercise the self control necessary to achieve the required outcome and the responsibility of the Inspectors to see that they are doing so.
Programming of the Works
The methodologies adopted and accepted for the carrying out of the works establish the teams of resources that the Contractors will deploy on the various worksites. Each resourced team has to maintain a level of productivity, for the works that it will carry out, consistent with the productivity levels that the Contractors must achieve on the preceding and following works activities.
In the Engineers discussions and correspondence with the Contractors, it has been pointed out that the rate at which the lower layers of the roads can be prepared for asphalting is generally slower than the pace at which asphalt can be laid. It is, therefore necessary for the Contractors to have at least two and probably three teams working in different locations (or on different roads), if they want to maintain day to day continuity of asphalting operations.
During the past months, little continuity of progressing operations has been achieved. The asphalt is being transported a considerable distance and the major part of the working day is often being lost before it reaches the sites. The experience of the Supervising Engineer, in similar situations, has been that it is necessary tofire up the asphalt plant at say 3a.m. in order to enable laying to commence (as it should), by 7a.m.
It is equally important to ensure that the testing of the layers is carried out expeditiously. Every layer must be tested and approved as a condition precedent to the Resident Engineer a Request to Proceed with covering it by the next layer. The Resident Engineers have stated that there have been instances of Contractors failing to submit Requests to Proceed and preparing to execute works without approval of the underlying layers
Should they do so, their payment for the works may not be certified and they will face serious difficulties in having the Works Taken Over and, in the end, Handed Over to their owner. The Supervising Engineer does not have the authority to certify any works that have not been proven to be in accordance with the Contract.
The Contractors have been told in correspondence and in meetings that testing procedures which rely upon using a laboratory in Tashkent, are not adequate.
The delays incurred in providing test results and the lack of opportunity for the Materials Experts to verify the testing processes are not acceptable. The asphalt works progress, and even the acceptance of layers for inclusion in Interim Payment Certificates, are being delayed as a result.
The Supervising Engineer has proposed that the Contractors could, for example, properly equip the laboratory in Andijan but, failing that, a minimum of 25% of the test samples are required to be sent to the accredited laboratory in Namangan where the Materials Experts can verify the test performance. (The detailed criticisms of the Materials Experts will be provided under separate cover).
With so many potential causes of delay and programming that is lacking in detail, the requirement to maintain physical and financial progress records, in relation to the Works Programming, is not being satisfied. With respect to the Programming of the works, the Contractors are referred to the requirements of the Particular Conditions of Contract, as follows :
The Contractor should include at least the following information in his programme:

1) A narrative report on the programming intentions, staging, dependencies and the critical path to Completion;

2) An overview of the works to be carried out and methodologies to be adopted;

3) Details of the project scheduling software to be used and provided to the Engineer for programme analysis and monitoring;

4) Details of the calendars (working day and calendar day), to be used for scheduling of activities and the activity ID and milestone coding structure;

5) Details of the Works Activity, Activity ID and Milestone coding structure;

6) Details of the resource teams to be provided for the various activities and their programmed productivity levels;

7) Quantities, prices and amounts summed to provide activity cost estimates;

8) Schedule of activities against monthly programmed production quantities;

9) Schedule of activities against monthly programmed production earnings summed to provide programmed financial progress estimates (by works section and in total);

10) Manpower and equipment histograms showing the variation of sectional and total resourcing levels throughout the course of the contract;

11) Financial ‘S’ curves and (sectional and total) cash flow estimates;

12) A detailed Gantt chart showing activity durations, early start, early finish, total float and the critical path to Completion;

13) A Summary Gantt chart by sectional construction durations, early start, early finish, total float and the critical path to Completion.
If the Contractors need to contract for programming expertise in order to maintain control over their progress, then they should do so.

The, above quoted, requirements for initially providing the works programmes must be supplemented by the ‘two weekly rolling programmes’ that provide the basis for the on-site weekly progress meetings. An explanation of ‘two weekly rolling programming’ is appended for reference. With a detailed programme showing the Contractors’ intended works activities for the forthcoming week, the Resident Engineers are better equipped to allocate the tasks for their site staff.

Reporting
The requirements for the Contractors’ Reporting are set out in the Sub-Clause 4.21 of the General Conditions of Contract, as follows :
‘Unless otherwise stated in the Particular Conditions, Monthly Progress Reports shall be prepared by the Contractor and submitted to the Engineer in six copies. The first report shall cover the period up to the end of the first calendar month following the Commencement Date. Reports shall be submitted monthly thereafter, each within 7 days after the last day of the period to which it relates.
Reporting shall continue until the Contractor has completed all work which is known to be outstanding at the completion date stated in the Taking-Over Certificate for the Works.’
The Contractors should ensure that their Monthly Progress Reports also satisfy the requirements for environmental and health and safety reporting, as follows :
‘The Contractor shall submit a monthly “Environmental Monitoring Report" to the Engineer and the Employer for review.’
The Contractor shall maintain such records and make such reports concerning safety, health and welfare of persons and damage to property as the Engineer may from time to time prescribe.
The requirement of the Supervising Engineer is that the Monthly Progress Meetings should be based upon the Contractors’ presentation to the Meetings of their Monthly Progress Reports. As the Meetings are generally held at the end of each month, the Report submission date should be a week in advance.
Yours faithfully,

Lionel Etherington

Team Leader/ International Engineering and Management Consultant

Roughton International Ltd and True Engineering Supervision

TWO WEEKLY ROLLING PROGRAMME
The Engineer should arrange to hold a Weekly Site Meeting with the Contractor, preferably on Friday mornings.
The purpose of such meetings is, as follows :

1. 
   To discuss the activities completed during the past week and compare the record of performance with the proposed activity programme for the week.
   

2. 
   To examine and record the causes of any activity slippage.
   

3. 
   To agree upon courses of action for mitigating the effects of causes of delay.
   

4. 
   To examine the proposed activity programme for the week ahead, and
   

5. 
   To agree upon a provisional programme for works inspection and the issue of approvals to proceed during the forthcoming week.
   

As a basis for such discussion, the Contractor should be required to prepare, and update weekly, a two weekly rolling programme of activities. The programme format is shown in the example.

The requirements for the programme are, as follows :

6. 
   The Contractor fills in the programme for the forthcoming week to show the activities he intends to carry out in the a.m. and p.m. periods of each day.
   

7. 
   Where an activity is continuous, e.g. earth filling, the Contractor can adapt the programme to show the kilometres between which he will be working and the production he intends to achieve each day.
   

8. 
   At the end of the week, the Contractor fills in, against the programmed activities, a record of his actual activity performance (in terms of actual production for continuous activities).
   

9. 
   In the remarks section of the Two Weekly Programme form, the Contractor should note the causes of any activity slippage and/or any other relevant information.
   

10. 
    Together with the submission of his Two Weekly Programme record of achieved performance, the Contractor should table sets of his Daily Activity Reports (which should include details of resource allocations, weather and factors/incidents that may have caused delay).
    

11. 
    The Daily Activity Reports will enable the Meeting to examine the reasons for any lack of performance and agree upon the acceptability (or otherwise), of recovery measures the Contractor proposes to take.
    

12. 
    Then the Contractor fills in the activity programme for the next week.
    

13. 
    It is understood that the Two Weekly Rolling Programme should, normally, show some ambition on the part of the Contractor to achieve the maximum progress possible i.e. in the short term he should be programming for higher productivity than would be indicated by his Programme to Completion.
    

14. 
    In other words, the Two Weekly Rolling Programme is a short term target programme – and the targets will not always be achieved. However, the programme provides for organisation of the works and concentrates the minds of the Contractor’s superintendence upon what they should be seeking to produce.
    

Roughton International is the business name of Roughton International Ltd. Registered in England no: 2129938.

Registered Office : A2 Omega Park, Electron Way, Chandlers Ford, Hampshire SO53 4SE.